Beaver Island trip... part 1 "American Airlines = Do Not Want"
Okay, so when we got to the airport(huffing & puffing because we were running late)we had discovered that our flight had been delayed by 2 hours... which was fine because we were:
A. never going to make the original boarding call, and
B. had a 4 hour layover in Chicago, which was there by decreased to a 2 hour layover. Joy!
So we plop down at the bar after the whole
- take your shoes off and put all your crap through an Xray machine...
okay walk through a metal detector, do the hokey pokey...
put your shoes back on- fandango.
and tossed back a few poorly made, yet REALLY expensive Jack&cokes.
After an hour or so, I got the urge to have a cig. I thought "Well, it's a 4 hour flight. I may as well go now" Back out I go... smoke... BACK through the fandango that is LAX security. I ended up killing the rest of the wait, with a second to collect my bags, and board the air craft.
The flight was horrendous. I recommend never flying American Airlines if you have a choice. The stewardess was a total jerk. I was trying to get my bag into the storage bin, but my clothes were still damp. It made the bag less than flexible or light. The stew came over to "assist" me and then snarked that maybe next time I could pack a few more things into my bag. "Okay, maybe I will" I replied. My bag ended up just being caught on a bag that was next to it... what a jerk. Once the engines started someones monster child started to scream... loud... obnoxiously... the WHOLE flight from start to finish. I turn to check on David who was seated directly behind me, and he's seated next to an Asian woman with a medical mask on... she coughed coughed coughed with the most chest rattling sound ever! SERIOUSLY, if you're THAT sick... do the world a favor and stay home! I couldn't help but think to myself "Perfect, I manage not to get David sick, and this betch is going to give him the Swine Flu!" Let's just say, between the coughing, and the screaming... I didn't sleep a wink on my 4 hour red eye flight.
We get away from "Sars Sue" and the "Deffinator" after we land... do you know that child had the nerve to pass out cold on his Mothers shoulder after he got off? I wanted to walk up to the brat with an air horn so bad.
We stopped at the food court for a GIANT coffee, and ate our packed breakfast of hard boiled eggey, and cereal bars. We then negotiated through the chaos to find our next gate, and was told that they were going to valet check my bag. I had never had this happen, so I asked the stew "where will it be when I land in Michigan?" She testily replied with "Oh, we're just gunna leave it here" Betch! I collected my dwindling composure and said "Look, I know you get asked the same question about a million times, but since this is my 1st experience with your valet checking, I'd just appreciate it if you'd tell me where I can collect my stuff after we land."
She then rolled her eyes and said it'd be taken to the end of the breeze way, and I could get it there. REALLY, was it so hard to tell me that in the 1st place?
We get to our seats, and this time the craft is much smaller. 2 seats on one side, and one on the other of the isle...I was a little freaked out, but I knew I'd soon be riding a puddle jumper, so I just thought of it as a gradual down sizing. We sat for like an hour waiting to take off, and then the pilot informed us that we needed to exit the plane because the paperwork was not good on the one we were on... Fabulous. We got off, and re boarded an identical one a few gates down. We finally get air born, and land about an hour or so later. It was not a smooth ride.
After exiting the craft, and collecting my bag, we made our way outside. There was supposed to be a driver with a marked shuttle and a sign waiting for us... nope. Our phone is about dead, and I had forgotten to pack our charger midst all the chaos. David called the shuttle service, no answer... called his Dad... no answer. Merde. He tried a few more times, and left mesages. Then some guy walked up to us... turned out to be our driver. No sign... no company car... no indication at all that he was waiting for a client. *sigh* He was at least friendly, and chatted at us the whole way. It kinda made me nervous that he was playing with his Iphone the whole time, showing us pictures, trying to impress us with name dropping. LOL
We got to the leeetooolllest air port evar in Charlevoy. They were all ready for us, ahead of time. They took down our weight, and also weighed our bags.I was SO nervous to get aboard that little 2 seater airplane... it was raining to boot. We boarded our little red & white plane.
It was AWESOME! Though every time the plane dipped from changing pressure & wind my heart jumped in my throat, and my breath would catch. It was the most amazing experience though, and it felt so much more secure than those jumbo crafts in which you can't really see what's going on.
