Dallas to Austin via Washington

Every now and then, as a blogger, you just have to document craziness.
This is one of those times.
I took my kids to Dallas for the weekend a few weeks back for my cousin’s son’s Bar Mitzvah.
The NFO had another family event, so we decided that I would take the 3 kids with me (a slew of reasons).
Got up early on a Friday morning to take them on an 8.15 flight. It was not the easiest, but by and large, they were champs.
We had a great weekend, except that we were all over-tired. Oh, and in a different time zone. Oh, and that was the weekend of Daylight Savings Time, so we lost an hour of sleep.
Sunday, however, was insane.
We left Dallas on a flight at 11.15am and flew direct to Dulles, arriving at 3.15. The first hour was brutal, but thanks to Steve Jobs (even dead, he’s the best babysitter around) and the iPad, we made it.
But, here’s where it gets interesting.
For work, I was going to attend part of the South by Southwest Interactive gathering, the biggest event of the year, in Austin, Texas.
It had started the previous Thursday, but this family gathering had been on the calendar for 2 years and I had promised my kids that I would take them. Not willing to compromise on that…and glad that my teammates understood that, a good reflection on them and the corporate culture.
So, after packing my kids into the minivan (the NFO met us as there), I switched bags (had to pack for BOTH events at the same time) and turned RIGHT AROUND, back into the airport.
I’ve done a lot of traveling, but never have I walked out of an airport after one flight and, literally, 5 minutes later, turned back around for another flight.
I then took a flight to Charlotte, connecting to Austin, arriving at 11pm CST.
So, in 12 hours, I travelled the 200 or so miles between Dallas and Austin, but visited Virginia and North Carolina, took 3 planes and went to 4 airports to make it happen.