Canadian Buffoon's Disney With a Teen Vacation - 08/13 - The Wrap

[pkondz]

Don't do that! I don't want to wait a couple more weeks! I could be on vacation by then !

Welllll.... okay.

 

[pkondz]

You never made it to Hawaii. You were abducted by aliens.

This is eerily accurate.

 

[pkondz]

The Backstory

So you wanna hear about Maui.
You wanna know all about our plans.
What we did, what we didn't do.
What were the highlights (and you'd never, ever guess)
What were the lowlights
(technically, I suppose the highlight and the lowlight were the same event)
You wanna know about the flights, the hotel(s), the meals.
You wanna know about planned excursions
and unplanned diversions.
You want to hear about the laughs, the tears, the joys, the fears.

Oh. And pictures. You want pretty pictures to look at.
(This allows you to not read all the crap I write. Smart.)

Well, guess what????

I'm not doing any of that, this chapter!

I realized, even before we left,
that I was going to have to give you some background first.
Just trust me on that, okay?
We'll get there eventually.

I was just going to tell you about the week leading up to the trip,
but since we're taking a sashay down memory lane;
might as well go whole hog and give you all the deets.


This little trip formed in my admittedly tiny brain
almost exactly one year ago.

A year ago (wow! time flies!... and this TR crawls)
I did my solo trip to WDW.
It was the first time in a looooong time that I'd been south
during the winter.

And it was glorious.

Imagine... (and some of you don't have to imagine it. You just live it.)
Imagine having to spend close to half of every year bundled up in layers
of clothing in order to fend off... well... death.
You can't set foot outside your home without making
similar preparations to a Mars expedition.

In the summer, if you want to go outside...
and you do want to go outside...
It's nice out there.
If you want to go outside, you just push open the door and step out.

Where I live (and some of you, as well,) in winter, you can't do that.
Put on boots, coat, gloves, possibly a hat... then go out.

And you're still freezing your nunoons off.

Oh, the joy of breathing shallow,
since you know if you take a deep breath that it's going to hurt.

So there I was. In Disney World... In February.
No parka. No mitts. No mukluks. No tuque.
Just shorts and a T-shirt.

Awesome.


When I got back to Winnipeg
(and stopped crying... it took a long time...)
I knew... knew that I wanted to do that again.
You know... be warm... in winter.

And I wanted Ruby to experience that too.
The kids? Meh. They're young.
They'll have plenty of time to figure it out on their own.

So I floated the idea to Ruby...
And got shot down faster than a reluctant bride at the altar.
(She still regrets not doing that 25 years ago.)

But I had about a year to work on her,
and I am nothing if not extremely annoying.


Now most of you know this part,
but I'll quickly review for those not familiar.
(And why are you not? Are you not hanging on my every word????)

Late last year, a co-worker asked me if I was planning a trip.
His wife works for WestJet and there was a promotion for
"Friends and Family" that offered flights at a significant discount.

I asked Ruby if she could at least get away for a weekend (ish).
And she said yes!
I researched a few places in the Caribbean and she said.
"I'd really like to go back to Hawaii."
And I said "Yay!"
Then she said.
"And I'd really like the kids to come."
And I said... well, I can't write what I said.

Don't get me wrong, I love the little rugrats,
but I kinda just wanted this to be the two of us.

So I patiently explained all the pros
(Lower expense, more romantic, less stress, more privacy)
and cons
(higher expense, less romantic, more stress, less privacy.)

So of course, we decided to take the kids.
(and when I say "we", I mean "she".
I am nothing if not cowed.)


We'd leave Wednesday, February 17th
and return Sunday/Monday, February 21st/22nd.


Unfortunately, from the time I booked the trip,
until shortly before the trip, the Canadian dollar
took a beating compared to the US dollar.
As the price of oil plummeted, so did our dollar.
The next thing I knew, this trip had suddenly become
a lot more expensive.
I had planned on doing 2 or 3 excursions plus a luau.
Well, I had to cut out all excursions,
leaving just the luau.

After much thought, I talked to the rest of the family
and we decided, with about two weeks to go,
to cancel the luau and instead do one excursion.
We were pretty excited about it...
Well, let's just leave that until it happens, shall we?


Now you're thinking "Finally! The boring stuff is over! Let's get to Maui!"

Not so fast.

First off, I have a bit more backstory to bring you up to speed with.
Secondly... it's all boring.
That's just my style.


A few months ago, a favourite cousin of mine was in town.
The occasion was a sad one, her aunt's mom had passed away.
I don't know if she flew in for the funeral
or just happened to be visiting at that time.
Either way, despite the circumstances, it was nice to see her,
even for a little bit and we had a nice chat.
She mentioned that she'd be in town again in February
and we decided that when I had my schedule,
we'd figure out a date and get together.

