"I'm sorry. We're experiencing unexpected delays."

I knew it had the likelihood of being an unpredictable trip, but not at all for the reasons I expected. In October I started looking at tickets to get home to Missouri for the holidays. [Can I just say, sometimes flight prices at that time of year are enough to get me thinking about moving back to the mid-west - ugh.] The only option near the dates that I wanted, and for less than $900-$1000 took me right through Denver, Colorado.

Don't get me wrong... I LOVE Denver, but if you have ever flown through Denver in the dead of winter (or watched the news) you probably know why I was a bit hesitant to book that flight. But, it was my only option to get home to see the fam over the break, so I booked it. In my head I just assumed that there would be snow delays along with the holiday crowds and that I might end up having to stay in the airport overnight. In fact, all of my flights were right on time...no issues at all on the way there.

The way back, however, was a different story. We were delayed slightly getting out of KC and then the flight from Denver to Oregon was also delayed. Then delayed again. And, just for good measure, one final time. When we'd finally boarded the plane and everyone was seated and ready to go the captain got on the speaker to apologize for the delays.

He said "Ladies and gentlemen, I am very sorry for the delays we've been experiencing this evening. I just can't help but tell you why we are so delayed as it's due to something I've not seen before." [insert nervous chatter and giggling around the plane] "You see, there was a big Vikings football game yesterday and they lost to da Bears. The plane that we were supposed to fly on arrived in Denver from Chicago this evening and, as the passengers were exiting the plane one tall (and slightly inebriated) Vikings fan was getting off the plane. He was wearing a Viking helmet with horns attached and well... somehow managed to take out the exit sign as he left. Since broken exit signs happen to be a 'no-fly' issue, we had to wait for a new plane. So, I'm sorry for these unexpected delays, but we uhhh, had a Viking horn through an exit sign. You can't make this stuff up folks. Please make sure to watch out for those Viking fans... they can be dangerous."

So, no snow delays in Denver... next time I book a flight I guess I should check the football schedules instead.