I returned from a trip very early this morning. I got back in sometime around 6:30 today. There was considerable delay in Denver thanks to lightning which required a very unpleasant hour and a half on the tarmac. Luckily, I don’t hate flying like my wife does.

That I ever made it to this point was a bit of a miracle. Instead of flying out of RIC as I might have hoped, my flight was out of Dulles. I’ve been to Dulles a couple of times, but always en route to someplace else by airplane. I never really knew where in space this airport was located. I had assumed Washington, DC as it is often referred to Washington Dulles.

Apparently not.

It’s close to Washington, but actually in Virginia about 30 miles west of the capitol. This, probably, is not news to most of you other than myself. So, when I went to get directions to the airport from my house I typed in “Dulles International Airport” and “Washington, DC” in Google Maps and I got directions. Directions that said “To Dulles International Airport.” I’ve double checked the directions a half-dozen times since.

Here’s the thing though: The end result on these driving directions was not Dulles. It was Reagan International Airport. A wholly separate airport with wholly separate flights.

So, I dutifully followed these directions, and drove to the wrong fucking airport. Then I panicked.

Amazingly, thanks to a delayed flight I somehow managed to make it to Dulles, park, pick up my ticket, and make it though security and still make it to my connecting flight on time. I’m still not entirely sure how that happened.