You can't get theah from heah

So...how long does it take...

• Home to WalMart: First you've got to choose which one to go to. We've got 3 within a 10 minute radius. Kinda nice....
• Lancaster, PA to Meredith, NH: (for brother Joel's Wedding). Get in the car, drive for a few hours, stop for food. Get in the car, drive for a few more hours, get stuck in traffic, stop for more food. Get in the car, drive for a few more hours, arrive in Meredith. Total time 9-10 hours.
• Meredith, NH to Lancaster, PA: Repeat the step above, 'cept in reverse.
• Lancaster to Joplin, Missouri (for brother Jason's Wedding). Total trip about 15 hours
  -Get in the car, drive to PHL Airport, park in economy parking lot (1.5 hours).
  -Take the bus (with all our luggage & booster seats) to the actual airport since it's not really that close to parking (10 min) then wait for flight (45 min)
  -Take a plane to Atlana on which Joanna and I got soaked in Coke since the plane hit turbulence, and my cup splashed all over us, her blankie & baby kangaroo, the seats, etc (1.5 hours), then wait to get off the plane since we were in the back.
  -Take the subway from concourse D to Concourse C (Yes, Atlanta airport has its own subway - 10 min) then wait for flight (45 min)
  -Take the plane to Kansas City, MO (2 hours)
  -Take the bus to the car rental place (10 min)
  -Get a rental car (We got a Jeep Compass...pretty nice...) and then follow the directions from the GPS exactly as she said...too bad she had us drive through residential Kansas City instead of taking the interstate around the city...oof! Arrive at hotel in Joplin. (3.5 hours)
  All in all...not a horrible trip. The wedding was wonderful. The kids did really well. Too bad the return flight wasn't so smooth.... Read on...
• Joplin, MO to Lancaster, PA: Total trip 32 hours!
  -Leave Hotel and head to Kansas City airport. Follow the GPS exactly as instructed, swing through Kansas, and arrive at the car rental place. Leave car rental place to go get gas (cause I forgot first) then return to car rental place. (3.5 hours) so far so good...
  -Wait in airport and color with the kids (2 hours)
  -Airplane trip to Atlanta. This is the kicker... Should have only been a 2 hour trip. Apparently, there were storms in Atlanta which caused some delays, so our plane was put in a holding pattern. But, we nearly ran out of gas, so we had to make a detour to Chattanooga to refuel. The lady across the aisle had a connecting flight from Atlanta to Tampa that she missed while we were circling in the air. I wasn't too worried about our connecting flight since we had a 3+ hour layover. So we sat in the airplane in Chattanooga for 2 hours while they decided what to do next...apparently it wasnt 'just' a refueling stop. Then they ushered us off the plane via police escort across the tarmac, into the stairwell with the alarm blaring (cause the airport is now closed), then into a waiting area. 1 more hour later, we boarded the plane, and headed to Atlanta. Apparently the air door that is used to allow air to the engines to get them started was stuck closed, and thus the engines could not be started. Then we had a 27 min flight to Atlanta. After we arrived, we had to wait in the waiting area so that they could give all the passengers hotel & food vouchers as well as the new boarding passes for the flights leaving the next day. We arrived 45 minutes after our flight to Philadelphia had left...rats. (7 hours)
  -Long subway ride to leave the airport, then the shuttle bus that took us to the Sheraton (dont really know how long it was...since it was already tomorrow..and all 4 of us are tired)
  -Sleep in, pay too much for breakfast, spend some time in the hotel jacuzzi, nap, & buy webkins for kids from hotel gift shop (they do seem to work well as bribes for kids who need to be in weddings)
  -Ride the shuttle back to the airport, ride the long subway to our concourse, get lunch (2:30 pm) with our vouchers, then wait at the gate for our flight (1.5 hours)
  -Realize that they had changed the departure gate in the few hours between when our boarding pass was printed and now, ride the subway again, then walk to the extreme end of the correct concourse, and wait only 10 min for our flight...phew!
  -Take our flight to PHL (1.5 hours)
  -Take the bus to the parking lot (15 min)
  -Drive home ignoring the GPS lady (1.5 hours)
  Did I mention that Tim missed his first day of school 'cause of this adventure? I also missed registration day at LBC! What a trip!