Thursday, April 7, 2011

What A Day!

This morning we were both awake before 4 AM... you know how you don't want to be late when you need to catch the early ferry?  We arrived in Sidney at least two hours before we had to be at the airport, so while Shirley was buying some seeds at the nursery I took a walk around and captured a few colourful blossoms... like this Gerber Daisy.

When I was shooting this Calla Lily I had no idea how screwed up my day was going to be.

With plenty of time to burn we did a little exploring and found Island View Beach Regional Park... a place full of people walking their dogs... a great place to walk along the shore and get a little exercise.  That island with the prominent bluff is James Island.

When we went to check in at the airport the lineup was crazy... and when we got to the ticket agent we found out why.  My flight to Seattle was cancelled due to mechanical problems... but they would reroute me thru Vancouver and I could get connections to Phoenix directly from there.  US Air had plenty of room but they told me that I would have to go to the US Airways ticket counter to get my ticket reworked and a boarding pass.

I had about 90 minutes before my connecting plane would leave, but it wasn't enough... they left without me.  You cannot imagine the run around that I got, and even after they printed my boarding passes for the remainder of my flight, they took them back and asked me to go to Alaska Airlines and have them reorganize my itinerary.

Time was slipping away... and after going to Alaska and explaining my plight yet again, they scratched their heads and said that they could not do it either.  And they tried to send me back to US Air.  That is when I got a little impatient.  I told them I was going to miss my connecting flight with all this running back and forth and no one accepting any responsibility to help me get rescheduled on a plane that was soon to depart without me.


I got the attention of a sympathetic ticket agent who grabbed the bull by the horns and walked with me back to the US Air ticket counter.  She told the girl there how the cow ate the cabbage, picked up a phone behind the desk and called their agent at the boarding desk, telling them that I was coming.  So they reprocessed my boarding passes and Kim, the kind lady, walked me thru the security check, met me on the other side and guided me thru to Customs.

That was the straw that broke the camels back.  The lineup there was sooooo looooong at Customs... and moved so slow... so many stipid questions.  When I was just about thru Kim came back to tell me that the plane had closed it's doors.  We missed it.  Damn.

But she told me that she had figured out a routing that would still get me there today... a little later... but it was the best she could do.  I just had to go to Gate 96 and she would have my revised itinerary sent there for me.  And it was there.  It was amazing how fast she got things done and buy the time I got thru Customs and walked clear across the airport to Gate 96 the lady smiled and asked to see my passport and handed me a package all neat and tidy.  Done.

So I was soon on a plane to Portland... where I am now writing this blog.  I called Lorne and told him that I would be later than planned.  My new arrival time would be 12:32 AM.  So if all goes well, I will be there just past midnight.

I know my kids thought I was a little crazy for driving to California a month ago... 4 days on the road with only 4 days there... but airline travel is not all it's cracked up to be.  Such is life.

Maybe tomorrow I will forget about all this hassle once I tee up that little white ball and drive it over the green!  It will be a whole new set of challenges!

8 comments:

  1. Oh bless you dear man...I was worried about you but realized It was completely out of my hands. So good you found someone who would listen to you. Is this our second run-around from US Airways?

    Marilyn sends her regards too. Love you, Babe!

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  2. Tough day but soon you will be in 70 degree weather. Take care.

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  3. Isn't it great when one person finally steps up and does the right thing in helping? We'll be keeping our fingers crossed for you to have a safe arrival later tonight! xo

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  4. I asked the name of the angel at Alaska Air who helped me out... it was Kim. I would likely still be knocking around the Vancouver airport if she didn't come to my rescue.

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  5. She has a good name ;-) So much love and tons of hugs from all us G Jr's. Know we are thinking of you! xo

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  6. Hi Nolan Busnell, you don't know me but I found your post via google image search. I was looking for driftwood pictures on this particular beach in Canada where I spend a night in 2010. I remembered that the driftwood was so beautiful and wanted to make a painting of it. I repainted your image and here's the result: http://en.michielvandijk.nl/like-a-piece-of-driftwood-painting/
    Thanks for the beautiful picture!

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  7. That is so cool. Love your painting.

    We ended up at this park since we had a couple of hours to blow while waiting to check in at the airport for a flight out. We like to go for walks and this was one place we had never been to before.

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    1. Thanks! I liked the picture too! My trip in 2010 to Canada was awesome and if I've saved enough I'll definitely be going back. The other thing I remember about Canada (besides the beautiful nature and friendly people) is all the drivetrough services like ATM and fastfood etc, that's so different than in the Netherlands :)

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