The main purpose for our trip was for our bro-in-law's medical school graduation in Hershey, PA, but we wanted to make a trip out of it by going a couple days early and staying a couple days later in NYC.
I had actually tried to cancel our trip due to Matt's knee and related limitations, but he insisted we still go - he was ready to start "living again!"
Since jetBlue doesn't fly into Hershey, we decided, along with one of Matt's brothers and his wife (Mike & Mandy), to fly into New York's JFK, rent a car, and drive to PA from there (a *short* 3 hrs., esp. without kids.)
Well........
Prior to starting our trip, Mandy drove her CAR up to Idaho to drop off her kids to be tended at family's place.
We went to the airport to catch our flight - which somehow had sold a lot of "day of" seats and did not have nearly enough availability for us to feel confident about getting on. When they called the standby customers' names who were able to get on the PLANE, ours were not called.
Did I mention the time was 11:30 p.m.?
We had to make a decision. We could either come back the next night, same time and have a better chance of getting on that flight. OR we could go down to Vegas and fly out of that airport which has 5 flights a day and a low number of standby customers.
The only thing was: if we were going to do the Vegas option, we would want to rent a car, so our own car wouldn't be stuck in Vegas, forcing us to return to Vegas after the trip was done.
So.....we walked over to the Hertz (a company where Matt worked 12 yrs. ago) rental car counter, and low and behold, the manager on duty was a guy Matt had worked with way back then.....so, of course, he had to treat us right and waive the "one-way drop off fee" & such! ;) We were just getting price quotes on cars & mini vans, asking a lot of questions, but not making a decision. It was late, and our brains were not working fast. We were standing there trying to determine if all our luggage would fit into a car trunk, and calculate the cost of gas on top of the rental, then divide it by the two couples, and estimate our time of arrival compared to the flight departure, factoring in the time zone change, and adding up the hours of sleep we might be able to get if we stopped to "crash" at my parent's in St. George. And then, of course, there was still the option of bagging the Vegas idea, returning to our homes that night, and trying the SLC flight again tomorrow - which wasn't guaranteed we'd get on! WHAT SHOULD WE DO? We COULDN'T think! (Especially when we thought about all the traveling Mandy had already done that day (6 hours), and the traveling time ahead of us: drive to Vegas, flight to JFK, drive to Hershey.) WHAT WAS THE BEST OPTION? We were literally standing around just staring at each other, not that we were trying to "barter" with the prices, we were waiting for our brains to figure it out - and it wasn't happening! And THEN, the next thing we know, Matt's former Hertz co-worker announces he's going to give us a mini-van for $53 TOTAL (taxes & fees incl.) just to "get us out of here." DONE DEAL! :)
I feel like I'm dragging this story out a little too long, and truthfully, how do you top an unsolicited $53 mini van rental?
So, I'm thinking I'll resort to that old gimmick from the 80's television and movies: The Working Montage.
(Remember those scenes where they would compress several hours of the story into just a few minutes -- all before the next commercial?)
Without further ado, here is the Planes, Trains, & Automobiles working montage:
The scene opens on Mike, Mandy, & I rolling our suitcases out to the Hertz garage. The time now is 12:30 a.m.
Next, the camera pulls back to reveal a meandering Matt coming along behind on his straight leg brace and one crutch.
We get in our RENTAL CAR, Matt behind the wheel, and we get on the road.
Mike is hungry. We stop at In 'n' Out burger in Draper, where we are accosted by a couple shamelessly making out in the vehicle next to us.....they eventually came inside and continued their "lip-locking" in their booth between bites of burgers.
Matt continues driving down the Interstate, while some or all of the passengers drift in and out of sleep.
I'm awakened by the sound of our CAR driving over the washboard-like treads ("wake up bumps") and I sit up in my seat and yell, "Matt! Matt!" -- this happens multiple times!
Mandy takes over the driving since Matt demonstrated he was not "alert" enough for the job. Again, I'm awakened by the sound of our CAR on the bumps, and I sit up and yell, "Matt! Matt!" to which I'm informed Matt is not even driving. I explain my "confusion" by saying, "Well, that was a 'Matt move'!"
Mike takes over the driving after an hour and a half and we stop in St. George at my parent's. It is 5:30 a.m.
