Keeping in mind that we were only going to be in Columbus for a very short time to begin with and we spent too much time at McDonalds, we now had about an hour until it was time to board the plane.
We raced out of Jeni's bowls of ice cream in hand, box in tow and jumped into our rental car. Luckily, the airport was only a short drive away but we still had to return the rental car, make the long walk (jog) though the airport, get our security documents and then get through security.
As we jumped out of the rental car, I yelled an apology to the car rental agent for all of the trash left in the car (drinking cups and our ice cream bowls). We usually leave our rental cars spotless but there was no time to grab everything. The agent shouted out to us that it was OK and to just concenrate on making our flight.
At BWI airport, they have kiosks set away from the ticket agent where you can print your boarding passes (in our case, security docs, since we don't get boarding passes until later) without ever seeing an agent. At the Columbus airport the passengers have to approach the counter to check in. I was juggling carry on bags and my big Styrofoam box so I set the box down a the nearest point.. which happened to be the scale where you put your checked bags. The agent came over to help me check my bag and I explained that it was carry on. Noting the type of box it was, she asked what was in it. When I told her, she responded that it would have to check it. I tried to find out if this was an airline policy or a TSA policy since I had been told earlier by my husband (an airline employee) that this would not be a problem. I could not get a clear answer from her. Having no time left to argue, discuss, research or prove that I could, indeed carry it on. I quickly relented and gave her the box. She charged be an additional $10 for an airline approved box and seemed to take forever to check it. She did assure me that it would make this flight though.
The boys had gone ahead of us through TSA security since one of them needed the bathroom. This left Lil' Bit and I. as we waited to retrieve our bags from the security belt, a TSA officer held up Lil' Bit's bag and asked whose it was. I gave her up in a heartbeat. he then pulled out two water bottles that she had grabbed when we were picking up our rental car. He took the water out and had to send the bag back through screening.
After all this, we made it to the gate, breathless but with a few minutes to spare. We boarded our first choice flight with no problems.
Awesome, wonderful, perfect. everything has fallen into place.
Then.... Big Boy looked at me with an "I'm going to throw up" face. He had just looked in his carry on bag and discovered that he had left his brand new Kindle in the rental car. He had stashed it in the glove box when we went into McDonalds and had forgotten about it when we raced to get out of the car. As upset as I was with him, I had to admit that if we had a few more minutes, we would have done a better job of leaving the car and may have remembered it. I frantically pulled out my cell phone and attempted to call Enterprise before we had to turn off all phones. No answer. I spent the rest of the flight worrying about it.
As soon as we arrived at BWI airport, I called Enterprise back and asked them to look for it. They advised that the car had already been rented again and they would call the person immediately. It took a while to get an answer back but we we retold that the renter had found the kindle and wold bring it back when she returned the car. Several days later, I got another call that they had it back and would mail it. I am happy to report that we do have the Kindle back.
After a quick stop to visit with my husband, who was working at a nearby gate, we headed down to baggage claim. We looked for our box with no luck. I spoke to several employees and Customer Service Agent Levi assisted us in our search. he told us that it looked like our package would be on the next flight in or the one after that. Well, I wasn't about to sit around the airport with three young kids waiting for ice cream so I mentally wrote off my $20 of ice cream and $10 box as a loss. I asked him to keep and eye and if i t came in to let my husband know. My husband got off work before the box arrived.
I realized that if the ice cream was found and if someone put it in the freezer for me, I would still be unsure if it was safe to eat., What if it had melted but then refroze without my knowing how long it sat at room temperature.
We went to bed that night figuring that we had a good trip despite the rush and the loss of our ice cream. Then, at 11:20 PM, my cell phone rang. It was Levi from the airline. He told me that he found my box, opened it and confirmed that the ice cream was still frozen solid and he was putting it in the employee freezer. My husband found it there safe and sound the next day and brought it home for us. We have been enjoying...no savouring it ever since. A quart is not a lot of ice cream and we only had three (after I delivered J Dog's to his mother). We have rationed it out but enjoyed every bit.
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