The Joy of Travel

As the Grateful Dead used to sing, what a long, strange trip it has been (Kevin Roberts should like that opening). I just returned this afternoon from a two day trip to Denver, Colorado. I should have known that with the massive spring snowstorm on Sunday, this trip would be anything but typical. Here's a breakdown of everything I encountered in 48 hours:

Monday, April 11

9:00 am - Arrive in DFW airport to find that my 9:30 am connecting flight to Denver is delayed by 45 minutes.

9:30 am - Instructed to move from gate C31 to C35.

9:45 am - Instructed to move from gate C35 to C37.

10:00 am - Instructed to move from gate C37 back to C31.

10:30 am - Flight takes off for Denver.

12:00 noon - Arrive in Denver...however, there are no open gates so we wait on the runway for 55 minutes.

12:55 pm - Pull into the gate and leave the plane. I make my way to the baggage claim area.

1:00 pm - Informed that flight 1115's luggage would not arrive to baggage claim until at least 2:00 pm.

2:00 pm - Informed that flight 1115's luggage would not arrive to baggage claim until at least 3:00 pm.

3:15 pm - Luggage arrives!

4:30 pm - Arrive to hotel in Denver, CO.

4:55 pm - I take a shower. Upon getting out of the shower, I grab a towel from the shelf. I unfold the towel to find a massive wad of intertwined human hair. I nearly puke.

Tuesday, April 12

9:00 am - I inform the front desk of the Doubletree Hotel that I need to extend my reservation through Wednesday night because David Pitmman, admissions counselor would be staying at the hotel with me but would not leave until Thursday (I left on Wednesday morning). PROBLEM - I did a poor job of explaining and made it sound like that I was sharing the room with another guy -- someone I had just met. I spend the next 5 minutes re-explaining my situation and assuring the front desk that we are co-workers, not life partners!

10:45 pm - David and I return from our Purple and White recruiting party to find all local restaurants already closed. We find a sports bar and grill open and enter. Upon sitting down, we are told the only thing we can order is fried foods from the appetizer menu. We each get 4 chicken strips...each about 4 inches long. We're still starving.

Midnight - David and I get to our hotel room and I pack everything since I have a 6:00 am flight and need to leave the hotel by 4:00 am.

Wednesday, April 13

1:00 am - Wide awake!

1:30 am - Wide awake!

2:00 am - Wide awake!

2:30 am - Wide awake!

3:00 am - I get up and shower and leave.

4:15 am - The Hertz shuttle bus takes me to the terminal. I leave my Oakley sunglasses on the bus just seconds after the bus drive reminds me to take them with me.

10:03 am - Flight 1389 is ready to leave DFW for Abilene. The props are spinning when the pilot shuts everything down, and announces that the terminal has requested access to the plane.

10:07 am - The ticketing agent, the pilot and an armed police officer enter the plane. They ask for a young lady (about 30 years old, blonde and very cute and innocent) to leave the plane with them.

10:25 am - The pilot informs us the the woman had something illegal in her suitcase. So, her and her suitcase are now being searched. We will leave without her.

11:45 am - I am in the Abilene airport waiting on my luggage (oh no, here we go again!) and talking on the phone to Shawna. I accidentally trip and kick the emergency shut off button to the luggage carousel -- just as our luggage was about to be fed through! The "workers" cannot fix it and have to manually bring our luggage into the bagage area. I get dirty looks from everyone!

11:55 am - I am leaving the airport in my car which I had parked at the airport while I was gone. The gate keeper informs me I owe him $15. Of course, I have $9. He says, "I take checks." I reply, "I have no checkbook. What about a credit card?" And you already know the answer to that question. I promise him I will go home, get my checkbook and return with the $15. He reluctantly agrees.

12:40 pm - I return with a check for $15 and try to put this miserable trip behind me.

I hope I never go back to Colorado for as long as I live!