We crash for 3 hrs., get up and get ready. Never even seeing my sleeping Mom.
We get back into the CAR and drive.
Mike is hungry. We go through a McDonald's drive thru in Mesquite.
Continue on to the Las Vegas airport. We arrive.
Turn in the RENTAL CAR.
Check in for the flight.
Hear our names being called to the gate counter - followed by a "warning" that if we don't get there in 3 minutes, our seats will be given to the next standby customers! I bee-line it to the counter and the agent asks where my party of 4 is.
The camera relocates to the others: Mandy is in the store across the hall admiring a dress she wants to buy. Matt is still in his seat, moving at his incapacitated, post-surgery, straight leg brace w/ crutch speed - trying to get his backpack on so he can join me. The agent IS NOT impressed with us!
We get on the PLANE -- all separated from one another -- all middle seats. But, it's jetBlue, which has more legroom than your average airplanes, so we manage.
A 5hrs. 9 min. flight.
We ride the AIRTRAIN at JFK airport to Federal Circle, the shuttle pick up area.
We ride the Alamo SHUTTLE to the rental car lot.
We get in the CAR, a premium Taurus that was given to us an economy rate again, and we're on our way, trusting Mandy's iPhone's GPS to lead us there.
Mike is hungry. He wants Popeye's Chicken. We tell him we want to get down the road a bit first, and we'll get off in a couple of freeway exits.
The GPS leads us down this road and then over on that road and back on another road - never getting us onto a freeway.
We drive through Jamaica, NY.
We drive through Flushing, NY.
WE FIND OURSELVES IN BROOKLYN, NY!!!
We see a couple of Popeye Chicken's, but do not dare stop.
We drive through Manhatten....and finally enter the Holland Tunnel over to New Jersey.
The camera shows a thought bubble above our heads, "WHERE THE HECK IS THE FREEWAY?"
We opt to now follow Matt's smartphone's Google maps app and we get on the freeway.
We get stuck in multiple areas of congestion & slowing [stopping] due to construction work -- the only problem was: THERE WERE NO CONSTRUCTION WORKERS IN SIGHT!
The rest of Matt's siblings are texting us from our rental house in Pennsylvania asking WHERE WE ARE!??!
Various degrees of frustration, joking, orneriness, light-heartedness, sleepiness, laughing, accusations, apologies, playful mocking, headaches, and delirious giggling ensue.
Mike is [still] hungry. We stop at a Wendy's drive thru when we finally clear the congestion.
We arrive at the [200 yr. old] house in Pennsylvania at 2:30 a.m.
Nothing like a "3 hour drive" turning into a 5 hour drive, while driving through all the boroughs of New York!
Again, we crash for the second night in a row.
Saturday was spent at Hershey Park riding ROLLER COASTERS. (Me, not Matt - that darn knee!)
Luckily, the CAR drive over was mere minutes!
For the graduation, wouldn't ya know it, we had to board a BUS to take us from the parking lot to the Coliseum where the ceremony was held.
{Congratulations Trey AND Michelle!}
{And Happy Birthday, Nicole!}
We drove around the charming town of Hershey in our CAR for the rest of the festivities related to graduation.
It was time to leave PA. Mike is hungry. We stop at a Wendy's before we get on the road.
We drove our CAR back to our hotel in New York (this time closer to the 3 hr. expected travel time) in and out of sleep, talking, singing - add in an "unfortunate event" at a gas station bathroom.
Mandy & I get out and check us into our hotel rooms.
Mike & Matt take the rental car back with the intention of riding the car rental SHUTTLE back to the airport, then catching our hotel SHUTTLE from there back to us. Matt, being fed up with all the traveling, asks the rental car manager if the shuttle driver can just drop him at the nearby hotel instead of back to the airport. The manager came up with an even better solution: he advised one of his workers to get back in the car they had just returned and to chauffeur them to our airport. Score!
We were suppose to meet Chris & Cheryl (another bro & sis in law) in Times Square for dinner....
So, we took a TAXI to the right subway station. (He drove us through all the back streets & alleys!)
We got on the E TRAIN subway into the city.
The four of us WALKED [Matt hobbled] several blocks to John's Pizzeria for dinner.
After an evening in Times Square & at Rockefeller Center,
we took the SUBWAY back, transferred to the AIRTRAIN, which took us to Federal Circle to catch the SHUTTLE back to our hotel.
