Oh, Those Airlines…

After Easter weekend, which was taxing to say the least with Jeana’s illness adding to the challenges, I had to get on those airlines. We leave Pinnacle Hills on Sunday not even able to stay to greet people as we always do. We had a friend drive us to the airport, deliver us at the door, get us inside, and then we checked in.  Everything went great. We even left on time at 1:05 p.m. It was amazing. Easter Sunday, airlines leaving on time. The airport was somewhat limited in passengers, which surprised me.

We arrive in Atlanta, began to experience our two hour layover in their 2nd tier connecting airlines terminal, and all was well. Then, my greatest fear began. Delay #1 … Delay #2 … Delay #3 … Delay #4 … Delay #5 … flight cancelled. I rushed my sickly, but healing wife down the corridor, got in line, got on a phone, and got rebooked for Panama City, Florida!  Hey, I need to go to Fort Walton Beach, not Panama City. The assistant said, “You will not get into Fort Walton until Tuesday, so you must go here and I can get you on a flight in 30 minutes.” So, I knew enough about the area and thought that was a good idea.

So here we go, it is now been several hours since arriving in Atlanta, changing to one of their deluxe terminals, walking quickly to go to Panama City. The flight was on time and we made it, being assured our luggage was going with us. As soon as I got on, I had to call the car rental place to insure I could even get a car. I was assured I would have a car, just not sure what kind. At that point, it really did not matter. So we got on the unique plane and I worked most of the way. We arrived a few minutes late, but late I take…if I can just arrive, get off of the airlines and begin to be in control of my destiny somewhat.

We arrived in Panama City and I solved the car issue. We had no luggage, so here we go searching to file a claim for our luggage being told, “we have no idea where your luggage is,” so that was comforting.

So after driving over from a different airport, in a different car, with no luggage, and a late arrival, we got into our room around 11:00 p.m. This was after experiencing Easter weekend responsibilities since Friday morning, dealing with a sick wife, and everything else. Hey, not bad though, it only took us 10 hours to get here! Look at the bright side, I could have left Northwest Arkansas and driven almost to Mobile, Alabama, in that time!  Or I could have flown privately and been there in one hour and thirty minutes!

You know, there was no bad weather, just the airlines. Oh my, what a challenge they are. The luggage arrived overnight after I stayed on the phone most of my drive over from Panama City to San Destin, Florida.

Stay tuned tomorrow:  THE SAGA CONTINUES!