March 2009 Archives
Ahhh.....View image
The perfect vacation for all involved. Baseball for Brian & Brandon. Parasailing for Gretchen and Nancy and everyone enjoyed the beach.
You can see all the images at my Flickr site.
The whole family went to a Pirates vs. Red Sox game in Bradenton. I seem to have a special ability to make baseball games go into extra innings. Probably because I don't really enjoy baseball. You see, the only thing I enjoy about baseball is sitting outside on a lovely day. So... I'm willing to take a book, and sit and read while my family watches the game. This extra inning knack of mine, though, has become legend in my family. Brian has season tickets to the Spikes and I go to only one or two baseball games per year--always extra innings. This game was no exception. Final score 15-14 in 10 innings. So I had to sit at yet another prolonged game while my family just laughed.
Brian & Brandon went to a Phillies game later in the week. Gretchen and I took a pass and spent more time on the beach. I wasn't going to risk extra innnings again so quickly!
The perfect vacation for all involved. Baseball for Brian & Brandon. Parasailing for Gretchen and Nancy and everyone enjoyed the beach.
You can see all the images at my Flickr site.
The whole family went to a Pirates vs. Red Sox game in Bradenton. I seem to have a special ability to make baseball games go into extra innings. Probably because I don't really enjoy baseball. You see, the only thing I enjoy about baseball is sitting outside on a lovely day. So... I'm willing to take a book, and sit and read while my family watches the game. This extra inning knack of mine, though, has become legend in my family. Brian has season tickets to the Spikes and I go to only one or two baseball games per year--always extra innings. This game was no exception. Final score 15-14 in 10 innings. So I had to sit at yet another prolonged game while my family just laughed.
Brian & Brandon went to a Phillies game later in the week. Gretchen and I took a pass and spent more time on the beach. I wasn't going to risk extra innnings again so quickly!
I'm the kind of person that can enjoy a road trip. Have fun cranking the stereo, stopping at little Mom & Pop diners, yard sales, and whatever else strikes my fancy. However, time rarely seems to allow for me to take those types of trips. Instead, for our limited number of vacation days we usually have a destination in mind. And since spending our time at the destination is the goal, we usually fly to get there.
And so begins my story of flying to Tampa and back for spring break. I happily booked my flights through a website. Of course, the web site gave a a few choices, but for the best price/time combination I chose Harrisburg, PA to Chicago and Chicago to Tampa, FL. This is a route no self-respecting bird would ever take. I can just imagine the kind of Hitchcockian revolt by "the birds" to any navigator that would lead them on such a circuitous route. So despite being some 800 miles out of the way, I booked my flights and was ready to go.
Since the flight left at 6:30 a.m., we spent the night in a hotel near the airport, got up at 4 a.m. to be at the airport at 5:00 -- must leave time to get through security, etc... Arrive and have smooth sailing through security, by 5:20 we're at the gate with an hour to kill. By 5:45, they are begin to post delays for our flight. The traveler beside us, a woman with clearly negative opinions about this airline in the first place, asks how you can be delayed already first thing in the morning. My answer, two things - weather or mechanical problems and the weather is fine. So, I believe I'll wait for them to fix the plane, thanks. We have some time before our connection, the 45 minute delay posted will make it tight but still no worries. Then comes the announcement that the plane needs a new tire, and there isn't one at the airport, they must have one driven up from Washington, DC. The new estimated time for the flight to leave is 10:00 a.m.
At this point, several things go through my mind. 1) There isn't another tire to fit this airplane any closer than Washington? Are you kidding me? 2) You ARE an airline, surely you could get one here flying faster than driving, and most importantly 3) this means we will miss our connection entirely, we need to be re-booked. The best United can do is offer us a Harrisburg to Charlotte, NC - Charlotte to Tampa flight on US Airways that gets us there at 5:00 p.m.(four hours later than originally planned). Washed away are my hopes of spending the afternoon on the beach; but at least the completely southern flight path appeals to my aesthetic sense.
Our new plane to Charlotte doesn't depart until noon. I'm so glad I got up at 4 a.m. to spend 7 hours in the Harrisburg airport! So Gretchen watches a DVD of The Dark Knight, Brian pulls out magazines, Brandon & I pull out books, and we wait. The new flight that's supposed to leave at noon starts posting delayed. We cringe. We finally depart 45 minutes late, this cuts our one-hour layover in Charlotte to 15 minutes. By the time we de-plane in Charlotte, we have 10 minutes to get - you guessed it - to the other end of the airport. So we begin our 1970's -style OJ run through the airport. (For those of you who need some background here - OJ Simpson before running from the law made a famous commercial for Hertz that had him running through an airport hurdling luggage to make a flight). I'm the next to last person to board, the guy behind me clearly hadn't run a marathon recently.
