Canadian Buffoon's Exhausted Vacation - Update 09/01 - New TR link!

[pkondz]

This touches my soul. Ever since I was a kid, my dad has always been an early sleeper...like 9:30 and I would try to keep very quiet and couple times he comes out all grumpy because I'm too loud. He then proceeds to get up at 6:00am and stomps around the house meanwhile I live in a cupboard in the basement.

Dads everywhere.

I'm glad, I don't know what triggers those feelings, probably a severe and persistent wanderlust but I've always loved the airport.

I used to be like that.
But working in them
for years kinda knocks
that outta you a bit.

I still love traveling, though.

Erratic hours, treated very poorly by management(borderline abusive), 5 store managers in 6 months.

Ugh.
Sounds... unpleasant.

That sounds like a terrible experience.

It is.
And one that most of us
have to go through at
some point in our lives.

Don't let the TSA see this.

They're the ones who
let me keep it!

 

[pkondz]

Ugh what a terrible travel day!!!

It wasn't the best,
that's for sure!

We have been lucky and not had any bad travel days when we fly. It stays that way.

I hope so too!

I hope your trip improves from here on out.

It does.

 

[pkondz]

I suck at these. I got lucky once and other than that, I've always been trailing at the end.

Then it's time to get lucky again!
Tell Fran.

Good luck.

What's weird is that there was tons of them at Disney, but when we switched to downtown there weren't any. We walked to dinner and several other places and never encountered them.

Hmmm...
Maybe it's a "close to water" thing?

I would think that they would need to be in a "different" part of the store where you have to be over 18 to enter. Behind some sort of screen or wall.

Huh.
So surprised by that.

Well, my purse is under the seat in front of me. The carry on is under the middle seat. Fran's carry ons go up in the overhead bin.

Figured the carry on
was under the middle
(unoccupied) seat.

You bet I am!

Okay that made my day!

 

[pkondz]

Fingers and toes crossed that we have a good travel day especially since we're traveling with a 2 year old.

Especially with a 2 year old!

Live and learn.

That I should keep my mouth shut?
Yeah... except I seldom follow
that advice!

I would have wanted to do the same thing. It's better to get it taken care of then to wait.

I'm relieved to read that.

I was too!

Good thing you planned ahead. I usually bring a book to but rarely have time to read it.

Always make sure I have
plenty to pass the time
while I'm flying.

Of course that was supposed
to be enough for the trip
there and back...

 

[Steppesister]

But by then, hopefully
I'll be done writing
and it'll be too late
to escape!!!

There will be a test.
Actually, more of a con-test.

I wish I had the time to run those again. They were always a lot of fun.

There'll be actual prizes.
Or prize.
I don't know what it is yet.
Probably chocolate.
Or maple syrup.
Or something.

I"ve won before and can attest to the said prize's goodness!

Probably not a hockey puck.

So you're not going to do your prize shopping at the Canada Pavilion's Mockintile??

Monday. Travel Day.
I hadn't really slept in the last
few days, but truth is...
I hadn't slept much for
the previous couple of weeks.
(Just some personal stressful
things that were going on
at the time were keeping me up.)

I'm so sorry about that. Hope things are better now!!

4. I get one free checked bag.

Which saves about $4,000.

I wasn't disappointed.

But you would be.

There were a f... hecking lot
of books with similar titles!
What the f... heck is up with that?

Those are for when your travel plans are F'd.

My connecting flight in Toronto
was going to be tight.

It always is.

I recently bought a ticket with that sort of nonsense connection through Atlanta. After that gettting pointed out, I called the airline and had them space out the connection to something a bit more doable.

I patted myself on the back
for my foresight and also
burped a bit as a result.

Go you.


Or not.

My flight was scheduled
to depart at 9:45am.
I made it through
customs with time to spare!


At 9:37am.

I see this going NOWHERE good. Or at all for that matter.

I don't remember what the
hold-up was, but we wound
up taking off about an hour
later than scheduled.

Sure! Why not!

And in the end, I did get my
upgrade cost refunded to me
at least.

Thank goodness.... I could hear your ire rising!

This dude had brought
an entire pizza onboard!
I was in awe.

I've seen that before. Nice way to travel!!

That poor girl.
She tried. She really tried.
Numerous phone calls.
Numerous questions.
She spent almost an hour
trying to track down my bag.

Well, she did try. Gotta give her that.

In my slightly befuddled state,
I began to wonder how long
I could go with only one pair
of underwear.
And Steppesister wasn't
around to ask for advice.

A very long time.

(ETA: Alison just pointed out
that Liesa was at the GF in May.
I don't know where she was
in September. But I'm gonna
guess it wasn't ASMu, since
I didn't see her there!)

I stayed at CBR and the Poly... and... ???

The CM took my hesitation for
displeasure, rather than confusion
and upped the offer to $100.

Well that made up for the oversize bag charge!

1. What time do I get up the next day?
(Well, technically, the same day, seeing
as it's after midnight.)

2. Where do I go the next day?
a. A theme park.
b. Two theme parks.
c. Three theme parks.
d. DTD.
e. At least one theme park and DTD.
f. Nowhere. Too tired.

Did you see it in this chapter?
Did you do it?

PM sent

 

[franandaj]

Hmmm...
Maybe it's a "close to water" thing?

Actually the hotel for the second part of the trip was on a lake downtown.....

Okay that made my day!

Good!