Once we landed we took ourselves & our bags inside to get away from the drizzle, and waited for his Dad to pick us up.
To be continued.....
A. never going to make the original boarding call, and
B. had a 4 hour layover in Chicago, which was there by decreased to a 2 hour layover. Joy!
So we plop down at the bar after the whole
- take your shoes off and put all your crap through an Xray machine...
okay walk through a metal detector, do the hokey pokey...
put your shoes back on- fandango.
and tossed back a few poorly made, yet REALLY expensive Jack&cokes.
After an hour or so, I got the urge to have a cig. I thought "Well, it's a 4 hour flight. I may as well go now" Back out I go... smoke... BACK through the fandango that is LAX security. I ended up killing the rest of the wait, with a second to collect my bags, and board the air craft.
The flight was horrendous. I recommend never flying American Airlines if you have a choice. The stewardess was a total jerk. I was trying to get my bag into the storage bin, but my clothes were still damp. It made the bag less than flexible or light. The stew came over to "assist" me and then snarked that maybe next time I could pack a few more things into my bag. "Okay, maybe I will" I replied. My bag ended up just being caught on a bag that was next to it... what a jerk. Once the engines started someones monster child started to scream... loud... obnoxiously... the WHOLE flight from start to finish. I turn to check on David who was seated directly behind me, and he's seated next to an Asian woman with a medical mask on... she coughed coughed coughed with the most chest rattling sound ever! SERIOUSLY, if you're THAT sick... do the world a favor and stay home! I couldn't help but think to myself "Perfect, I manage not to get David sick, and this betch is going to give him the Swine Flu!" Let's just say, between the coughing, and the screaming... I didn't sleep a wink on my 4 hour red eye flight.
We get away from "Sars Sue" and the "Deffinator" after we land... do you know that child had the nerve to pass out cold on his Mothers shoulder after he got off? I wanted to walk up to the brat with an air horn so bad.
We stopped at the food court for a GIANT coffee, and ate our packed breakfast of hard boiled eggey, and cereal bars. We then negotiated through the chaos to find our next gate, and was told that they were going to valet check my bag. I had never had this happen, so I asked the stew "where will it be when I land in Michigan?" She testily replied with "Oh, we're just gunna leave it here" Betch! I collected my dwindling composure and said "Look, I know you get asked the same question about a million times, but since this is my 1st experience with your valet checking, I'd just appreciate it if you'd tell me where I can collect my stuff after we land."
She then rolled her eyes and said it'd be taken to the end of the breeze way, and I could get it there. REALLY, was it so hard to tell me that in the 1st place?
We get to our seats, and this time the craft is much smaller. 2 seats on one side, and one on the other of the isle...I was a little freaked out, but I knew I'd soon be riding a puddle jumper, so I just thought of it as a gradual down sizing. We sat for like an hour waiting to take off, and then the pilot informed us that we needed to exit the plane because the paperwork was not good on the one we were on... Fabulous. We got off, and re boarded an identical one a few gates down. We finally get air born, and land about an hour or so later. It was not a smooth ride.
After exiting the craft, and collecting my bag, we made our way outside. There was supposed to be a driver with a marked shuttle and a sign waiting for us... nope. Our phone is about dead, and I had forgotten to pack our charger midst all the chaos. David called the shuttle service, no answer... called his Dad... no answer. Merde. He tried a few more times, and left mesages. Then some guy walked up to us... turned out to be our driver. No sign... no company car... no indication at all that he was waiting for a client. *sigh* He was at least friendly, and chatted at us the whole way. It kinda made me nervous that he was playing with his Iphone the whole time, showing us pictures, trying to impress us with name dropping. LOL
We got to the leeetooolllest air port evar in Charlevoy. They were all ready for us, ahead of time. They took down our weight, and also weighed our bags.I was SO nervous to get aboard that little 2 seater airplane... it was raining to boot. We boarded our little red & white plane.
It was AWESOME! Though every time the plane dipped from changing pressure & wind my heart jumped in my throat, and my breath would catch. It was the most amazing experience though, and it felt so much more secure than those jumbo crafts in which you can't really see what's going on.
Once we landed we took ourselves & our bags inside to get away from the drizzle, and waited for his Dad to pick us up.
To be continued.....