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another festivus miracle!

though most of you already have heard this story, i figured it was time to post it for all to see (and so it's documented and such). the long long trip i took from being a mere college student in colorado springs, to be a graduate in the land of lincoln. sorry this will be so boring. there's just so much to tell! i think they went back in time to write planes trains & automobiles about my adventure. it all began wednesday...

i woke up wednesday feeling rather chipper. gordon and i talked about the nasty blizzard and then i set out to my last class at CC. after class and saying goodbye to a few people (and playing ticket to ride, which is a great game!), i went with jeremy to get the lunch special at the sushi place on boulder downtown (though we were a half hour late). the trek down there reminded me of that arthur episode where everyone had to work together to survive the blizzard and francine wrote her essay on the vikings. after lunch, katelin keri holly & i watched some felicity and i started to hear stories about cancelled flights. hm. united.com says my flight's fine. sucks for all you, i thought, but i'm still good. i guess i'm the lucky one. i guess lucky and naive could meant he same thing... a few hours later, still high as a kite, i set out with stefan to adam's mountain cafe to celebrate the end of an era. because of the blizzard, we were one of three tables (each which left within twenty minutes of our arrival... i guess i smell that bad...). michelle sat and chatted with us, as well as the cute new hostess. tom came out of the kitchen for a bit to say hello. i don't think i could be happier. and then michelle gave us free dessert and free wine. yay! it was the best meal i think i've ever had at the heavenly adam's mountain cafe. i guess you could say there was nowhere to go but down from there...

i got a voicemail from united on the way home and discovered my flight was cancelled. yuck. i spent the next hour on the phone with united. nothing til the 26th at 10pm, they said. man was i depressed. so stefan and i decided to forget about it and to drive to chicago the next morning. we figured it was forward progress, roads to the south were fine, and if he couldn't get a flight out of chicago, at least he'd be with family (mine). life was feeling good again. then rachel came home and realized they'd been robbed. again, the night got bad. what a lousy way to start a break. what a lousy thing to happen. went home and chatted with my darling roommates til 3:45 or so. bad idea, pete. but such a good one too. it worked to perk me back up like a charm.

woke up a few hours later to set out on our long drive. called my mom to tell her and, well, i guess the idea wasn't so great to some people. so, i spent the next four three hours, hung over and on 3 hours of sleep, on hold with united, continuously getting disconnected (i think i can recite the entire automated menu without hesitation). after managing to get a flight a day earlier (now the 25th at 1pm), i went back to sleep. woke up an hour later to benji banging on the door, telling me that katelin got a flight and to call united. i was excited, yet again. hold. disconnect. hold. disconnect. we decided to go to the airport to talk to a human. next thing i know, it's 2:30 or so and i hadn't eaten, still a bit hung over and tired as hell. we stopped for lunch and went home. again, hold, disconnect, hold, hold, disconnect. i had to charge my phone because it was so tired from all the calls. i gave up. if this is what happens, this is what happens. i'll spend christmas with gordon, paddington, jesus and li'l benjamin. and that bottle of pinot i've been saving. life isn't all that bad, right? and finally, i slept. woke up a few hours later and spent more time with united. i was starting to get really frustrated. i was on hold for an hour and twenty four minutes and then got disconnected. again i had to charge my phone. then lizerbeam, my xavier, called to offer me a ride to the airport. to any airport on the way to little rock. i don't think i can express my joy at this moment. i think i started crying (which is funny because we got disconnected, and i was rather tired, at this point, of getting disconnected) because i was so happy. so i bought a ticket on southwest (refundable) out of oklahoma city. benji even offered to drive me to albequerque if i could find a flight. albequerque! then we watched breaking away (yay!) and said goodbye and tried to get some sleep. woke up five hours later and set out for the south!

i think there are very few people i could gladly spend 14 (plus) hours in a car with without dreaming about flipping the car over and not waking up. liza and colleen are without a doubt among those. the drive was a blast. good music (most of the time), good company. it was great. and we saw lots and lots of trains! the south really does have perks! we saw a pretty sunset too.

we got to dallas, since (after being on hold for about an hour) i got a flight with united for no extra charge. i stayed in the hyatt, happy as hell, wrote in my journal, watched a movie on my computer, drank some wine at the restaurant bar, and thought about being home. next morning i flew home without a hitch, just in time to celebrate festivus with my super cool family. success! yay!

the moral of this story is to not fly with an airline whose eggs are all in an airport that frequently shuts down due to blizzards. and that liza and colleen are awesome.

happy festivus everyone! you're all great!

December 24, 2006 @ 10:56pm . 30 views . 6 comments