A Tibetan Monk, 1 Strawberry Danish, And A Dumb-Ass Part I

I was looking at pictures today and came across some from a ski trip we took a few years ago.  The actual "vacation" part of our trip only lasted 2.5 days because the insane odyssey we were on in order to get there took over 3 days.

It was December 2008 and the Bennetts were going skiing for the very first time.  We were loading up our car to get to the airport and heard the weather report that would completely jack with our arrival plans.  Little did we know that we were not only going to battle some fierce winter elements, but we were also entering the Twilight Zone.......

We left Dallas to fly to Albuquerque and then planned to drive to Colorado.  Within minutes of take-off, the pilot came on and said we were racing against a snow storm that might be problematic....but we'll just see......with each passing minute I felt more confident that we would outrun the Abominable Snowman....the last leg of the flight, I heard the crackle of the overhead speaker and silently said to myself, "Please, please, please, please say we're home free..."  "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the Captain speaking, it appears we will have to detour and land in El Paso due to the winter storm...."  "Shit, shit, shit......we were SO close!"  I thought to myself.

We landed in El Paso and and were told the length of the stay was unknown.....we were sequestered there for three hours and it seemed an eternity.....

We departed the plane and walked down the terminal ramp like a herd of cattle.  The space was narrow and it was hotter than Hades.  And it smelled like b.o. and salami.  I knew we were screwed.  As soon as we came into the actual airport we wondered what all the commotion was in the crowd.  A fight?  Someone in labor?  What the hell was everyone doing crowding around in such a small space?  We pushed our way through the mosh pit and realized the entire airport was jamfuckingpacked.  Hundreds of people had been re-routed to this airport and there wasn't one free square inch of physical space anywhere.  And it was so bloody hot.  The heater was cranked high and everyone seemed to be in panic mode.  There were couples fighting, babies screaming, toddler's melting down quicker than the Wicked Witch of the West---not an ounce of zen in the entire place, save for the Tibetan monk standing next to me in the snack bar line.....