A break from the cold and the rain!

Last weekend some old friends and I gathered in Phoenix to celebrate some two 30th birthdays.  Both Jessica and Carrie turned 30 on Feb. 24 so Derrick, Matt, Carrie and I flew down to stay with Jessica, her husband Mike and another high school friend, Robin.  The trip down was a bit of a nightmare.  I drove up to Portland on Friday afternoon and met Matt, Carrie and Derrick and Matt and Carrie's house.  We left for the airport at about 5pm for our 6:40pm flight.  Literally as we arrived at the airport I received a call from Southwest to inform us that our flight would be delayed until ... 8:40pm!!!  Since we were already at the airport we decided to park and wait around PDX.  It being dinner time and me being preggers, I suggested we kill some time eating.  I had a hankering for fondue and my friends indulged me by eating at Gustav's.  Here are a few pics of us enjoying our meal.

Once we actually boarded the plane, our flight was uneventful until our arrival in Phoenix.  As we pulled to the gate the pilot informed us that Murphy's Law was in full force, the jetway was malfunctioning and we were unable to exit the plane.  We would have to wait while the plane was towed to another gate in order to disembark.  As the passengers let out an audible groan, I called Jessica (who was waiting in the cell phone lot) to inform her of the news.  Keep in mind, it is now midnight in Phoenix.  Needless to say, she was no more excited than we were about the situation.  Fortunately, after about 10-15 minutes, some stairs were found and we exited the plane, walked around the tip of the plane on the tarmac and then up some more stairs to the gate.  The beginning of our trip was a bit bumpy but the weekend would improve.  I'll post about Saturday and Sunday in the next post.