Going Home

We had a 3 PM flight from Fairbanks to Anchorage. I had Gerry in a wheelchair all the way as he was so exhausted. We flew to Anchorage but arrived late…4:15. For some reason I read the paper itinerary wrong and thought we had our next flight on USAir at 4….that was the time our flight was supposed to LAND!. So here I thought we missed the plane (we never would have made it anyway). We got Gerry in a wheelchair and had been told we would have an electric cart meet us…but they don’t have them at that airport. AND…we had to go to another terminal. AND…we had to go OUTSIDE and take the airport shuttle to get here. I was so annoyed. We got onto the shuttle and it made it’s stops…AND went through the employees parking lot. I was trying to get USAir on the phone but kept getting the automated system. After 3 tries I finally got a person on the line. She told me that since the tickets were booked thru Alaska Air we would have to go back to them. So we stayed on the shuttle and went BACK to the first (South) terminal. There I was told that since we missed the flight (and they don’t have monitors there that show that…they were going by what I told them) we had to go BACK to USAir to get on another flight. By then I had looked again at my itinerary and realized that the flight didn’t leave till 4:45 – and it was now 4:35. As we headed for the door again (me with a rolling duffle and knitting bag and Gerry, walking, with a HEAVY computer backpack on his skinny shoulders) I called USAir again. This time I got a guy who said the plane had not left yet, but there was not way he could inform them to wait (as if they would wait). I decided not to take the shuttle but to grab a cab. There were about 10 cabs in a row. We were at the last one…you have to take the first one first. I ran up and told the driver that we needed to get to USAir immediately. “Where?” he asked. I repeated my request. “Where is that?” he said. I yelled, “You don’t know where USAir is and you drive here?” He was definitely a foreigner (by his heavy accent). I don’t have a problem with that. My problem is having a job where you have to do something and you don’t understand enough English to be able to do it. I went to the second cab driver with my request. He didn’t understand me either but did say, “You have to go to first car!” I went to the third car….same thing, but HE said, “North Terminal?” I didn’t know but said again, “USAir!” The first driver spoke to another and then called us to come, he would take us. It was a 5 minute drive…that’s all, 5 minutes…at 35 miles an hour, behind someone doing 25! When we got there I saw that there was nothing on the meter. I asked, “How much?”
“Whatever you want to give me, “ the driver said. So I handed him $5.00 and he got upset with me. “That’s it? That’s what you want to give me?” Honestly…I am not cheap, but a) he didn’t understand where to go b) it was a 5 minute ride c) it only took 5 minutes because we were behind someone who was slower than the speed limit.. I said that’s all you get and got out of the car. Gerry came into the terminal after me and told me that he felt bad so he gave the guy another $5. I would have loved to get mad at him but I didn’t have the time. I finally got Gerry into a wheelchair and got to the ticket counter. YES…we missed the plane (and would have even if I did remember the correct departing time as we would not have made it by the time they closed the doors). YES – they could get me onto a Delta flight leaving at 7 PM, to Atlanta (7 hrs) with an hour layover and then on to Ft. Lauderdale…. First Class all the way…perfect! BUT…I had to go BACK to Alaska Air to be ticketed and then come back here for boarding passes. I left Gerry sitting on the side there, took the shuttle to Alaska Air, was ticketed, came back, got the boarding passes, went through security and got to the gate with 40 minutes to spare! Can you believe all that? I was just as exhausted as Gerry – anyone would have been. Talk about getting your exercise!

We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale at 9 AM This morning. Our luggage was waiting at the USAir office. Our driver was waiting, too, and took us home to our waiting doggies and a bed for Gerry. As for me….being the crazy person that I am, I unpacked 4 suitcases, organized, sorted laundry and got it started, checked the mail, checked and answered e-mail, and finally, by 4 PM, my body crashed and I had to nap for a few hours.

It’s too bad that we had to miss the land tour, thought I never really thought that Gerry would be able to make it. At least we got to do the cruise, which was fabulous, and it was very good for Gerry emotionally and mentally.