So our trip wasn't very long, but we'd had a lot of fun. Sunday morning we woke up at 5:45 and left the hotel by 6:30. Our flight left at 7:55. Our rental car place (a cheap place) didn't open until 8:00, but said they'd come at 7:00 to take us to the airport in the shuttle- we were only about a 4 mintue ride from the airport.
6:57- get stuck one block from our rental car place by a train crossing. Taylor love it, Matt and I were nervous about the time so we drove a mile down the road to cross.
7:01- pull into the rental car place, it's empty.
7:07- call the number for the rental car place adn wake the lady up, she says "the guy" should be there, she'll call him
7:13- He pulls in and we take off to the airport
7:20- get in line at the airport to print our tickets
7:28- Hand the lady our ID's adn she tells us it's too late to print tickets, we'll have to book another flight. The only other flight to Columbia out of FT. lauderdale is at 6:35, 11 hours away. Taylor runs away from Matt, so he has to go chase him.
7:30- I demand to speak with a manager. Keesha (the ticket lady) goes to find him in the back.
7:32- She comes back and says he'll come out in a minute. She wants me to move over so she can check in other people, I refuse so she moves over to another desk. Taylor is starting to cry because Matt won't let him run around.
7:43- Manager FINALLY comes out. Says he could unlock our tickets and print them but we're too late, there's no point. I beg with him, he says he won't help us and walks away. Three other guests flag him down because they're in the same boat as us.
7:47- I call Spirit Airlines 800 number and get no where. They tell me I have to rebook a flight for tonight. I hang up frustrated after complaining to the manager on the phone.
7:51- I call my mom in Colorado, wake her up (it's 5:51 am. there) and see if she can find us any flights online, she can't, there aren't any!
7:52- I see the manager at the airport and ask him again to please give us our tickets and he turns and walks away from me. I still have not moved from the desk.
7:55- OUR FLIGHT LEAVES US!!!!
7:59- call the 800 number again to book a flight. It starts to rain while Matt and taylor are running around outside. I leave the desk and find a place to sit down.
8:10- Start nursing Brayden and finally talk with someone on the phone, the make me book a flight, don't let me use any credit from the flight we missed and charge me a total of $358 for a one-way ticket, more than my flights,hotel, and car rental cost for the ENTIRE trip!!! I have to do it, I have no other way!
8:25- My mom suggests we drive home. So she starts looking for deals on a one-way rental car. She finds us a deal for $121 from Alamo.
8:35- I call the 800 number to try and get out of our non-refundable tickets I just bought. After talking with the agent and explaining my situatuion, they say no. I'll have to pay $90/ticket to cancel. I ask to speak with a manager, they say the same thing. I hang up and call again adn talk with another agent and another manage and get no where. I start to cry, so does Brayden.
8:55- I get back in line (behind 4 people) at the "rebooking" counter to see if I can get any of these ladies to help me out. I small talk wiht the gentleman behind me... and wait.
9:20- Matt comes to check my progress, I'm still in the same spot.
9:27- Brayden starts screaming so I swaddle him and he falls fast asleep.
9:35- Matt comes back to check on me, I've moved one spot.
9:47- Finally I get to the counter, tell the lady my sob story and I get EVERY PENNY BACK!!! I call my mom and have her book the rental car for us.
10:07- Done at the ticket counter and board the shuttle to the rental car center.
10:30- We have to wait until 11:00 to pick up our rental car so Matt and I take turns holding Taylor's hand as he tried to walk up the down escalators and ride the elevators.
10:57- Matt gets in line(only behind 2 people) at the rental car counter.
11:12- Matt gets to the counter finally. The aldy is really nice and says there might be a Prius (a hybrid) car out there, we should hurry out adn try tpo get it. We sprint out and there's not one. She follows us out and goes to track one down for us.
11:33- Finally we're on the road. GPS says we should be in Columbia by 8:36 pm. (about the same time the 6:35 flight would land)
11:35- Taylor's out cold!
12:15- A car FLIES by us, so Matt starts to keep up with him. Our gas mileage drops from 62mpg to 28, but we're making great time!
12:43- The car has a weird noise and starts to have a little shake to it, Matt pulls off at the next exit.
12:44- We discover our flat tire and call roadside assistance. I start nursing Brayden again. Roadside assistance says someone will be there by 2:05. Taylor wants to drive the car.
12:56- We load both kids in the single stroller and head over to Home Depot, the only thing in sight. It's 95 and 137% humidity adn we're dying!
