Day 1 Travel

Day one.




And hmpf, I have no office programs on the laptop.



So what a disaster. Everything would've been fine if it wasn't for the storms around Richmond, Virginia. Missed my flight in Chicago and therefore missed my flight out of LA to Sydney. Okay, that sucked. But standing in line for four hours to speak to an agent as well as being on the phone for 80 minutes to get help, sucked worse. I finally made it to a hotel just after midnight. omg Did a clean bed ever look so inviting???



I'm jumping ahead. So on the phone, the lady said the flights were booked for today (Saturday) which means, she was telling me to go home and then fly out on Sunday. So I'd get to Sydney on Tuesday. Really??? With like no compensation or anything. Thankfully the guy from Boston behind me in line grabbed me a hotel coupon. It wasn't free but I paid $52 instead of $169. I'm glad for that. So, I had to make a decision and I decided to cancel my trip. WTF Only 3 real days in Sydney? Bearing in mind the first day, I'll be a wreck.



But I still needed to find out about my luggage. This agent seemed to be slightly more competent. Okay a lot more. He said he still had me in the system and that he could get me on a flight today and I'd arrive a day late. Sucky but still not too bad. I was like, but I told the chick to cancel it. So anyway, I got on those flights and found out that my luggage is in LA. wooo! (sarcasm)



Now, I also called Pedro during all of this. I'm trying to break it down so that it makes sense. UA would fly me back to Richmond for free, IF I took the flights on Sunday. Well, I didn't want the flights on Sunday so she said if I cancelled that I had to find my own way back home.



???



So I called Pedro and the one way flights are very expensive so he was going to drive to Chicago to get me. WITH THE GIRLS. Twelve hours or more to get here then 12 hours or more back. With two YOUNG KIDS IN THE CAR. That sounds like worse hell than sitting on the tarmac for an hour. Anyway, so keeping that in mind and the fact that my luggage is on the other side of the continent, I decided that pushing on was in my best interest.



A root canal would be in my best interest in that situation. Holy shit. Not to mention I'd have to find somewhere to hang out for 5 hours.



Anyhoo, so just to be on the safe side, I called UA again this morning. She confirmed that I'm on the two flights today. BUT I mentioned the cancellation thing. She saw the note and removed it. I was like, I don't need to get to Sydney and have no way of getting home.



Right? Shit.



So here I am. About to check out. I did take a little wander out and got some deodorant and toothpaste (thank you!) and a toothbrush and I feel a lot more human. I've also had two showers in the space of nine hours. LOL Hey, no chance of a kid trying to bust down the door or a husband needing his "back scratched". Just saying.



Oh AND La Quinta has a continental breakfast. Shoo. I tore that crap up. Make your own waffles, check. Raisin bread toasted with butter, check. English Muffin with cream cheese and strawberry jam, check check check. Hey, the night before I asked the nice Boston guy (who seriously was very cute) if he'd watch my stuff while I ran and got something to eat. Hadn't eaten since noon and we were beside a pretzel place. Got a pretzel dog. Good thing cuz everything was shut down by the time I was done at the ticketing counter!



I guess having some experience travelling helps. ;)



Anyway, I have a nice long wait at the airport to look forward to. I'll probably get there around 12:30 and my flight leaves at 4:30. woohoo!



Fingers crossed.