Day 1 travels... not what we expected- but we are on our way!

We began our trip on a positive note, leaving GEBC after we gathered and prayed together with plenty of time to get to O'Hare.  Unfortunately, the severe weather we had in Chicago last night had effects on our travel today.  We found out after arriving at the airport that our flight was cancelled due to "plane damage" from the storm.  That was just the beginning of our long journey that spanned almost 18 hours and took us all through a few different cities!  Here is Tom Kouwe's account of how the day played out:

We started our day on, as Dan said, a positive note. We set out for O'Hare at about 6:45 and arrived at at 7:15. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 9:30, getting us to South Dakota at 10:45 Mountain time or 11:45 Central. Our first problem came when we were told that there were no flights to South Dakota today and no available flights tomorrow. Most of our team ( Emma, Laura, Amy, Emmi, Olivia, Katy, Jessica, Jordan K., Jordan H, Matt, Jonah, Randy, Mr. Black, and me) waited outside the airport while Dan began a long battle with the airlines to get us to South Dakota. After many hours of Dan trying to sort things out with the airport and the rest of sitting outside playing cards, talking, and yes, praying, Dan came out and gave us the flight situation. Five of us (Randy, Jonah, Jordan K., Mr. Black, and Olivia) would stay at the airport until 8:45 when we would be directed to Denver. The remaining ten of us would be sent to Minneapolis at about 1:30 then to Denver. We were planning to all stay the night in a hotel in Denver and then the drive together to Rapid City the next morning. My group (the group going to Minneapolis) had our flight delayed until around 2:00. Our flight from Minnesota to Colorado was on time. The other group's flight was on time, but got in very late at night. While our first day didn't go quite as planned, we prayed beforehand that we could adjust to whatever God's plan might be. It was a long and tiring day for all, but we are all thankful that we were able to get out of Chicago today, something that wasn't originally a given. Tomorrow we begin the last leg of our journey, a six hour drive to Rapid City, South Dakota.