On Monday we rode to Daly City with Madeline to get together with Mom/Grandma Chandler, the Hanaikes, the Tom Chandlers, and Lynette & Roger at the Hanaike’s house. We ordered pizza and chatted/played for a few hours and then went back to San Jose to stay with Jared & Marifer. Family time is never long enough when you live in another state, and especially this time since we had to leave on Tuesday to fly back to Texas (due to the seating availability as standby passengers). We usually stay at least a week, but Sergio had to return to work on Thursday, and the flights were sold out on Wed.
On Tuesday, we attempted to fly home with Luke. We did our routine waiting in line to go through the checkpoint, (which line was quite long and boring, but we made the best of it), followed by going through the checkpoint (taking our shoes off, putting our luggage on the table thingy, etc., etc.) and then off to our gate to wait to see if we would get on the flight. Nope! So now what??!!! We already knew that the Wed. schedule was booked solid, so we exited the secured area of the airport and inquired at the ticket counter of another possible way to get home. The agent came up with our plan B: San Jose to Chicago on Tuesday; Chicago to Dallas on Wednesday morning. We could live with that. We could enjoy a hotel night’s stay in Chicago; like a fun adventure we hadn’t expected. So back we go to the line to go through the security checkpoint. (Ever watch the movie Groundhog Day?)
Luckily the line was shorter this time and we got through faster. Luke was getting a taste of what it’s like to travel Paredes style. While waiting for the Chicago flight, Marianne checked hotel options while Sergio, feeling uneasy about this Plan B, checked the flight from Chicago to Dallas for the next morning. It didn’t look quite as open as the agent seemed to indicate, so we bailed. If we were going to be stuck somewhere, we wanted it to be there where we knew people. Back down the stairs to catch our ride with Marifer to the comforts of their apartment one more night. We could not only live with that, but how nice to have another chance to visit with them! Joel and Luke watched the Hunger Games and we chatted and ate dinner (a veggie meal thanks to Marifer’s ingenuity – YUM!).
On Wednesday, we ventured back to the airport in the morning with our Plan C: San Jose to LA; LA to Las Vegas; Las Vegas to Dallas. That was the best we could do, and even that was not for sure, so we prayed for a miracle. We received more than one.
First, as the flight to LA was looking pretty full, we realized that Sergio would have to go without us if there wasn’t room for all 4 of us. After the boarding process was completed, they allowed Sergio on to take an empty seat. While we waited, in case a few people that hadn’t shown up yet fail to arrive, a couple came running up. Darn!!, Then another couple. Double darn!!! When we were about to give up, the agent said she wanted us to hurry and follow her onto the plane while she counted to see if there were 3 empty seats scattered somewhere on it. (At this point, agents usually blow you off and don’t take any more time to accommodate you.) We hurryingly (is that a word?) followed her onboard. Then began a switch here, a switch there to put us in the seats. Apparently, one passenger was suppose to be on a flight to Phoenix, so he got pulled off, someone else got moved for who knows why, and viola: there were 3 seats. Luke was towards the front, Joel towards the back, and Sergio & Marianne sat in the emergency exit aisle for adults only. Wow!! That was close!
There was no issue with the flight from LA to Vegas, but from Vegas to Dallas was another close one. Again, we were prepared for Sergio to go ahead with Luke (the agent was willing to bend the rule of a D3 passenger, the rating that Luke is, to replace a D2 passenger, our rating) because there would be less chance of him getting onboard. Then Joel and Marianne would wait for one of the later Dallas flights. Once everyone was onboard, they called for all 4 of us at once. YEAH!!! We were so happy. Another prayer answered!!! And to boot, Joel and Luke got to sit together on this one.
Joel was waiting for us to take a similar picture of him, when an airport employee informed us that anyone under 21 was not allowed within 3 feet of the slot machines, so we had to leave. Darn!!
No comments:
Post a Comment