Airline Adventures

Originally I had quite a scenic route for my California trip. Went from Cody to Salt Lake to San Diego. That one is a Delta flight. I got to the Cody airport relatively early as the Governor was scheduled for a ribbon cutting for the new terminal. Found a nice parking spot close to the arrival door.

That one was ok although the Cody plane was half an hour late getting in. I had an hour and a half between planes so that one was cut down to just an hour, but not a problem. I decided to take everything I needed in a carry-on bag and didn't need to check luggage. The kids were right there to meet me and it all worked out very well.

My return trip was scheduled on a United flight which went from San Diego to Los Angeles, to Denver, to Cody. Was to arrive in Cody at 8:30 p.m. so could get back to Meeteetse before too late and Gma would still be up. Scenic route.

As it turned out I didn't get that scenic route, but I did have a bit of an adventure. Had to be at the airport two hours early, so we left Murrieta around ten-ish as my plane left at 1:00. Weren't sure exactly which terminal we needed, but took a chance on the commuter terminal. That was the right one. The line wasn't very long and other people there were on the same flight. Called Mary to let her know I was in the right place. She was headed to Katie's. There were two automatic machines there, but one was out of order and the other was slow. The first man was having trouble getting it to work right for his boarding pass. By the time an attendant came to help he got it. The next guy was getting impatient with the first one, who kept apologizing. When the second guy got his turn the machine wasn't cooperating with him and he really came unglued. The attendant came to help him and he ranted and raved some more, but finally got his boarding pass. The next lady was worried she'd miss her flight, but the attendant stayed to help her too. The machine was just slow and people got in a hurry and pushed the buttons too fast. Ended up having to start over. With the attendant there it worked better as she pushed the buttons and waited the appropriate time. She also helped the next lady. When it was my turn I asked her to " Please don't go away" . She helped me too. Called Mary again after I went through security and let her know I was definitely in the right place and set to go.

Wrong!! The 12noon plane was an hour late and the 1:00pm plane was also a little over an hour late. They called me to the ticket counter and told me I wasn't going to make my connection out of Los Angeles in time to get the Denver one to Cody. Hmmm. They could get me on a direct flight from San Diego to Salt Lake which would connect to Cody, but I wouldn't get there until 11:00 p.m. OK, I'll take it.

Was afraid if I asked to go the next day I'd have to pay extra for changing my schedule. This was their arrangement and it would get me where I needed to go. They gave me paperwork for that flight on Delta and gave me directions on how to get to that terminal. There is a shuttle bus outside every five minutes, go to the second stop. They were very kind about it and showing me where to go. Even the bus driver was helpful when it was my stop. The United guy said I might be able to get an earlier flight to Salt Lake, but would have to go stand-by.

When I went to the Delta ticket counter that man checked everything and I was all set. He did check out the earlier flight and said "oh no, that one is really full". I took that to mean they probably already had all the stand-bys they could handle. By this time it was 1:30 and this Delta flight didn't leave until 6:00.

Went through security and found my gate, then called Mary around 2:ish
(Me): Where are you?
(Mary): I'm in San Diego at Katie's. Where are you? In Los Angeles?
(Me): I'm in San Diego too.
(Mary): What!!!!!

So I explained it all to her and she offered to come and get me for awhile. Not a good idea. She had three little kids to strap in her car and by the time she got back to the airport and we found each other we'd just have time to circle the parking lot before I had to check in again. Have to check in two hours before take off. Besides I'd already gone through security and really didn't want to have to do it again.

I had a good book to read. Got some lunch at a MacDonalds there in the airport, read, wandered around the little shops, read. Actually wasn't all that bad and time passed relatively fast. They have nice rocking chairs there. Called Gma to tell her the change of plans, so all was well, just made a longer day than anticipated. Think next time I'll just skip the United thing and go with Delta. Then I can have breakfast or lunch with Katie too. Or else I'll go with Billings flights as they have bigger planes. These little "puddle jumpers" are propellers, not jets.

Cody only has two afternoon return flights, one at 8:30pm with United through Denver and one at 11:00pm with Delta through Salt Lake. Think there is one from Salt Lake on Delta that comes in at noon, but I would have had to leave San Diego at 6:00am. That means getting up at 2:00am to get ready to leave Mary's at 3:00am to get to the airport by 4:00am to do the two hours before flight time thing. That one is too ungodly to even think about.

Anyway I got home safely without any more problems. Gma did wait up for me although she napped in her rocking chair before I got there. Now I'm glad I didn't wait another day as it was snowing Tuesday. Might have been delayed longer somewhere along the line.