I’m not sure why the flights were all grounded that night.
While we were flying into the state I remember the captain saying something over the intercom, but I had my earbuds in and wasn’t paying attention.
When we landed at the Albuquerque airport I was shocked by how empty it seemed. Granted it’s not the world’s busiest airport, but on this night it was a ghost town! I wanted to find the board listing the departure times, and say that it was blank. Every flight had been grounded for at least the next 12 hours, which meant I was stuck in Albuquerque, New Mexico for the time being, like it or not. Because all the other flights were also grounded, and the other passengers equally trapped, that meant there were no open hotel rooms in Albuquerque, either! I took a cab to the downtown area, which the cabbie said was the best place in Albuquerque to hang out and get some late-night street food. I don’t think he dropped me off in front of a cannabis dispensary on purpose, but when he drove away I was looking at the front door. Cannabis is perfectly legal in Albuquerque, and I thought it might help to pass the time. I bought a pre-rolled joint of OG Kush, and a small package of cannabis gummies. Then I got stoned and spent the next three hours just walking the streets of Albuquerque and enjoying the sights. Just before the sun rose I took a cab back to the Albuquerque airport, and was definitely still stoned when I got on my flight.