We are all off the week between Christmas and New Years--
seemed like the perfect time to travel!
The big surprises with the trip this year
was that we are going with our friends The Christians
AND that we are leaving today, the day after Christmas.
A LOT of planning has gone into this--
the PERFECT house,
flights with good times,
the best hikes and day trips.
But the best laid plans...
Let me tell you our saga.
We checked into the flight without issue
on Christmas--
although it was a little weird that
Dad checked us in the second the flight opened up
and we were in mid-C group.
Huh.
We were up and ready to go
when Dad double checked our boarding passes
and suddenly 4 of us were on standby
and only Beckett and Tucker were still on the flight.
Obviously, there was some sort of mix up.
Mom hopped on hold with Southwest
and we decided to head to the airport early
(3 hours before our flight)
just to be sure we got everything sorted out.
We parked at the Parking Spot
(Mom is still on hold--1 hour later)
and we arrived at the Southwest terminal to this:
It's a bit hard to get a sense of what is happening here.
There was a line, no exaggeration,
of several hundred people.
Whoa.
As we walked to the veeeery end,
we heard comments about flights being canceled
several days in a row
and lots of people on standby
and luggage lost
and people stuck in KC/MCI for days.
Huh.
So while the 5 of us stood in line
(chatting up the lady next to us
who's been canceled 3 days in a row
for a flight to California),
Mom headed inside with her standby ticket
to find a Southwest employee.
The line there was only 7 people deep
and she quickly found out
our plane had been downsized and could hold fewer people,
bumping 4 of us out.
Given the state of everything
(the impact of the disaster was starting to set in
as the local news station showed up),
the lady recommended we keep our flight,
cross our fingers we get off standby
and wished us luck.
Huh.
We decided it was time to confer with Danelle and Mike
who were not yet in the airport.
They couldn't get their boarding passes to pull up anymore
and then Danelle suddenly was notified our flight was canceled.
Huh.
The crazy back-up plan
was to rent a car and drive...
and that plan suddenly wasn't so crazy.
Other airlines had no flights to Phoenix.
Given the state of the airport and our fellow travelers,
we took the shuttle to the rental car desks
to look for alternative travel.
Mike beat us there and grabbed what became
the last Rav-4 in KC.
Dad thought he'd secured a minivan
only to find out it didn't really exist.
Over the next 30-45 minutes,
Mom and Dad called every rental company in the KC metro
only to find that no one had a car big enough for us.
Jack's insane idea to take a train or a bus
suddenly became a real option
(only to find buses would take us 3 days
and the train was canceled).
Oh, and did I mention we couldn't take our van
because it was overdue for an oil change
and has a nail in the tire?
(and surely we'll be able to fly home???)
Mind you, Mom has been on hold now with Southwest
for over 3 hours.
But wait!
A lovely lady named Faith finally answers...
and says we can catch the next available flight to Phoenix
on December 31st.
Huh.
She can't even find a rental car in KC
(they are all gone).
She does help us get our flight refunded
and was really nice.
So.
Just as all hope seemed to be lost
(and, really, it felt hopeless),
Dad walked up to the Budget desk...
and a minivan JUST PULLED UP!
Yes, we'll take that!
For $550 a DAY??!?!
Um, yes. Yes, we'll pay that.
What choice do we have?
The lady kindly says she can't change the price--
it's being driven up by the desperate situation--
but told us to check it in tomorrow in Phoenix
and we could pick up our other van for our original price
of $800 for the WEEK.
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
But look!
We're on the road!
As are the Christians!
You'd think it would be smooth sailing now, right?
Huh.
We just want to get there.
Our plan is to drive the 12ish hours to Albuquerque,
arriving at 2am local (3am KC) time,
catch a little sleep,
and make it to Phoenix in time to swap out the car
(we have to be there by 2pm).
18 hours of driving
in 25 hours.
Challenge accepted.
But,
then both our drivers got stopped for speeding
(Dad just a little, got a warning;
Danelle by a LOT, got a ticket).
And our hotel?
Let's say the LaQuinta has seen better days.
At least our room had blinds;
the Christians, not so much.
But look!
We've got this view!
And we made it to Arizona!
There was a lot more rental car drama.
Mom was on the phone for probably 6 hours of our drive
between wait times and talking to someone.
We tried to stop at 3 other Budgets along the way
(which didn't actually exist anywhere but the internet)
and finally pulled into Flagstaff with 15 minutes to spare
because we had to go to a physical Budget desk
to get things fixed.
A man named Robert
was so helpful,
it brought Mom to tears.
Rental car fixed.
And,
we made it to Sedona.
More on that in the next post...
We're just glad this drive and rental car ordeal is over.
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