Sadly, just weeks before her return,
her father passed away unexpectedly.
Needless to say, I was quite concerned for her
and told her that if she preferred to postpone our visit,
I completely understood.
She said that no, she'd still like to get together.
She only had two things that she had to do while in town.
One was going to a graduation ceremony for her neice,
the other was a family reunion,
which was her main reason for coming to town.

When I got my schedule, I emailed her the dates I was available.
For example:
Feb 7 work
Feb 8 free
Feb 9 graduation
Feb 10 free, etc...

I was a little surprised when she emailed me back with
"Great! You're going to the graduation! I'll see you there!"

Uh... no.
Sitting at a two-three hour graduation ceremony
while complete strangers paraded by on stage
was not my idea of a fun time.

So I emailed her back,
explaining that I wasn't planning on attending.

All I got back was "Oh."

Well, Geez. That just won't do, now will it?


So I emailed her back again, and said.
"But if you'd like an escort for the evening, I'd be delighted."


Upshot was, I took my cousin to her niece's grad.
It was.... interesting.
There were two boys seated immediately in front of us.
They spent the evening bouncing up and down
and crawling over one another.
Thankfully their Dad was there to ignore them.

And then there was the lad seated directly behind us.
My cousin later fondly referred to him as the tuberculosis kid.
He coughed for about an hour straight,
spreading cheer and germs for all!
Which brings me to... Saturday February 13th.


I was at work and on a break when I phoned my Mom just to say hi.
I was chatting with her <cough> about nothing <cough>
in particular <cough>
"Are you sick?" She asked?
"Don't think so." I replied. "Just a tickle in my throat."

Of course by Sunday I was in full blown sick mode.
Thanks TB Kid! You're awesome!


I got very little sleep Sunday night,
but hoped that by Wednesday, when we left,
I'd feel better.

On Monday, I felt like crap and phoned in sick.
Didn't sleep hardly at all Monday night.


Geesh, I sure hope I start to feel better for Wednesday!


Our flight is scheduled to depart Winnipeg
Wednesday, February 17th at 4:43pm.
Ruby works 'til 2:30ish so she'll work and then we'll go.
Elle had the week off from University
and I'd pick up Kay early from school.

We were over-nighting in Vancouver and leaving the
following morning for Maui at 9:45am.

We didn't have to overnight, but it was actually easier to do it this way
instead of catching the 6:30am Winnipeg flight.
Yes it meant paying for a hotel room,
but I considered that as part of the vacation.
Plus not having to get up at 4am was nice.


On Tuesday, feeling like crap,
I decided I wanted to double check something.
I had spoken to someone earlier, but I wanted to hear it again.
I wanted to make sure that we would have our bags between flights.
It would suck to not have a change of clothes.
I called WestJet and got an automated response
telling me that due to high volumes, blah, blah, blah,
they'd call me back in 30 minutes.
And they did.
And they reiterated that we'd have our bags in between flights.
Okay. Good.

Tuesday afternoon and it's time to check in for our flight.
I have a WestJet credit card and one of the perks is
no fee for the first bag for myself and each guest
flying with me.
Because of the short duration of our trip,
we were going to be traveling with only two checked bags.
That's $100 I save right there, round trip.

Except the WestJet check in website had other ideas.
I had selected our seats and input our passport numbers
(required for travel to the US from Canada)
but when it came time to input the checked bags,
it wanted to charge me for them.

Poop.


I called WestJet and got the following message:
"Due to very high volume of calls, we are unable to offer
a call back service. Your wait time is 30 to 40 minutes.
Unless your call is urgent, please call back at a later time."

Well, I guess it's urgent. I'm halfway through our check in.

Two minutes later, I'm talking with a nice WestJet agent.
I think my VIP bus package extends to phone calls.


There was good news and bad news.
The agent told me that we were checked in.
And she discovered that my account and reservation
weren't linked and she fixed that.
But for whatever reason, I could get one free bag,
but not the second.
She told me to just leave the baggage at zero and they'd
take care of it at the check in counter.

That done, I spent the rest of the day feeling miserable.
And then spent another wonderful sleepless night coughing.
Thanks TB Kid!


Wednesday.
Travel day.

My throat feels like it's on fire.
I have about as much enthusiasm for a trip
as I do for eating Brussels sprouts.

Well, maybe not that bad... but close.

I have to take Ruby to work, so I get up.
Wow. Do I feel like crap.
Plus my voice has dropped approximately three octaves.
Which, if it weren't for the constant hacking and coughing
would be extremely sexy.
"Well, hello there sweetheart."
I'd say in my super low, studly voice.
"Well, hi yourself big boy." She'd reply.
"Would you like to... <cough><cough><cough><hack!>"
"No." As she turns on her heels and sprints away.


Ruby asks me a question that I've been wondering myself for a bit.
"Is this vacation going to happen?" She asks.

