Seattle 3 - We made it to Oregon, what about the luggage?

So, after a good, solid 3 hours of sleep (thanks Orbitz for that taking up half my night) we get up and head back to the airport. We pick up Donna (Helen's sister) around 5:00. Donna graciously offered to drive my truck back to their place so we don't spend half our vacation budget on parking at the airport (thanks Donna!).

American has re-routed us to Seattle using 2 different airlines - Frontier air from Seattle to Denver and Alaska air from Denver to Seattle and we arrive at the airport just in time. Hah! The Yoder Travel Curse (tm) is on the ropes. There's no line at Frontier when we get there and 10 minutes later, the line is 30 people long.

Frontier is great, the ticket agent is funny and sympathetic. When we get to security, we get those words every passenger loves to hear - "You've been selected at random for a special screening." Awesome. But, when we get to the scanner, the TSA guy just glances at our ticket and waves us through. Cool, things are finally looking up. When we get to the Frontier airlines gate, hey - it's our friendly ticket agent working the gate too. He apologises for not telling us about the extra security, but shows us how to find it on our ticket for the future and asks how the screening was. When I tell him that they just waved us through, he freaks out. Turns out, if they don't do the screening and we were flagged, they have to hold the plane and delay the flight until the screening is done. He calls down to security and chews out the TSA manager. So, we have to haul butt all the way back to security and get a full pat-down.

I felt like I should have tipped the TSA guy. Let's just say he was extremely thorough.

Back to the plane, just in time to board. Good seats, good flight to Denver. We get to the Denver airport and make our way to the Air Alaska gate, where I decide to blog about our good times with security. Except that I can't find my phone. I make my way back to the Frontier gate and have them check the plane - no phone. Eventually, we figured out that I had left it at home, charging up. (way to go Yoder)

On to Seattle with Air Alaska and we're on our way to pick up luggate at the baggage carasoul. It's noon when we land, and Helen is feeling so good about how things are going that she even bets me that we'll be on the road to Oregon by 1:30. HAH! She obviously isn't very familiar with the Yoder Travel Curse (tm).

Did I mention that we were waiting on our bags? ...and waiting...and waiting... Yeah, they never showed up. I asked that agent at the Alaska counter whether she could at least track the ticket number to see if they got put on the plane in Denver - "Oh, we don't have any way of tracking luggage. We're supposed to get something in October that scans bags."

The good news (?) is that we weren't the only people without bags. Remember highly-inebriated cruise guy from earlier? His bags are gone too. We start chatting with him and ask him if he's going on the cruise by himself. He tells us that he thought it was best that way because, (with a lowered voice - glancing around) "It's a 'Bare Necessity' cruise, you know". WOW! So, I guess he really doesn't need luggage after all then. Good luck with the 20 to 1 male / female ratio there fella. If this guy is the poster for a Bare Necessity cruise, then there's going to be more white meat on that boat than at Thanksgiving dinner.

We get a taxi ride to our car rental place and in one of the few things that actually goes right, the car is there waiting for us - a beautiful Lincoln Town Car - Signature Series with a sunroof. What a sweet ride!

And we're on our way to Manzanita, Oregon.

Seattle part 2 - Planes Trains and canceled hotel reservations

... so getting home at about 9:30 (thanks Tim for picking us up at the airport), I think ahead and start calling around to confirm reservations. I can tell it's going to be that kind of trip. We also decide to extend our stay in Seattle by an extra day. I call Orbitz and begin the conversation with Orbitz support. After a brief lesson in "Understanding the Finer Nuances of Language in Bombay", she is able to convey the concept that she can't just change the reservation, she'll have to create a new one and cancel the previous one. Oh, did I mention that since the call is going to India and back (not kidding, she really was based in Bombay) over a VOIP connection, not only was it very dim and staticy - it was also about a 1 second delay in the conversation. Makes for good times when things start getting exciting later on.

I'm not super excited about her canceling the reservation because I know there weren't a lot of extra rooms available. I share my concern and she puts me on hold to talk to the hotel. When she gets back she's very nervous and explains that...

...she accidently canceled the reservation and can't get a new one because no room are available.

Awesome! Her next comment is, "I'll refund your money, which you should have in 7-10 days and you can just get a reservation at another hotel, OK - Bye!" My years of religious searchings have come to good use as I try with all my might to keep my language and tone out of the 4-letter neighborhood. After refusing 4 times to go to another hotel, explaining that if I just lost a reservation, there is now a room available, even if she can't find it on her reservation system, I finally get her to conference in the hotel. I speak with Paula at the Larkspur Landing in Renton, WA (awesome person) and after about 20 minutes of trying to get the reservation confirmed, I stumble on a bright idea. "Paula", I say, "Can I call you directly and make the reservation?" "You bet", she replies, "Plus I'll be able to give you a better rate!"

"Send me my refund", I tell my Orbitz support rep and hung up the phone. Five seconds later, Paula calls me and we get the extra night with no problems. Plus, our total price for five nights is $70 cheaper than the total price from Orbitz for 4 nights!

I go to bed satisfied that things are OK. The Yoder Travel Curse (tm) has reared its ugly head and been beaten back into submission.

Oh, how wrong I was....

Yoder Travel Curse 1, theSchroders 0

Yeah, so good times trying to get from Louisville to Seattle. In typical fashion with the Yoder Travel Curse (tm) things start out swimmingly. We arrive at the airport in plenty of time, have no problem at all with the 80 pound bags we're both checking (when you only take a vacation once every 3 years, you forget how to leave stuff at home) and breeze through security.

- Cue the ominous music in the background, getting louder and louder as the sky gets darker and darker -

We gloat at the monitors that show other flights delayed or canceled from Chicago. Fools, trying to fly through MDW! We were smart and booked our tickets to connect through DFW (Dallas).

We're at the gate a good hour early and laugh at the large crowds gathered.

- Music gets louder, reaches a crescendo and then WA-WA-WA-WA - Trombones signal that the joke's on us.

The lightening starts ... and doesn't stop for the next 45 minutes that we're sitting there. Our departure time comes and goes because our plane hasn't been able to land. SDF is in the middle of a ground stop. Nobody's leaving, including the highly-inebriated guy behind me in line who's also heading to Seattle and anxious about missing his cruise.

We finally accept the mercy rule - Yoder Travel Curse (tm) 1 - Schroder travel team 0 and reschedule for tomorrow (Friday).

- Ominous music starts again - American Airlines has no flights available for travel from SDF to SEA on Friday. They're going to have to book us with some of their partners.

More to come....

Posting from my phone

Aint technology great! I'm sitting here finishing up a few things before we FLY THE HECK OUT OF HERE and just discovered that I can post to my blog by emailing from my phone. Pretty cool!

New favorite cartoon

http://www.xkcd.com/

Kind of Dilbert meets the Far Side. Very funny.