Sunday, December 21, 2008

And then they drop me...

... and everyone else. Flight into Seattle was a bit uneventful. Flight attendance tell us on board as we are landing that there have been some cancellations. Oh, that wasnt even the half of it. "Some" was a drastic understatement. Straight off the plane, we ran to the readerboard to find the location of our flight to San Diego. Of the three flights of the morning, two where cancelled. Fortunately, ours was the only flight remaining. We sat at the gate and stared the Alaska Airlines attendants down. We were no intimidation to them. It was not like there were feet of snow on the ground. It was not like the winds were howling at 80 miles an hour. It was not like there were sheets of falling ice rain. It was snow, lightly falling. Hard to believe a few flakes could cause this much disaster. I soon found out that the minds-that-be at Seattle Tacoma International Airport have an unhealthy avoidance of snow removal equipment purchases. I guess they are the thought-theory that if they dont buy anything to remove the snow, then the snow merely shouldn't fall. Are those in the Pacific Northwest that naive? I live in Fairbanks, Alaska. If for one year, I decide not to buy the boys winter jackets. Will the temperature not drop below zero? I do not believe I would have happy-campers waiting for the bus in the middle of December. Yet I digress. We arrive in Seattle at 6am this morning. We wait another eight hours for information pertaining to the de-icing of our plane and listen to countless flights being labeled "cancelled" and we sit in the airport like lemmings before the final run. The sitting becomes the standing; the standing become the pacing, and the pacing becomes frantic lunges for the counter. "Flight 840 to SanDiego has been cancelled. Please exit the terminal to the ticketing counters to reschedule your flight". Fortunately we have a phone number to the agents and start calling the moment that announcement was broadcasting. We are confirmed on a flight out of Seattle on Tuesday, December 23. Too bad the cruise took off earlier this evening from San Diego. Without us. Without several other people in Seattle waiting for the flight. Without other people in Vancouver. Without even more people in Portland. Is no one in the Pacific Northwest purchasing snow removal equipment? Another six hours of phone calls to various airlines and air resellers to come up with a solution. Alaska Airlines rescheduled us for San Diego, yes. But the cruise is no longer in San Diego. It is entertaining hundreds of fortunate OTHER passengers in the Pacific Ocean. We had to purchase (yes, added expense: plane tickets for 7) flights from San Diego, to Houston, to Acapulco to catch up to the cruise ship on Christmas afternoon. Oh, baby. Santa is going to visit somewhere 30K feet above Northcentral Mexico. I hope those reindeer aren't affected by altidude sickness.

6 comments:

Holly Jo said...

Seriously. I doubt this adventure is going to be one of those that you look back on and smile. My brother is living in Seattle and made it up here - (you guys probably passed each other in the sky) and he said it was pandemonium at the airport, on the roads, at the stores. They are not prepared for it. Pansies. ;)

Anonymous said...

:( Sorry to hear this....

Arctic Knitter said...

Wow - I hope the rest of your vacation went well. Enjoy the warm weather - it's super cold up north (-36°F) and down here in Anchorage.

Tama said...

Just catching up. All of the knitting projects turned out beautiful! I had heard from my mother-in-law that the Seattle area was awful (they live up there). Sounds like you just had all sorts of fun! Hope the rest went well.

Unknown said...

Some how an airline running out of de-icing fluid sounds like a mechanical problem to me. Course I am certain you already tried to argue that one! When I saw the huge Princess cruis ship parked at PV dock (on my 4 visit to dentist) I imagined you parked in a deck chair with knitting and books.

mamaofsugarpies said...

Sorry about your winter travel woes, but maybe this will make you feel better...I nominated your blog for the Lemonade Award...check out my blog for all of the details:) See you when you get back.