I am quiet (except for the coughing) for a long time.
Eventually I say. "I think we can go."

"I think we can go, but I better go to the walk-in clinic first."
I amend.


My fear was that I might have strep.
I sure didn't want to get to Hawaii and then need a doctor.
I didn't think I had strep... but I needed to be sure.

And after a visit to the doc, he assured me that I was strep free.

The trip (sans antibiotics) was on.
I was not totally reassured, however,
when he gave me a prescription
"Just in case."

I returned home and drove Kay off to school.
I then drove Ruby to work.

Why didn't she drive herself?
Two reasons.
1. She works at a building on airport property.
So driving her there means she doesn't have to come home.
Plus we can park her car there while we're away.
2. Her job is fairly close to mine.
I needed to print off some info that I had on the work computer.
I hated to go into work on a day off,
but since I'd called in sick the previous two shifts,
I had no choice.

So I drove her to the airport, dropped her off,
drove to work, printed stuff off and went home.

Now that I had my packing list
(one of the items I printed off at work)
I finished packing.
When that was done I started cleaning up the house.
Not much fun when all you want to do is lie down,
curl up in a ball and feel miserable.
But I know how much Ruby hates coming home
from a holiday to a dirty house.

I was halfway through cleaning our bathroom
when the phone rang.

About a month prior, when Elle was pulling into the driveway,
she hit a patch of ice and a snowbank jumped out and hit her car.
Cars being what they are now, she needed a new front bumper.
We had dropped off her car on Tuesday morning,
with the intention of picking it up when we returned from Hawaii.

The phone call was from the repair shop.
The car was already ready to go.

To say I was shocked was an understatement.
When I had brought my car in a while back,
it had taken them about two months to repair it.

If we hurried, we could get Elle's car just before we'd have to leave.
So that's what we did.


We got back to the house at 2:10pm.
We have to pick up Kay at 2:30pm.
Not a whole heck of a lot of time.
Grab the bags, shove them in the car,
turn the thermostat down a tick,
turn some lights on, make sure the door's locked...
Let's go!

We get to the school right at 2:30.
I get a text from Ruby saying she's on her way
over to the airport terminal building
(it's within easy walking distance.)

Five minutes goes by.
No Kay.
Surely she hasn't forgotten????
Come on kid! We've got a plane to catch!
Normally I wouldn't have been so nervous,
but between feeling like dirt
and not knowing how long the checked bags
were going to take...
Where is that kid?!?!?

I send her a text: "Where R U?"
She texts that I have to go to the office
otherwise they won't let her out.

Oh for Pete's sake!!!

I go to the office and,
even though I've already told them she was
leaving today at 2:30, I ask them to page her.
Finally she shows up.
It's now 2:50pm.

I very much wish to drive to the airport
while pretending I'm in the Indianapolis 500.

I decide that sitting on the side of the road
while a nice policeman gives me a ticket
would probably take more time.

Plus, driving in a circle wouldn't accomplish much.


I pull up to the terminal and kick the kids
and bags to the curb.
I roar off (at the posted speed limit of 30kmh/20mph.)
I need to completely circle the airport in order to get
to the long term parking lot where Ruby can park.
I of course miss the turn off and have to circle a second time.

I can't make this stuff up.

Eventually I find the lot... which is mostly full.
I find a vacant spot about as far from civilization
as you can possibly be.
Polar bears and hobos roamed the area.

After a quick walk, meaning I walked fast,
and it seemed to take forever,
(polar bears I'm used to, but hobos? Not so much.)
I rejoin my family.

We explain to a WestJet agent that we're checked in,
but need to check our bags.
She lets us cut the line.
Sweet!
No idea what the other people in line thought of this.

Seething on the inside, polite on the outside.

If I slam my suitcase against the shin of someone
whom I'm cutting in front of, I know we'll both apologize.
(assuming they're Canadian, too.)
And they'll hate me a little more.
And I will internally gloat a little more.

I explain our issue to the ticket agent.
After typing 3,843 keys on her keyboard,
we are issued boarding passes
and our bags are checked (with no fee.)
We plop the two bags on the conveyor belt
and they are quickly swallowed up into the airport's bowels.

I breathe a sigh of relief.
Which, of course, brings on another coughing fit.

And I think I'll leave the pkondz family there for now,
ready to begin their whirlwind trip to Maui.


Oh, right.
One last thing.
"Hey pkondz! Is there going to be a contest for this too?

Well, to tell you the truth, I'm kind of embarrassed about that.
You see, between working night and day and then being sick,
I still haven't sent off the prize for the last contest.

But I will. And soon I hope.
(It better be! This is ridiculous!)

Announcing a second contest when you haven't
even really finished the first is pretty lame.

But that's what I'm doing.