1:09- Make it to Home Depot after Matt helps push some guy's car off the road. Taylor rides on the lawnmowers while Brayden hangs out in his carseat in the stroller. Matt finds free cake because it' the 1st anniversary of this store, we all have two pieces!
1:47- Matt leaves to walk back to the car to help the guy when he comes.
1:59- Taylor tells me he pooped, I don't have anything with me...
2:03- After dragging Taylor to the bathroom I find he has diarreah. I use paper towels and clean him up and put just shorts back on him, I don't have a diaper.
2:11- Call Matt to see how it's going. The guys's not there, he's 30 mintues away still.
2:12- 2:33 Taylor plays on a ladder wiht my supervision.
2:35- Make our way back to the lawnmowers, but there are other kids on them, Taylor fusses a lot!
2:59- Call Matt, the guy just called saying he's 10 minutes away, but he just got a speeding ticket.
3:25- The guy shows up, it starts pouring down rain and puts on the spare tire from the back of the car... which Matt could've done 2 hours ago!!!
3:30- Matt picks us up, Bradyden is so tired, he's screaming!
3:35- Pull into Wendy's to get food. They fill my frosty up so much it overflows everywhere. Taylor wants his food, Brayden pooped.
3:47- Back on the road, call Roadside assistance and ask what we have to do now, they tell us not to go over 60 mph and we can either exchange the car out at the next Alamo store (56 miles away) or go to a Firestone and get a new tire. We decide to go to the nearest Firestone.
3:52- I turn around to hand Taylor some ketchup for his chicken as Matt warns me to be careful, something is bound to happen soon. I proceed to drop the ketchup and it lands on my new light beige cotton purse.
4:27- Pull into Firestone after being passed by Semi's on the highway. I start nursing Brayden while Matt deals with the tire stuff.
4:35- Start calling Alamo to get a P.O. number for a new tire. Stay on hold. The guy from Firsetone calls also and is put on hold.
4:56- Taylor poops and I'm out of diapers, so Matt and Taylor walk down to CVS.
5:00- Firestone is supposed to close.
5:17- I finally talk with someone, I tell them what I need and get put back on hold. The guy from Fireftone is told he can't put a tire on the car becuase he doesn't have the right brand.
5:22- The girl get back on the line with me and approves everything.
5:27- Tire gets put on.
5:33- I pick up Brayden to get the straps of his carseat out form underneath him and discover he's blown out of his diaper and his carseat is covered in poop. I start to clean it out while Matt gets everything loaded back in the car and puts taylor in.
5:45- Maybe paper towels and a good hand washing later we're back on the road.
6:12- See a sign for the Kennedy Space Center and think we are NEVER coming back to Florida so we better see this now.
6:30- Finally make it to the Center. It closes at 7, so we turn around adn try to go to to launch pad. Get stopped by the National Guard saying it's off limits. We turn around adn start back for the highway.
AAround 9:15 we make it to Jacksonville. We've now driven a total of 304 miles in 10 hours!!!! We've still got a long way to go.
Besides singing Wheels on the Bus for 8 miles to Taylor, the rest of the trip went smoothly. We finally made it to the Columbia airport at 1:45 to turn in our car and got home at 3:31 am Monday morning. We only spent $52 on gas and drove 686 miles. We fell right to sleep and Matt got up at 6:00 to go to work. We've just about recovered by now... Atleast the first part of our trip didn't start out that way! We just laughed about everything that went wrong, because if we didn't, we'd cry. We're staying put for a while now.
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8 comments:
That is terrible! I am so glad that it was the last day of your trip. What a disaster. I am tierd and stressed out just hearing about it! Just keep laughing.
Wow, sounds like you had an adventure! At least you can laugh about it now.
Wow! Thats all I can say. It makes a great story!
You could almost make a horror movie out of that experience. So what's the moral of the story?... good deals are usually too good to be true... but they make lasting memories!
And I thought only those kind of days happen to our family! Geez! Like my mother-in-law said-"it makes for a great blog entry." Hope your days are better.
You didn't tell me all of that on the phone! Wow that is too bad. So much for a good deal. It seems like deals like that are too good to be true. It also seems like the kids know the right times to poop! Next time I have a bad day I will read this blog again!
Oh, my goodness! WHat a day! I have to say that I felt awful for you, but was laughing most of hte time. That was unbelievable. I am SO glad you are home and I am sorry about everything! I have to commend you on your persistance with the workers at the airport. It pays off, doesn't it! :)
i nearly started crying when i read your post. it brought back all these terrible feelings and emotions from our first week in new york. i think you definitely beat me. i am so glad that you are all safe and home now. that'll be the story to tell for the rest of your life. wow.
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