There was a time when I enjoyed flying. I looked at traveling by plane as an adventure, and sometimes even a luxury – until my most recent trip.

I was headed out to Washington State for our second, and hopefully final, house hunting trip. I was headed out west in the hopes of finding us a place to live when we get transferred in June. I booked a cheap fair for a three-day weekend, and packed a bag.

I left the house at 5 a.m. for Norfolk International Airport. I was routed from there to New York's LaGuardia airport, with a stop in Cincinnati, Ohio and then on to Seattle, arriving at 9 p.m. I've decided it wasn't the best day to fly.

Our flight sat on the runway in Norfolk for nearly two hours before an announcement that LaGuardia was closed to all incoming flights due to weather. So, as we sat on the plane to nowhere, I called the airline to research my options.

The woman on the other end of the phone told me that I was wrong. Our flight, she said, had departed from Norfolk, and was en route to LaGuardia. I begged to differ.

So, after convincing her we were still in Norfolk, she asked if she could transfer me to another agent.

"Rental cars," the woman's voice rang cheerily. I suppose the airline decided it would be quicker for me to drive from Norfolk to Seattle, rather than fly.

Back at the airport, I was rerouted and rescheduled on another flight, which was cancelled due to maintenance problems. The next was cancelled due to the crew. Finally, after six hours in the airport, I boarded a plane to Charlotte, N.C., then on to Seattle.

After 22 hours of travel, I arrived, exhausted, at my parents' house and fell into bed. I didn't have a good start to my two days of house hunting.

On my last day there, I was pleased at having found a house to rent, and took a few moments to relax. I decided to check our home e-mail account. To my surprise, I found a message there, dated earlier that day. "Reservation cancelled," the subject line read. Apparently, in the flurry of cancelling and rebooking my outbound flights, an agent had inadvertently cancelled my return.

After several hours on hold with the airline, the agent was able to re-book my reservation on the overnight flight from Seattle to Washington, D.C. and on to Norfolk. Other than a few slight changes, and hours of wasted time, I was right back to where I had been two days before.

Earlier in the conversation, I was assured that it wasn't such a big problem because only the seat on the flight leaving Seattle had been cancelled. I still had a seat on a flight from D.C. to Norfolk. Perhaps I should have called the rental car place.

Kristi Langenbacher is past-president of the local Coast Guard Spouses' Club