Well, as you may know, I took a trip out to Washington, D.C./Richmond, VA for a wedding. (Oh, I received a few comments on my dress, by the way!). I met L's college roommates - hope I passed the test.
While the wedding was the highlight, the best part of it was the drama-filled fun of flying the friendly skies.
The trip consisted of a missed flight on the way from PDX to Regan International on the 17th. Thus, after a $50.00 change of ticket I was on my way to Washington-Dulles instead, by way of JFK.
Ah... after the late arrival into DC, we spent a few days in Baltimore/DC area, met some friends, relaxed.
Then came the wedding. Very nice.
And then... ah, and then the delightful attempt to get home began on a lovely Monday afternoon, December 21st at Dulles International airport.
(Before I get into the details of the attempt home, let me tell you that I saw the Delta in-flight safety video on 4 occasions. I do recommend it - it's quite catchy. My two favorite parts are when the star of the movie (1:50) says in such a catchy tone, "smoking is not allowed," and when the male flight attendant is demonstrating (3:30) how to inflate the safety vest (he looks so genuinely happy - it's quite cute).
I was also luckily chosen three times for the extra search. I thoroughly enjoyed the search at Dulles - they keep you in a 8X8 foot glass fish-bowl for everyone to see who the bad children are as they rush through security checks.)
Back to the story: On my way back to PDX, the first leg from Dulles to JFK was delayed... delayed... delayed for mechanical reasons. The delay caused me to miss the leg from JFK to PDX.
I spent an hour and a half in the Delta line to get a new ticket only to find out once I arrived at the desk that they could not get me to PDX until 5 days later... (this also meant after the Christmas holiday). The Portland area was having one of the worst snow storms in its recent history, thus making it difficult to get back.
We grabbed the only flight available at the moment so we could have something...
Oh, by the way - our luggage - we were told it was in New York. "Oh, but we'll have it for you tomorrow," Delta-man tells us. "In fact, we'll deliver it to you."
Thank gawd L has a friend in Arlington, VA (just across the DC border) who offered us her apartment. We stayed there throughout this debacle.
Next day... no luggage. Lots of phone calls to Delta.
In fact, we spent the next four days calling Delta, trying to find earlier flights to PDX and was told everything booked... talked to 4 different people - three were helpful... every time I called I was able to get the last tickets on a flight that was pieced together over several layovers and airlines.
Luggage was never delivered. Four days in the same outfit. Start to feel quite grimy.
Finally found a flight out on the 24th to Salt Lake and then a flight from Salt Lake to PDX on the 25th. "Oh, by the way," we ask Delta-baggage-man on the phone - after 45 minutes of being on hold - "where's our luggage?"
Luggage is at Dulles, we're told.
Arrived at Dulles on the 24th. Asked about our luggage. Delta-baggage-lady tells us it's already in Portland. Oh goodie we think. Ah... but there's more to this story. Just wait.
Got into PDX at 2pm on Christmas... Yes! We find luggage - yes! Oh wait... we found one bag - L's. "Where's my bag," I ask Delta-luggage-lady. "Hmm.... looks like it's at Dulles." Sigh. "But we can deliver it to you at your home in Albany. It will be there tomorrow on the 26th."
Sounded ok to me.
Found the car we left in economy parking... covered in 2 feet of snow and a layer of ice underneath that... Snow falling, out in converse and jeans, scraping it off with an empty CD case... but an angel came - a guy with a shovel helped us out and an hour later after scraping and shoveling snow away from the car, we were off to Sherwood to spend the rest of the Christmas holiday with the Brown family.
Oh! But wait! We took a wrong turn off I-5! Instead of I-84 through Portland, we found ourselves headed to even worse-wintry-wonderland of I-84 EAST! It is quite scary to be driving on icy roads in a tiny Jetta with front-wheel drive and scary, giant semi-trucks speeding past you at 60 miles an hour when you're driving about 25 mph.
But that is beside the point... we made it...finally. We spent a wonderful Christmas evening with the Brown family, opened a few presents and had a fabulous dinner.
We left this morning for our house in Albany, and here we are... and I am so glad to be back home.
ps - did I fail to mention that my luggage is still missing? No deliveries to the house today. Grrr...
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