Barely

I left the house 30 minutes earlier than planned.

And the original plan was already to arrive at the airport three hours early.

So, effectively, I had built in a 3.5-hour cushion.

Responsible adult behavior.

About 30km into the drive, my 4-year-old had already burned through that extra 30 minutes with extended bathroom stops and a very important mission to only step on certain tiles in the rest-area sidewalk.

Fine. Still had three hours.

Then we got a flat tire.

On a narrow, one-lane stretch of highway.

Right at the end of a long curve.

With a temporary construction fence blocking the obvious place to get ourselves safely away from the road.

Less fine.

We eventually found a break in the fence and waited for the tow truck.

Tow truck arrives.

Good.

They tow us to a gas station.

Better.

The gas station actually has the tire we need.

We're back!

Meanwhile, my in-laws had started driving toward us to help and met us at the gas station.

Once the tire was fixed, they followed us for the final 30 minutes to the airport.

By the time we got there, we had gone from "arriving three hours early" to "there is absolutely no time to park."

So my in-laws dropped us at the door and drove my car home.

We made it to check-in.

Barely.

Bad news: We were so late they had already given away our seats.

Good news: Free upgrade to premium economy on the international flight.

We're back!

Bad news: My 4-year-old and I were now sitting nowhere near each other.

And I'm flying solo with him.

But there was no time to worry about that particular problem yet.

We made the flight.

At the gate, they managed to move us together.

Still in premium economy.

Huge win.

Flight was great.

Landed in Chicago.

At this point I made the reasonable decision to gate-check our carry-on for the final flight.

Eventually made it to Charlotte.

Naturally, they lost the bag.

Then the airport Wi-Fi barely worked, so I couldn't tell my sister waiting outside that we were stuck dealing with lost baggage.

No problem. I'll just turn on international roaming.

That didn't work either.

Eventually found my sister.

Eventually got to her house.

1:00 a.m.

Back in the USA.