Yes. Yes there will be a contest.
And the prize will befit the size of the trip.
i.e. It'll be small.
But it's culturally a very important part of Hawaii.
Oh, and if you're good little boys and girls,
I might also send along some chocolate.

So without further ado.

Contest!

There will be no, zero, zilch, nada points for flattery.
Feel free to flatter as much as humanly possible.
You just won't get points for them.
I don't know yet if there will or won't be bonus points
for clever retorts and snide comments.
We'll see how I feel.

Bonus questions

1. Is our flight on time or delayed?
2. What annoying thing happens on our flight?
(Hint: Not turbulence.)
3. What good thing happens at our hotel?
4. Animals! Animals on a plane! What kind?
(Hint: Not snakes... or dogs... or cats.)


Oh. And 20 bonus points for anyone who guesses
what our one and only excursion is.

Next up... Up, up and away!

Vancouver​

 

[KathyM2]

Where I live (and some of you, as well,) in winter, you can't do that.
Put on boots, coat, gloves, possibly a hat... then go out.

OMG I'm so with you. People who live in places where it's warm all year...have it soo much easier. Especially with little kids and pets...that is the absolute worst when it's such an ordeal just to get everyone ready to go outside. ....sigh.

I'm so sorry you were feeling miserable and had to rush so much on top of that...I hope the trip improved from there!

 

[mmeb144]

Bonus questions

1. Is our flight on time or delayed?
2. What annoying thing happens on our flight?
(Hint: Not turbulence.)
3. What good thing happens at our hotel?
4. Animals! Animals on a plane! What kind?
(Hint: Not snakes... or dogs... or cats.)


Oh. And 20 bonus points for anyone who guesses
what our one and only excursion is.

Flight is one time because you are running late to the airport.

Annoying thing? They run out of the pretzels and you have to take the tiny cookies, which you hate because they aren't girl scout cookies.

Good thing at hotel? Your bags actually arrive and you have them for the overnight.

There's a rat on the plane! Somebody brought their rat and put it in the underseat storage area.

Your one and only excursion is surfing because you really liked it last time.

 

[Steppesister]

OH goody, and update. Study, or read? Study or read...? Hmmm.....

 

[orangecats2]

Well that wasn't so bad. At least you made it to the airport.

1. Is our flight on time or delayed?
Delayed
2. What annoying thing happens on our flight?
They run out of drinks.
(Hint: Not turbulence.)
3. What good thing happens at our hotel?
Free mini bar
4. Animals! Animals on a plane! What kind?
(Hint: Not snakes... or dogs... or cats.)
A panda bear

Oh. And 20 bonus points for anyone who guesses
what our one and only excursion is.

Horseback riding

 

[Steppesister]

1. Is our flight on time or delayed?
2. What annoying thing happens on our flight?
(Hint: Not turbulence.)
3. What good thing happens at our hotel?
4. Animals! Animals on a plane! What kind?
(Hint: Not snakes... or dogs... or cats.)


Oh. And 20 bonus points for anyone who guesses
what our one and only excursion is.

Ok, I read, but need to actually get a bit of study time in tonight. So I'll take a stab at these and come back later...

1. Delayed
2. A kid kicking your chair behind you
3. You get lei-ed
4. A bird

Bonus: While my snarky side says The Urgent Care Clinic, my nicer me says some sort of helicopter tour thingy

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Ponzi, I always hang on your every word, and I love a good back-story. Well done!

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

.

 

[MHSweb79]

1. Is our flight on time or delayed?
2. What annoying thing happens on our flight?
(Hint: Not turbulence.)
3. What good thing happens at our hotel?
4. Animals! Animals on a plane! What kind?
(Hint: Not snakes... or dogs... or cats.)

Oh. And 20 bonus points for anyone who guesses
what our one and only excursion is.

I didn't participate in the last contest (although I did show up on the scoreboard with a few points... "pity points?" perhaps?) but I'll give this one a go:

1. Flight: Delayed. Because what's more aggravating than stressing out over being late than sitting there for an extra hour?
2. Annoying thing on flight: Some guy keeps coughing the entire flight (I really want to say "8 year old boy kicks your seat back the entire time, except for when he is stripping his clothes off, leaving on only his underpants, which must make kicking all the more fun, with his mother somehow, conveniently several seats away" but seriously, this could only happen to me. And it did.)
3. At the hotel your room is upgraded to concierge level, so free drinks! (This also happened to me - at the Beach Club - which was all kinds of fabulous especially because we are not the kind of folks who can afford the Beach Club at all, let alone Concierge level.)
4. Animals on the plane - Ants?
5. Excursion - I'm going to say surfing lessons, because this would be the most useful skill to take back to Winnepeg

 

[Terra Nova guy]

Bonus trip report! Bonus contest! Awesome!

