Blog Archives

I am soooooo frickin’ behind on my blog posts! I know…I know. I’ve got pics and stories from Pinnacles, Muskegon, and Freedom (Indiana). But it sure does seem that the more I procrastinate diving back in, the more daunting the task.

So, let’s just begin with today. Portland.

I am pleased to report that my flight here was TOTALLY UNEVENTFUL. Can you imagine? Early to the airport. Easy check-in. On time departure and arrival.

Its quite warm in Portland this evening. Over 90F when we landed. But Jeff reports that its warm in SF this evening as well. (Although this is nothing compared with the 100+ degrees we will see in Las Vegas this weekend!)

Tonight, I’ll curl up in Westin’s famous “heavenly bed”…we’ll see!! I’m still a travel skeptic for a bit while longer 🙂

I’m pleased to report that the stress from Saturday’s travel quickly melted away…although not from summer temps.

Sunday and Monday were quite cool all day, and the overcast skies were only broken enough to dump showers throughout the day. Still, the rain brought relief to an overly dry summer (glad we could help) and gave us an excuse to stay indoors and play with the kids…boy did they eat it up.

Today (Tuesday), the sun broke through in the afternoon and the temps followed suit. We took advantage, and took a dip in the pool. Fantastic.

Well…we arrived in Muskegon just after 5am Eastern Time. The day threw about as much at us as possible…but we survived…weary with lingering anger, but now only caring about sleep.

The drive to Muskegon had its own obstacles…misleading rental car signs at O'Hare…the Illinois state champion Slowest Toll Booth Attendant along the Skyway…steady downpours thru most of Michigan…tons of road construction that made our GPS sugggest right when we needed to go left. But again…we survived.

Jeff's parents woke up to welcome us with hugs. The cats are purring. The rains have cooled the air to a perfect sleeping temp.

Yes…sleep.

By a quarter past 3pm, we made our way to the front of the United customer service line. A new helper arrived just as we got to the front–go figure–and began crossing off our options…one by one…redeyes, other airlines, and connections. Gloom and doom.

Suddenly, two seats popped up on a direct flight at 5pm! We were stunned, but you never question fate.

We are still PISSED at United for waiting four hours to cancel our flight…such that most alternatives are gone. That is no way to treat people. But, at least we will (fingers crossed) arrive in Muskegon before breakfast.

One sad observation. I overheard United telling one traveler who was being booked on a flight tomorrow that there were no hotels available. "But if you find one on your own, here is a form to fill out." What?????

After telling us that a new plane was coming in to carry us to Chicago, our flight was eventually cancelled at 2pm. Aparently, we're getting re-routed to a redeye out of San Diego. Oooooo, a connection…that should be fun.

Of couse, now we have to stand in a long customer service line that snakes off to infinity. How is it that Safeway knows how to spot a long line and call a manager over to help with surge support, but United sticks with two lonely smiling faces regardless of the line?