 

[cindianne320]

Here and ready to follow along! Sorry your flights were messed up and you thought your bag was lost. I look forward to reading more.

 

[vamassey1]

Always make sure I have
plenty to pass the time
while I'm flying.

Of course that was supposed
to be enough for the trip
there and back...

Does that mean you finished your book on the travel day there?

 

[pkondz]

ooohhh… If I were running that
kind of contest, you'd have gotten
bonus points for that.

I wish I had the time to run those again. They were always a lot of fun.

They are a ton of work...

So you're not going to do your prize shopping at the Canada Pavilion's Mockintile??

Good grief, no.
I want the winner to
be pleased.

I'm so sorry about that. Hope things are better now!!

They are, thanks.

Which saves about $4,000.

Those are for when your travel plans are F'd.

I recently bought a ticket with that sort of nonsense connection through Atlanta. After that gettting pointed out, I called the airline and had them space out the connection to something a bit more doable.

How did you get them
to do that????

I see this going NOWHERE good. Or at all for that matter.

Nope.

Thank goodness.... I could hear your ire rising!

I couldn't believe they'd even
send the first email.
"You just missed your flight
did you enjoy that?"

I've seen that before. Nice way to travel!!

I'd never seen that!

A very long time.

Ew!

I stayed at CBR and the Poly... and... ???

And???
How should I know!
You got another GF upgrade????

Well that made up for the oversize bag charge!

I hadn't thought of that.
I guess it did!

PM sent

Got it!

 

[pkondz]

Actually the hotel for the second part of the trip was on a lake downtown.....

Whelp! There goes
that theory!

Good!

 

[pkondz]

Here and ready to follow along!

Hi!
to the TR!

Sorry your flights were messed up and you thought your bag was lost.

It was a very long day...

I look forward to reading more.

More coming soon!

 

[pkondz]

Does that mean you finished your book on the travel day there?

No!
I realized very early on
that I was far too tired
to do any reading.
It would've knocked me out.
I needed distractions.
So movies it was.

 

[docsoliday1]

I've been having to help my mom with some airline damaged luggage - it took multiple emails and about four months to get anything out of them. But on the plus side my flights for my trip next week are now free!

Is your trip next week to Disney? If so, I'd like to meet up with you (if of course you would like to).

 

[docsoliday1]

Actually the hotel for the second part of the trip was on a lake downtown.....

Love bugs lay their eggs in decaying material (mostly plants). That is why they're so bad around Disney...Disney has kept most of the area as undisturbed as possible so there is still much swamp/march land with the conditions needed for love bugs. That is why they're such a problem throughout much of Florida. I presume the hotel kept their area (and around the lake) more pristine which would not offer an ideal nesting/hatching spot. It could also be the higher car traffic in and around downtown terminates more of them before they can lay. I suspect the former though.

 

[pkondz]

Love bugs lay their eggs in decaying material (mostly plants). That is why they're so bad around Disney...Disney has kept most of the area as undisturbed as possible so there is still much swamp/march land with the conditions needed for love bugs. That is why they're such a problem throughout much of Florida. I presume the hotel kept their area (and around the lake) more pristine which would not offer an ideal nesting/hatching spot. It could also be the higher car traffic in and around downtown terminates more of them before they can lay. I suspect the former though.

Huh!

 

[franandaj]

Love bugs lay their eggs in decaying material (mostly plants). That is why they're so bad around Disney...Disney has kept most of the area as undisturbed as possible so there is still much swamp/march land with the conditions needed for love bugs. That is why they're such a problem throughout much of Florida. I presume the hotel kept their area (and around the lake) more pristine which would not offer an ideal nesting/hatching spot. It could also be the higher car traffic in and around downtown terminates more of them before they can lay. I suspect the former though.

That makes sense. This was the hotel. The image was probably taken from a boat on the lake or from the edge of the lake.

 

[Grumperella]

Hello ! I've read several of your past reports and loved them, so I decided to try to keep up with this one. I'm sorry about your terrible, horrible, no good, very bad travel day. We were on a flight from Philadelphia to LA and they ran out of food. Fortunately, I travel with the Queen and Crown Prince of food allergies, so we always have food with us. Extra underwear, not so much. I hope this was the worst day of your trip (besides going-home day, of course)!

 

[vamassey1]

No!
I realized very early on
that I was far too tired
to do any reading.
It would've knocked me out.
I needed distractions.
So movies it was.

That makes sense. Of course I've been know to nod off in the terminal.

 

[Jules76126]

Long time lurker, first time commenting. That sounds like a very long travel day. I hate connecting flights, but sometime you don't have a choice. Glad you bag made it to your room and wasn't still going around the airport carousel. Hopefully, your trip improved from here.

 

[pkondz]

Hello ! I've read several of your past reports and loved them, so I decided to try to keep up with this one.

Well, hello stranger/old friend!
to the TR!

I'm sorry about your terrible, horrible, no good, very bad travel day. We were on a flight from Philadelphia to LA and they ran out of food.

How does an airplane run
out of food?
I mean... "Okay. We have 124
passengers, so let's load...
oh I don't know... 85 meals
should be enough, right?"

Fortunately, I travel with the Queen and Crown Prince of food allergies, so we always have food with us.

Well, that's... good?
I'm thinking you'd rather
they weren't royalty.

Extra underwear, not so much.

Because who wants TSA
rooting through your skivvies??

I hope this was the worst day of your trip (besides going-home day, of course)!

Things got much better!