It sounds like your Hawaii trip had both ups and down, but at the least the downs were dealt with in the Hawaiian sun and not Winnipeg winter

Contest:
1. delayed, just to make all the rushing worth it
2. baby crying the whole flight
3. room upgrade
4. hmm...some kind of rodent...guinea pig? (someone already answered "ferret")

Excursion: volcano tour

 

[franandaj]

You want to hear about the laughs, the tears, the joys, the fears.

I see what you did there! Shall I sing the song for you?

I was just going to tell you about the week leading up to the trip,
but since we're taking a sashay down memory lane;
might as well go whole hog and give you all the deets.

Imagine... (and some of you don't have to imagine it. You just live it.)
Imagine having to spend close to half of every year bundled up in layers
of clothing in order to fend off... well... death.

I can't even IMAGINE that.

It's nice out there.
If you want to go outside, you just push open the door and step out.

I can imagine that I live it every day. Well except in for every once in a blue moon, when it rains.

Where I live (and some of you, as well,) in winter, you can't do that.
Put on boots, coat, gloves, possibly a hat... then go out.

I had to buy boots last year when we went to Seattle. My flat little leather shoes didn't cut it in the snow. I did actually find my coat, gloves and hat last month so we could sit outside and watch the fireworks.

Oh, the joy of breathing shallow,
since you know if you take a deep breath that it's going to hurt.

Did not even know about this.

No mukluks. No tuque.

No idea what there are, although I think "No mukluks" was part of a lyric from "Life during wartime"

I knew... knew that I wanted to do that again.
You know... be warm... in winter.

I know what you mean this winter we were down in the 40s! I had to shopping and buy long sleeve shirts!

But I had about a year to work on her,
and I am nothing if not extremely annoying.

I bet.

So I patiently explained all the pros
(Lower expense, more romantic, less stress, more privacy)
and cons
(higher expense, less romantic, more stress, less privacy.)

So of course, we decided to take the kids.
(and when I say "we", I mean "she".
I am nothing if not cowed.)

So much for romantic.

Unfortunately, from the time I booked the trip,
until shortly before the trip, the Canadian dollar
took a beating compared to the US dollar.
As the price of oil plummeted, so did our dollar.
The next thing I knew, this trip had suddenly become
a lot more expensive.

After much thought, I talked to the rest of the family
and we decided, with about two weeks to go,
to cancel the luau and instead do one excursion.

Sounds like a plan. Luaus are overrated.

We were pretty excited about it...
Well, let's just leave that until it happens, shall we?

Can I ask a question regarding said excursion? Are you the only scuba certified person in your family?

So I emailed her back again, and said.
"But if you'd like an escort for the evening, I'd be delighted."

Such a gentleman.

Thankfully their Dad was there to ignore them.

Parenting at its best!

My cousin later fondly referred to him as the tuberculosis kid.
He coughed for about an hour straight,
spreading cheer and germs for all!

We would have got up and moved. Any exposure like that puts Fran at risk. Her drugs lower her immune system so that anyone near her with a cough or cold almost instantly transfers it to her.

"Are you sick?" She asked?
"Don't think so." I replied. "Just a tickle in my throat."

Dun, dun, dun. Cue ominous music.

We didn't have to overnight, but it was actually easier to do it this way
instead of catching the 6:30am Winnipeg flight.
Yes it meant paying for a hotel room,
but I considered that as part of the vacation.
Plus not having to get up at 4am was nice.

I would have gone with your logic, but the same way you were overruled about taking the kids, we would have ended up on the 4AM flight.

And they reiterated that we'd have our bags in between flights.
Okay. Good.

Somehow, just by the fact that you are telling us this does not bode well for the end of this story.

Because of the short duration of our trip,
we were going to be traveling with only two checked bags.
That's $100 I save right there, round trip.

OK now this is me you're talking to. That's two checked bags a piece right?

Unless your call is urgent, please call back at a later time."

I'd say that was urgent. ...

And she discovered that my account and reservation
weren't linked and she fixed that.
But for whatever reason, I could get one free bag,
but not the second.
She told me to just leave the baggage at zero and they'd
take care of it at the check in counter.

Well at least you got that straightened out!

My throat feels like it's on fire.
I have about as much enthusiasm for a trip
as I do for eating Brussels sprouts.

Wow! That's not much enthusiasm.

"Well, hello there sweetheart."
I'd say in my super low, studly voice.
"Well, hi yourself big boy." She'd reply.
"Would you like to... <cough><cough><cough><hack!>"
"No." As she turns on her heels and sprints away.

"I think we can go, but I better go to the walk-in clinic first."
I amend.

I would have done that right off the bat! I mean it is "free", or should I say "no additional cost".

My fear was that I might have strep.
I sure didn't want to get to Hawaii and then need a doctor.

You wouldn't want to pay out of pocket for an American doctor! You might have to cancel your excursion!

The trip (sans antibiotics) was on.
I was not totally reassured, however,
when he gave me a prescription
"Just in case."

