Traveling Nightmare

Well here we are on a Sunday evening all cozied up in our comfy airline seats awaiting a somewhat long, but simple trip to Rapid City...little did we know what the evening would entail! Our United Airlines itinerary included a flight from Little Rock to Denver and then a short flight from Denver to Rapid City...it would be a late night so Riley was already in her pj's! We were delayed 45 minutes from leaving Little Rock due to weather and/or mechanical issues. Apparently Denver had experienced tornadoes that afternoon right where the Democratic National Convention was to be held...it's a sign people! So anyways, we were told we "might" miss our connection...they just didn't know. When we boarded our plane we were in the VERY first row...perfect for jumping off to catch our next flight. Well they made us move to the VERY back to balance out the weight of the plane...something like that. So now we are stuck in the back and I explained our situation to the flight attendant who said our connecting flight would know we were on this flight because "it's all in the computer" and she would try to let us off first. Well we land at 9:27 pm and our next flight is at 9:43 pm...our connecting plane is still at the terminal when we landed. The flight attendant asks that if you are not catching a connecting flight to remain seated...yeah right! So it was dog eat dog to get off the plane because, while we were the closest to missing our flight, others were in fact trying to make connections too. One guy even got a huge cut in the process and had blood running down his arm...I wasn't responsible for that I promise! My mom had sweet little sleeping Riley and I broke through the crowd and wouldn't you know I was the FIRST person at the door and they wouldn't open the door to the plane...COME ON PEOPLE! I told my mom to just take Riley and get to the gate to let them know we would make it and I would get the "carry-on" items which included stroller, car seat, car seat base, and suitcase! So off we went on our separate ways and we were literally running through the airport only to find out that the plane LEFT US! Can you believe it? Last flight out and we weren't even late...I thought "it was in the computer." So we found a fellow traveler who had been on our flight and was also left behind...wouldn't you know she was using a free ticket from when they did this to her before! Ha! So we made our way to the "Customer Service" gate to find out where they would be putting us up, when we could get on the next flight, and to accept our free ticket...NOT! While we were told our plane had mechanical errors and while our connecting flight had technically not left when we arrived, they used the excuse that "weather" was the cause and therefore we were on our own...and good luck finding a room with the Democratic National Convention in town. So we had waited over an hour to hear this sad news and Riley had woken up and was keeping everyone entertained...she was just content playing and smiling. There were people yelling curses at United throughout the airport and while that seemed appropriate at the time I just looked at that sweet little girl and it made everything better! We managed to find a hotel at midnight...had never heard of it so I was totally afraid it would be a dump. We even debated just sleeping in the airport, but I figured even 4 hours of sleep in a bed would be better than NO sleep at an airport. So we waited 45 minutes for the shuttle and made our way to the hotel...which was pretty decent thank God! I had no bed for Riley as my family had one waiting for us in Rapid City...the hotel had a Pack-N-Play but it was so disgustingly dirty that I could not bear for her to sleep in it...she was already fast asleep in her car seat carrier so that is where she slept the few hours we were in the hotel...in her car seat carrier hooked into the stroller rolled between the two beds in the hotel...needless to say I did not even sleep well even though I was exhausted and I knew the morning would come soon. Riley slept the whole time but awoke with us at 5 am and was cheerful and watched some toons while we got ready...
So we hopped back on the same shuttle with the same driver that we had just ridden with several hours prior and start to see daylight as we get to the airport. We have to go through security AGAIN which is not exactly easy when you are traveling with a child, but oh well! So I haven't mentioned yet that we managed to pack for all three of us and get all of Riley's gear to Rapid City without having to check a bag...I refuse to pay $30 to check one bag so two women and a baby had all of their belongings in one carry on suitcase...impressive! We had all of our toiletries in the right size containers and I had packed plenty of baby food for Riley so I wouldn't have to be distracted with having to go out and buy anything while we were there. So as I get to the security line I am taking my shoes off, breaking down the stroller and car seat, holding Riley, and pulling out the bottles and baby food that I had in the diaper bag. I made the mistake of telling the TSA lady that I had more baby food in the suitcase...that's what you get for being honest! She then starts making a big deal over how many jars of baby food I have...what the heck? I had no idea there was a limit on bringing food for your infant child! She even calls a fellow employee over to scope out the situation and he freaks out and says "This is wwwwaaayyyyy too much baby food for a one hour flight!" I am obviously questioning all of this and begin to break down in tears. They precede to tell me that you can only take enough baby food for the duration of your flight...so these guys must be taking a kickback from the airlines by forcing people to check their bags and pay the ridiculous fees!!!! So my option was to watch them throw away 10 jars of baby food or go back downstairs and pay $30 to check our suitcase. At this point I was in tears and pissed and I simply threw my arms up and said "Just take the food!" The lady then says to me "Mam, you have to feed your baby." WHATTTTTTTTTTTT? I obviously meant to take the food that they would not allow on the airplane and leave me with the oh so generous amount of 4 jars but she assumed I meant to take ALL of Riley's food. How dare she insult me as if I am such an emotional basket case that I would not be responsible and feed my baby? My goodness...what is wrong with these people? As all of this was going on the suitcase had rolled through the scanner and my mom had already gone through as well...another TSA lady pulled the suitcase out to "search" it and she was trying to say that we had too many toiletries and we should probably check the bag...wrong people to mess with lady! My mom begins telling her our sob story and the lady quickly puts things back in the bag and says "I'm sure it will be ok." That's right...it will be just fine! So we scooted over to the gate only to find out that our friend who had been on the EXACT same flights as us had been put up in a hotel at United's expense and given a food voucher...we got NOTHING! Don't worry...our friendly customer service agent gave us a self-addressed envelope to send a letter to United and ask that they pay for our hotel room...they will get a letter, don't you worry! After all of this we had no other problems and thank goodness because I think I may have ripped someones head off if one more thing was said or done to us...I HATE FLYING unless I can fly on Southwest...that's all!