Karen reporting:
Our trip began Wednesday (03/23). We left home at 3:30 a.m. (thanks for driving us Mike) for a 7:00 a.m. flight from Nashville to Chicago. This part of our journey went great. Our flight out of Chicago to Beijing was scheduled to leave at noon. There were some mechanical issues so we were delayed. We boarded the plane at 12:30 p.m. We spent the next 3 hours on the plane never getting very far from the terminal. We finally took off at 3:30 p.m. to begin our 13.4 hour trip. We had the opportunity to eat one of those great airline meals and watch a movie before the pilot makes the following announcement: "If you look out the window you will see the sun moving from the left side of the plane to the right. This would be because we are turning around and going back to Chicago. The plane's engine de-icer is not working and we might need it in Beijing." I said, "He's kidding, right?". This was after flying for approximately 1 1/2 hours. We arrive back in Chicago at 7:00 p.m. We are all given hotel, dinner and breakfast vouchers and told that we will try this all again tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m.