We keep a Z pack in our medicine cabinet "just in case."

Now that I had my packing list
(one of the items I printed off at work)
I finished packing.

I thought you just threw in a few T-shirts, some shorts, socks, underwear (maybe) and you were good.

When that was done I started cleaning up the house.

Wow you are very nice.

I send her a text: "Where R U?"
She texts that I have to go to the office
otherwise they won't let her out.

I can't believe what schools are like these days. When I was in school we could come and go freely. If I felt like going to the beach after band was over and skip the after lunch classes, we just hopped in the car and drove over treacherous highway 17 to Santa Cruz. And they wouldn't release her until they saw the whites of your eyes, even though you had notified them in advance?

I of course miss the turn off and have to circle a second time.

Of course.

Eventually I find the lot... which is mostly full.
I find a vacant spot about as far from civilization
as you can possibly be.

Also of course.

(polar bears I'm used to, but hobos? Not so much.)

OK now you're just dating yourself. Hobos? Really. They're not called hobos any more. Homeless, disenfranchised but hobos is so 1970.

If I slam my suitcase against the shin of someone
whom I'm cutting in front of, I know we'll both apologize.
(assuming they're Canadian, too.)
And they'll hate me a little more.
And I will internally gloat a little more.

I don't know where you get these kinds of thoughts!

After typing 3,843 keys on her keyboard,
we are issued boarding passes
and our bags are checked (with no fee.)

Score!

And I think I'll leave the pkondz family there for now,
ready to begin their whirlwind trip to Maui.

OK. I can work with that.

1. Is our flight on time or delayed?

Delayed

2. What annoying thing happens on our flight?
(Hint: Not turbulence.)

Screaming baby

3. What good thing happens at our hotel?

You get upgraded to a suite.

4. Animals! Animals on a plane! What kind?
(Hint: Not snakes... or dogs... or cats.)

Pot bellied pig

Oh. And 20 bonus points for anyone who guesses
what our one and only excursion is.

How long do we have to register our guess?

 

[rndmr2]

Glad to see the Hawaii part of the TR starting, sorry you were sick for it, hope you got better at some point during the trip and were able to enjoy it.

1. Is our flight on time or delayed?
2. What annoying thing happens on our flight?
(Hint: Not turbulence.)
3. What good thing happens at our hotel?
4. Animals! Animals on a plane! What kind?
(Hint: Not snakes... or dogs... or cats.)


Oh. And 20 bonus points for anyone who guesses
what our one and only excursion is.

1. delayed

2. Misbehaving child/ren

3. Upgraded

4. Birds


Excursion-- surfing because you all all liked it so much last time.

 

[vrajewski10513]

A year ago (wow! time flies!... and this TR crawls)
I did my solo trip to WDW.
It was the first time in a looooong time that I'd been south
during the winter.
And it was glorious.
Imagine... (and some of you don't have to imagine it. You just live it.)
Imagine having to spend close to half of every year bundled up in layers
of clothing in order to fend off... well... death.
You can't set foot outside your home without making
similar preparations to a Mars expedition.
In the summer, if you want to go outside...
and you do want to go outside...
It's nice out there.
If you want to go outside, you just push open the door and step out.
Where I live (and some of you, as well,) in winter, you can't do that.
Put on boots, coat, gloves, possibly a hat... then go out.
And you're still freezing your nunoons off.
Oh, the joy of breathing shallow,
since you know if you take a deep breath that it's going to hurt.

So there I was. In Disney World... In February.
No parka. No mitts. No mukluks. No tuque.
Just shorts and a T-shirt.
Awesome.

I'm not as far north as you are, but I know the feeling

So of course, we decided to take the kids.
(and when I say "we", I mean "she".
I am nothing if not cowed.)

Happy wife, happy life!

Unfortunately, from the time I booked the trip,
until shortly before the trip, the Canadian dollar
took a beating compared to the US dollar.
As the price of oil plummeted, so did our dollar.

I'm happy we're on the right side of this for once, but it really does stink for you guys. Even our area in Western NY if feeling the beating of the exchange rate. Alot of our business and tourism comes from Canada because were so close.
On top of that, Hawaii is expensive to begin with even without the crappy exchange

I was at work and on a break when I phoned my Mom just to say hi.
I was chatting with her <cough> about nothing <cough>
in particular <cough>
"Are you sick?" She asked?
"Don't think so." I replied. "Just a tickle in my throat."
Of course by Sunday I was in full blown sick mode.
Thanks TB Kid! You're awesome!

