At my sister & brother-in-law's ranch.....
It was so hot and humid.
93-96 everyday, while back in NM, the high was in the 70s.
This was supposed to be a vacation, but I think I mentioned before that visiting family is not necessarily relaxing, or sometimes not even fun. I haven't flown on Southwest for quite awhile, I've been traveling through Allegiant which flies directly to Austin. I picked SW because Allegiant didn't have any open flights when I looked, which I thought was weird, but SW had a sale, so I was able to purchase tickets for the same price as I would on Allegiant, so happy day, right? Not so much.
It all started when I boarded the plane that - of course - flies to Dallas first. The standing joke in Texas is that you can't even die without having to go through Dallas/Ft Worth or Houston before you go to heaven or hell, haha. Everyone had been seated when we received the news that our flight, which was supposed to leave at 11:50 am, is delayed an hour. Which actually turned out to be 75 minutes. As we landed in Dallas I realized that I would probably miss ~ and did miss ~ my connecting flight to San Antonio, which left without me at 4:25. We landed at 4:15. So, they re-booked me on a flight that was slated to leave at 8:30. You do the math....it was a long lay-over. I ate dinner. I walked around. I read my book, and generally tried to keep calm. But you guessed it, the flight that was supposed to leave at 8:30 was delayed until after 10 pm, getting me into SA at just before midnight. I hurriedly grabbed my luggage and the rental car and arrived in Comfort at 1 am.
These delays were apparently caused by Houston's airport shutting down due to rain & flooding, so everything was re-routed through Dallas.
These are the stories we hear all the time from fellow travelers, and seems to be the norm these days. I wish that we had train travel available. I wouldn't even care that it takes longer. It would be more scenic, and maybe more relaxing.
If only that were the end of my story. The return trip was much the same. My departing flight was originally scheduled to leave at 12:40 was delayed and they re-booked me ~ without even asking me ~ to a flight that leaves at 3:40. So, hang out, walk around, drink some coffee, read my book.....ad nauseam. Same ol, same ol. Not only that, but now I have to go to Las Vegas instead of Phoenix, and spend another couple of hours waiting for the next flight. And I didn't get home until 10 pm.
The cherry on all of this was the cold I caught on the first flight, which didn't rear it's ugly head until Wednesday. Sore throat, coughing, sneezing, mucous. Oh, goody. I'm almost over it now. I take some meds at bedtime which holds everything off until about 5 am, when the coughing wakes me up and it's nearly impossible to get back to sleep.
More about my family visit next time! At least that part had some sunshine.....
Love, 365
One reason I hate to travel. I've had some bad trips and delays, but not quite that bad.
ReplyDeleteI don't usually fly but once a year, but this year made me think maybe next time I'll drive. :-) I wanted to throw a tantrum, but then everyone looks at you weird. Or the cops come.
DeleteThat would send me directly out of my mind!! It's happened to us once - Miami. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteThis was the first time I ever experienced the frustration of delay after delay. It was an exercise in extreme patience.
DeleteWelcome back. I hate to fly. Big metal tube full of people, same amount of dignity as a cattle truck going to slaughter. How aggravating.
ReplyDeleteI'm old enough to remember how fun flying used to be. But basically it's just a flying bus these days, stopping in places you have no interest in. Ugh.
DeleteIsn't travel fun?
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you had to go through all of this. I hope the visit was a bit better to off set it all. Flying these days is worse than taking a bus.
I can compare flying and bus rides ~ when I was in my mid 20s I rode the bus from Oregon to Texas. With a 2 year old. Believe me, it is not fun. It took two days. And you stop at every tiny little town on the way. So flying is faster, but not necessarily better.
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