"You can't get "thar" from "heyah" doesn't only apply to the back roads of Maine. It can also happen at one of the country's busiest airports, O'Hare in Chicago.

After a wonderful week visiting my daughter and her family in Colorado Springs during winter break, it was time to go home. My 14-year-old granddaughter, Carly, who had never flown before, seemed quite comfortable when she learned that our plane couldn't leave Chicago because of the weather, and we faced a three-hour delay in Colorado Springs.

My older granddaughter, Kayla, 19, was also on the trip with us, along with her 8-month-old baby, Gabrielle, "Gabby" for short. Together, we played with the baby, fed the baby, walked the baby and changed the baby, hoping the time would quickly pass.

Finally, it was announced that our plane had arrived, and we would be leaving for Chicago, and hopefully, we could make our connecting flight to Burlington. It was the calm before the storm, so to speak.

FLYING BLIND

Chicago's airport is not for the faint of heart, but we managed to trek our way through a maze of shops, hallways, waiting areas and gates only to find that our flight had been delayed. Okay. Another hour, another delay. Then another hour.

Suddenly it was 8 p.m. And the board behind the desk was blank. The agent had disappeared into thin air. We thought, "Surely they will be coming back, and we'll be taking the red-eye' to Vermont." Not!

I walked down the hallway to check the departure screen and felt my heart sink to my shoes: "Cancelled." Cancelled? Without a word from the agents at the desk? Guess they've been in that scenario before and decided to get out while the getting was good!

So we gathered up the baby and our carry-ons and stopped the first airline attendant we saw. He said we'd have to see the customer service people down near the dinosaur display, along with about 100 others whose flights had also been canceled.

I've flown to England, had an IRA bomb scare, had to evacuate the plane near a cow field in Heathrow, but at least they told us what was going on! I have flown domestic before and had delays but at least they kept us informed. This was different.

PAYING THE PRICE

The nice, pleasant, patient, smiling elderly lady (can't scream at an elderly lady!) walked through the line, listening to everyone's story and handing each one a pink card with an 800 number. Call that number, she said, and find out what hotels are available. Choose one and get a confirmation number and get a special rate.

"And the airline will pay for the room?" was my naïve question.

"Oh, no," was her reply. "We only pay for a room in case of mechanical problems not because of the weather."

Oh, great! Good thing I brought my debit card!