.. Totally not funny that you're sick, but that you're calling this kid TB kid lol

On Tuesday, feeling like crap,
I decided I wanted to double check something.
I had spoken to someone earlier, but I wanted to hear it again.
I wanted to make sure that we would have our bags between flights.
It would suck to not have a change of clothes.
I called WestJet and got an automated response
telling me that due to high volumes, blah, blah, blah,
they'd call me back in 30 minutes.
And they did.
And they reiterated that we'd have our bags in between flights.
Okay. Good.
Tuesday afternoon and it's time to check in for our flight.
I have a WestJet credit card and one of the perks is
no fee for the first bag for myself and each guest
flying with me.
Because of the short duration of our trip,
we were going to be traveling with only two checked bags.
That's $100 I save right there, round trip.
Except the WestJet check in website had other ideas.
I had selected our seats and input our passport numbers
(required for travel to the US from Canada)
but when it came time to input the checked bags,
it wanted to charge me for them.
Poop.
I called WestJet and got the following message:
"Due to very high volume of calls, we are unable to offer
a call back service. Your wait time is 30 to 40 minutes.
Unless your call is urgent, please call back at a later time."
Well, I guess it's urgent. I'm halfway through our check in.
Two minutes later, I'm talking with a nice WestJet agent.
I think my VIP bus package extends to phone calls.
There was good news and bad news.
The agent told me that we were checked in.
And she discovered that my account and reservation
weren't linked and she fixed that.
But for whatever reason, I could get one free bag,
but not the second.
She told me to just leave the baggage at zero and they'd
take care of it at the check in counter.

Why do I feel like any and all interactions with airlines are brutal? lol I feel like you have to jump through hoops for them to fix thing

Ruby asks me a question that I've been wondering myself for a bit.
"Is this vacation going to happen?" She asks.
I am quiet (except for the coughing) for a long time.
Eventually I say. "I think we can go."
"I think we can go, but I better go to the walk-in clinic first."
I amend.
My fear was that I might have strep.
I sure didn't want to get to Hawaii and then need a doctor.
I didn't think I had strep... but I needed to be sure.
And after a visit to the doc, he assured me that I was strep free.
The trip (sans antibiotics) was on.
I was not totally reassured, however,
when he gave me a prescription
"Just in case."

If the dreaded "Just in case" isn't foreshadowing, IDK what is!

Eventually I find the lot... which is mostly full.
I find a vacant spot about as far from civilization
as you can possibly be.
Polar bears and hobos roamed the area.
After a quick walk, meaning I walked fast,
and it seemed to take forever,
(polar bears I'm used to, but hobos? Not so much.)
I rejoin my family.

yep, those hobos can be vicious.

I breathe a sigh of relief.
Which, of course, brings on another coughing fit.

I can only imagine what's going through the minds of your flight mates on their way to Hawaii!!

1. Is our flight on time or delayed?
On time.
2. What annoying thing happens on our flight?
(Hint: Not turbulence.)
Crying baby!
3. What good thing happens at our hotel?
Upgrade from a standard room to a suite!
4. Animals! Animals on a plane! What kind?
(Hint: Not snakes... or dogs... or cats.)
Mini pig.
Oh. And 20 bonus points for anyone who guesses
what our one and only excursion is.
Whale watch!

 

[afwdwfan]

So you wanna hear about Maui.
You wanna know all about our plans.
What we did, what we didn't do.

Well, that's kind of the whole idea of a TR.

(technically, I suppose the highlight and the lowlight were the same event)

Well, that's interesting...

Oh. And pictures. You want pretty pictures to look at.
(This allows you to not read all the crap I write. Smart.)

Well, duh!

I realized, even before we left,
that I was going to have to give you some background first.

Why? That's what the pictures are for. I hear they say 1000 words.

en I got back to Winnipeg
(and stopped crying... it took a long time...)
I knew... knew that I wanted to do that again.
You know... be warm... in winter.

Interesting concept, isn't it?

Unfortunately, from the time I booked the trip,
until shortly before the trip, the Canadian dollar
took a beating compared to the US dollar.

I've heard that

The next thing I knew, this trip had suddenly become
a lot more expensive.
I had planned on doing 2 or 3 excursions plus a luau.
Well, I had to cut out all excursions,
leaving just the luau.

Oh no...

After much thought, I talked to the rest of the family
and we decided, with about two weeks to go,
to cancel the luau and instead do one excursion.
We were pretty excited about it...
Well, let's just leave that until it happens, shall we?

Sounds like a highlight. And a lowlight.

A few months ago, a favourite cousin of mine was in town.

Cousin Eddie?

Sadly, just weeks before her return,
her father passed away unexpectedly.

She's never going to want to see you again.

When I got my schedule, I emailed her the dates I was available.
For example:
Feb 7 work
Feb 8 free
Feb 9 graduation
Feb 10 free, etc...

I was a little surprised when she emailed me back with
"Great! You're going to the graduation! I'll see you there!"

Uh... no.
Sitting at a two-three hour graduation ceremony
while complete strangers paraded by on stage
was not my idea of a fun time.

