LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – James Lamb and his two other coworkers were on a business trip to San Antonio.  Lamb is thorough on those trips and he made sure all of their flight check-ins were correct and they had their plane tickets.

“Make sure I’ve got our passes from Southwest, just like I always did.  We were in A55, 56 something like that.  Felt good, we were in the front,” Lamb explained.

He says he normally turns his phone off unless he’s on a business trip and he heard his phone buzz in the overnight hours Sunday.  He just figured it was some kind of news alert but he decided to check his phone this time.

“Your flight’s canceled, click here to book another flight.  Everything is canceled for three days,” much to Lamb’s chagrin.

His flight was like hundreds of Southwest Airline flights across the country that were canceled.  He said he was up until 2:30 in the morning trying to find other rentals or a way to extend their rental to get them home. 

When he came up empty in those pursuits he had an out-of-the-box idea.

“I’m not really kidding here I said, ‘We could do a U-Haul’,” Lamb told his boss.

His boss was a little hesitant initially.  Lamb explained they could spend around $2,500 hundred to stay for three days and get a flight on Wednesday or spend about $1,000 and get the U-Haul.

It did not take much convincing after that and they were on their way around 9:45 am on Sunday morning heading back to Little Rock.

Lamb said their trip was fine except for typical traffic issues in major metro areas and the middle seat not being the most comfortable.  He did say they felt a little silly about driving a 15-foot truck trailer with only six bags in it, but luckily only they knew that.

Lamb said he got home before 10:00 pm and that their trip took about 12 hours. 

“Whether U-Haul may not appreciate this but we drove it like a car,” he laughed while explaining.

He said their trip was not necessarily “fun” but in hindsight, it was an adventure they won’t forget. 

Lamb thinks their group will have a leg up at their next business meeting.

“Remember when Southwest canceled those flights and we all had to find our way home?! And everybody will have a story but I think our story will top a lot of them!” Lamb exclaimed.