The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry




Planning is a major part of going on a vacation, from planning destinations to transportation and activities there are many components. But no matter how much you plan a trip, you can’t control everything. That became apparent during the travel portion of my vacation last week. In May I purchased tickets for my mother and myself to visit her mother in Harrisburg, Pa. with a trip in to New York City, to visit her sister.

We were originally set to leave Sioux Falls, S.D. on Friday afternoon, July 8. However, due to mechanical issues on the plane our flight was delayed several times and then canceled. We stood in line for a long time just to be told we were rebooked on an 8 a.m. flight. So we came back to Pipestone and later that night received notification that our flight was delayed with a 12 p.m. take-off. Around 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning, it was switched to 6 p.m. and then 7 p.m. Yet, we were still required to be there two hours before our original flight time of 8 a.m., just in case.

Upon arrival at the airport we were told the plane was still taking off at 12 p.m., despite having notification otherwise. Several hours and complaints later we were switched to a flight leaving Saturday afternoon so we could make a connection in Chicago Saturday evening. We finally arrived in Harrisburg late Saturday night.

But that wasn’t the end of our travel woes for the trip. We took an Amtrak train into New York City. The train scheduled to take us back to Harrisburg on Wednesday was set to leave at 4:03 p.m. After sitting on the train for about 20 minutes past 4 p.m. we were told we would need to go back up stairs and change tracks and the escalators were not working so we had to carry our luggage up the stairs. We finally got to the right track and got on the second train to sit, only to be told to switch trains a third time. We waited an additional 30 minutes for the third train to arrive. The train was oversold requiring people to stand or sit on the floor until sometime outside of Philadelphia. We eventually arrived in Harrisburg sometime after 9 p.m.

My return flight went smoothly, but my mom does not return until next weekend. Fingers crossed that her flights home go as well as mine did.

Despite the travel issues, which were extremely frustrating at the time, it was all worth it in the end. I had a really great vacation. I was able to spend time with my mom, grandma, an aunt and an uncle over the course of my week away.

I also enjoyed time in one of my favorite cities in the world, exploring neighborhoods, going to museums, walking through parks, attending a French street fair and eating the best pizza in New York City which in my opinion is Patsy’s Pizzeria in East Harlem.