And at last arrival in Tampa. Since we barely made the plane in Charlotte, I figure it's a given that the checked baggage did not. Correct. Luckily, most of what we needed was in the carry-ons. Beach towels and beach gear were in the checked luggage, but what the hell, we'd missed the afternoon at the beach anyway. The luggage arrived at the hotel just before midnight - hours after we'd all fallen asleep from such a long day.
See the next post for the fabulous time we had once we actually arrived at our destination.
This posting however, remember, is titled travel hell. With one day of travel hell under our belts the return trip surely could only be as bad as, say, purgatory, right? Wrong. Can you say repeat. Long story short, initial flight delayed, connecting flight cancelled. So, new airline, new route. New intial flight now leaving 2 1/2 hours later than original. AND the rebooked initial flight is also delayed, causing yet another run through yet another airport to try to make the tight connection. Finally arrived home at about 2 a.m. this morning.
And so begins my story of flying to Tampa and back for spring break. I happily booked my flights through a website. Of course, the web site gave a a few choices, but for the best price/time combination I chose Harrisburg, PA to Chicago and Chicago to Tampa, FL. This is a route no self-respecting bird would ever take. I can just imagine the kind of Hitchcockian revolt by "the birds" to any navigator that would lead them on such a circuitous route. So despite being some 800 miles out of the way, I booked my flights and was ready to go.
Since the flight left at 6:30 a.m., we spent the night in a hotel near the airport, got up at 4 a.m. to be at the airport at 5:00 -- must leave time to get through security, etc... Arrive and have smooth sailing through security, by 5:20 we're at the gate with an hour to kill. By 5:45, they are begin to post delays for our flight. The traveler beside us, a woman with clearly negative opinions about this airline in the first place, asks how you can be delayed already first thing in the morning. My answer, two things - weather or mechanical problems and the weather is fine. So, I believe I'll wait for them to fix the plane, thanks. We have some time before our connection, the 45 minute delay posted will make it tight but still no worries. Then comes the announcement that the plane needs a new tire, and there isn't one at the airport, they must have one driven up from Washington, DC. The new estimated time for the flight to leave is 10:00 a.m.
At this point, several things go through my mind. 1) There isn't another tire to fit this airplane any closer than Washington? Are you kidding me? 2) You ARE an airline, surely you could get one here flying faster than driving, and most importantly 3) this means we will miss our connection entirely, we need to be re-booked. The best United can do is offer us a Harrisburg to Charlotte, NC - Charlotte to Tampa flight on US Airways that gets us there at 5:00 p.m.(four hours later than originally planned). Washed away are my hopes of spending the afternoon on the beach; but at least the completely southern flight path appeals to my aesthetic sense.
Our new plane to Charlotte doesn't depart until noon. I'm so glad I got up at 4 a.m. to spend 7 hours in the Harrisburg airport! So Gretchen watches a DVD of The Dark Knight, Brian pulls out magazines, Brandon & I pull out books, and we wait. The new flight that's supposed to leave at noon starts posting delayed. We cringe. We finally depart 45 minutes late, this cuts our one-hour layover in Charlotte to 15 minutes. By the time we de-plane in Charlotte, we have 10 minutes to get - you guessed it - to the other end of the airport. So we begin our 1970's -style OJ run through the airport. (For those of you who need some background here - OJ Simpson before running from the law made a famous commercial for Hertz that had him running through an airport hurdling luggage to make a flight). I'm the next to last person to board, the guy behind me clearly hadn't run a marathon recently.
And at last arrival in Tampa. Since we barely made the plane in Charlotte, I figure it's a given that the checked baggage did not. Correct. Luckily, most of what we needed was in the carry-ons. Beach towels and beach gear were in the checked luggage, but what the hell, we'd missed the afternoon at the beach anyway. The luggage arrived at the hotel just before midnight - hours after we'd all fallen asleep from such a long day.
See the next post for the fabulous time we had once we actually arrived at our destination.
This posting however, remember, is titled travel hell. With one day of travel hell under our belts the return trip surely could only be as bad as, say, purgatory, right? Wrong. Can you say repeat. Long story short, initial flight delayed, connecting flight cancelled. So, new airline, new route. New intial flight now leaving 2 1/2 hours later than original. AND the rebooked initial flight is also delayed, causing yet another run through yet another airport to try to make the tight connection. Finally arrived home at about 2 a.m. this morning.
Wow, where did the time go? After the marathon in November, Thanksgiving, and Christmas were upon me in no time. January brought a server change at the office immediately before the new semester and all hell broke loose. So, l spent lots of time at the office in January, then February slid right by.
Gretchen is nearly done with her gymnastics season. She's not done quite as well at Level 5 as she did last year as a Level 4 competitor, but she's qualified for sectionals, and we're quite proud of her. You can catch some of her gymnastics photos on my Flickr site.
Gretchen is nearly done with her gymnastics season. She's not done quite as well at Level 5 as she did last year as a Level 4 competitor, but she's qualified for sectionals, and we're quite proud of her. You can catch some of her gymnastics photos on my Flickr site.
