Tab’s Trip Pt 1

Where have I been? Hmmm

Wednesday Tabitha and Sister G.’s plane was scheduled to take off from Colorado Springs airport at around 7 o’clock. Getting there 2 hours ahead of time meant being there around 5. Well, we decided that 5:30 might be okay. This meant that to get to Sis. G.’s house by 5 and allowing half an hour drive time, we had to leave our house at 4:30. This meant getting Tabitha up at 4:00. Since Margaret had client’s immediately after we dropped them off, she had to get up to go with. Since she must have at least a few sips of coffee to even function, she had to get up around 3:30. I, being the household alarm clock and coffee maker, had to get up at 3:00. I am probably the only person in the world that this does not bother too much, but it was the beginning of a longer day than anybody expected.

The deal Sis G got was from a well-known, heartily advertised travel website. Not the one advertised by William Shatner, though. I may give out the name if they give us problems, but for now i won’t unless you e-mail me asking for it. Anyway, it included roundtrip airfare, hotel and rental car and therein lies the tale.

They went from the Springs to Denver and had an expected layover for about 4 hrs waiting for a flight into Fresno. Somehow they missed their connection. That part of the story is still a mystery, but by missing the flight they then had to wait another 4 hrs and it started snowing and the flight was delayed in Denver and they finally left Denver around 8 that evening. Needless to say, each time they called us they were more and more exhausted and frustrated and upset. Fortunately they had borrowed a cell phone for the trip. Sleeping in airports and bus depots is a skill that is not developed well by the casual traveler. Ah, but at least they are on their way to Fresno now.

When they arrived at Fresno, the rental car clerk had dutifully and courteously waited for them to arrive. The paperwork that they had said the car was to be picked up on Wednesday and returned on Saturday. In the fine print of the agreement, however, only 2 of those days were pre-paid, and so they had to fork over money for 2 more days rental in order to effect their escape from the airport. At least they had a hotel room reserved.

Oh, yes. A hotel room in the slummiest part of the city. Many disreputable types lounging about made them feel uncomfortable, but when a drunken brawl broke out in front of their door, they decided this was not a good place. Sis G made the commendable (very reasonable) decision to move out of that hotel and find a different place to stay. They moved to a room that one of the preachers had reserved for a party that had never showed up. Well, that was nice. But they still have 2 more nights in Fresno, Bro G is having a fun time trying to get a refund form the inexorable .com that sold them this deal and if they use the little cash they have left they will not have any food money.

Margaret calls the hotel and tries to pay for the remaining nights with her visa, only to discover that they cannot accept payment over the phone, does she have a fax? Fortunately we do, so they fax us a form (this is a standard operating procedure with many hotel chains), we fill it out and fax it back, they lose it, we get a different number to fax it to, and Margaret calls again to make sure it really is taken care of, which it is. Finally. Hopefully. This was all done in between Margaret’s clients!

By the way, the staff at the Radisson was very professional and helpful.

I have no idea what they have learned about God or the Bible or anything, but I know they have had a couple of small lessons from the school of hard knocks!

More news as it comes available, folks, so stay tuned.

And remember, as the Good Book says, “Life’s hard, then ya die, so enjoy life while you can.”