Camera zooms in on just Mandy's situation, who had decided she didn't want to leave things to "chance" with the flying on Buddy Passes anymore, so she actually booked & bought a confirmed flight on a different airline to leave early the next morning. She took the hotel SHUTTLE back to the airport, got on her PLANE, had a connection in Phoenix, and flew the rest of the way into SLC. She caught the SHUTTLE to take her back to Idaho....which had a tire blow out on the way. She gets to her sister's house in Idaho, spends the night, and drives her children back in her CAR the next day.
Camera zooms in on the situation in Farmington. Intermixed in this, my dad, staying at my home, drove Mandy's car keys, that had been left at my home when we first started this trip, up to her house in Kaysville......where a friend retrieved them and drove them out to the airport to give to Mandy, so she'd have them when she got to Idaho.
Camera returns to the happenings in New York. Again, we take the hotel SHUTTLE, AIRTRAIN, & SUBWAY back to the city to meet Chris & Cheryl at the 9/11 Memorial,
then to Battery Park,
and finally out to lunch before we say "Good Bye" to them.
We take the SUBWAY, AIRTRAIN, & SHUTTLE back to the hotel where our baggage is being stored, tell the shuttle driver we are just getting our back and to please wait.
We ride the SHUTTLE back to the airport.
Check in for our flight.
Again, due to last minute bookings, the plane is almost completely full. (What's up with all these people & their late purchases? It's like 4X the cost at that point!) We've all pretty much accepted that we will NOT get on the flight, but we have to stay just to go through the motions, and then get "rolled over" to the next day. Much to our surprise, our name is called! They have only ONE seat left, so we send Mike and Matt & I stay behind. He gets on the PLANE and flies home, no incidents, arriving according to our original itinerary.
Matt & I discover ALL of our luggage went ON the PLANE with Mike.....we now were left with ONLY the clothes on our backs! We had to resort to the ol' wash-your-underwear-in-the-sink-and-hang-it-out-to-dry for the next day trick!
Matt & I discover ALL of our luggage went ON the PLANE with Mike.....we now were left with ONLY the clothes on our backs! We had to resort to the ol' wash-your-underwear-in-the-sink-and-hang-it-out-to-dry for the next day trick!
Matt & I use HOTWIRE to book a hotel - Matt didn't think sleeping in the JFK airport in his condition very fun. Since HOTWIRE picks the hotel for you, unfortunately, we got one without a hotel shuttle. When we called the front desk, we were told we'd have to take a TAXI -- so we did.
Then next day, we shopped, and toured, and ate (at Popeye's Chicken, in honor of Mike!) in Jamaica, NY - ON FOOT. The song from Sesame Street, "Which of these things is not like the other" was running through our minds, that's for sure. Us white tourists stuck out like a sore thumb!
After examining Google maps, Matt discovered there IS a subway station within walking distance! (What were the hotel staff thinking?) So, we took the AIRTRAIN back to the airport.
After waiting in the airport, our names were called, and we got on the PLANE! In the EVEN MORE SPACE rows, but separated again.
We sat in the PLANE on the tarmac for 1 1/2 hrs., then they announced there was a back up due to weather conditions and congestion. They got approval to be rerouted up through CANADA, but that they would need to return to the gate to re-fuel for that flight.
To be humane, they let those who wanted to get off for a rest and for food, to do so while we were re-fueling.
When everyone had re-boarded, we got to the end of the line for take off.....and waited another hour in the PLANE for ATC clearance!
The PLANE takes off and flew the long way home, in & out of sleep, reading, talking to my neighbors, landing in SLC at 1:00 a.m.
My dad picks us up in our MINI VAN and we drive home. We arrived home at 1:30 a.m. I crashed in my own bed at 2:00 a.m.
My dad picks us up in our MINI VAN and we drive home. We arrived home at 1:30 a.m. I crashed in my own bed at 2:00 a.m.
--------------------
But, Matt says it was all worth it, in spite of it all. He was tired of not being able to do anything for the last 9 weeks, so this was his first BIG ADVENTURE since that fateful day of the church ball accident. As far as "adventure" goes, I seem to have that down pat! Even though it may be a distorted interpretation of "adventure." ;)