I see what you did there. Way to go, you did it to yourself.

I was at work and on a break when I phoned my Mom just to say hi.
I was chatting with her <cough> about nothing <cough>
in particular <cough>
"Are you sick?" She asked?
"Don't think so." I replied. "Just a tickle in my throat."

Of course by Sunday I was in full blown sick mode.
Thanks TB Kid! You're awesome!

We didn't have to overnight, but it was actually easier to do it this way
instead of catching the 6:30am Winnipeg flight.
Yes it meant paying for a hotel room,
but I considered that as part of the vacation.
Plus not having to get up at 4am was nice.

Makes sense.

On Tuesday, feeling like crap,
I decided I wanted to double check something.
I had spoken to someone earlier, but I wanted to hear it again.
I wanted to make sure that we would have our bags between flights.
It would suck to not have a change of clothes.
I called WestJet and got an automated response
telling me that due to high volumes, blah, blah, blah,
they'd call me back in 30 minutes.
And they did.
And they reiterated that we'd have our bags in between flights.
Okay. Good.

You're really starting to make me think that you're not going to have your bags between flights.

Two minutes later, I'm talking with a nice WestJet agent.
I think my VIP bus package extends to phone calls.

Ruby asks me a question that I've been wondering myself for a bit.
"Is this vacation going to happen?" She asks.

I am quiet (except for the coughing) for a long time.
Eventually I say. "I think we can go."

"I think we can go, but I better go to the walk-in clinic first."
I amend.

Push through...

About a month prior, when Elle was pulling into the driveway,
she hit a patch of ice and a snowbank jumped out and hit her car.

What is it with your family and the destruction of cars?

The phone call was from the repair shop.
The car was already ready to go.

Are they sure? Like really sure they're sure?

I send her a text: "Where R U?"
She texts that I have to go to the office
otherwise they won't let her out.

That actually kind of makes sense.

I very much wish to drive to the airport
while pretending I'm in the Indianapolis 500.

I hope you can get there in 4 left turns.

Plus, driving in a circle wouldn't accomplish much.

See what I mean?

No idea what the other people in line thought of this.

Seething on the inside, polite on the outside.

Hey! Reminds me of a story some guy once told about a line jumper who he stood firm in front of and told said line jumper that his family would wait for him.

I breathe a sigh of relief.
Which, of course, brings on another coughing fit.

1. Is our flight on time or delayed?

On time

2. What annoying thing happens on our flight?
(Hint: Not turbulence.)

Some guy sits there and coughs the whole time making everyone on the flight get sick

3. What good thing happens at our hotel?

Free upgrade

4. Animals! Animals on a plane! What kind?
(Hint: Not snakes... or dogs... or cats.)

Birds

Oh. And 20 bonus points for anyone who guesses
what our one and only excursion is.

Gotta go see the volcanoes...

 

[SoccerDogWithEars]

Bonus questions

1. Is our flight on time or delayed?
Delayed. Because with all the rushing you had to do, why would the plane be on time?

2. What annoying thing happens on our flight?
(Hint: Not turbulence.)
TB kid! Oh, wait, that's you......a crying baby?

3. What good thing happens at our hotel?
A free upgrade!

4. Animals! Animals on a plane! What kind?
(Hint: Not snakes... or dogs... or cats.)
Hmmm....I've heard of service ponies, but can't imagine those being on a plane. I'm torn between a rabbit or a lizard...but I'm gonna go with rabbit.


Oh. And 20 bonus points for anyone who guesses
what our one and only excursion is.

Whale watching?

 

[pkondz]

OMG I'm so with you. People who live in places where it's warm all year...have it soo much easier. Especially with little kids and pets...that is the absolute worst when it's such an ordeal just to get everyone ready to go outside. ....sigh.

I'm so sorry you were feeling miserable and had to rush so much on top of that...I hope the trip improved from there!

Wouldn't it be nice if it did?

Flight is one time because you are running late to the airport.

Annoying thing? They run out of the pretzels and you have to take the tiny cookies, which you hate because they aren't girl scout cookies.

Good thing at hotel? Your bags actually arrive and you have them for the overnight.

There's a rat on the plane! Somebody brought their rat and put it in the underseat storage area.

Your one and only excursion is surfing because you really liked it last time.

Got 'em!
And... nice one with the girl scout cookies.

OH goody, and update. Study, or read? Study or read...? Hmmm.....

Pitch the studying! You can always start over if you fail, right?

Well that wasn't so bad. At least you made it to the airport.

1. Is our flight on time or delayed?
Delayed
2. What annoying thing happens on our flight?
They run out of drinks.
(Hint: Not turbulence.)
3. What good thing happens at our hotel?
Free mini bar
4. Animals! Animals on a plane! What kind?
(Hint: Not snakes... or dogs... or cats.)
A panda bear
Horseback riding

Noted!

Ok, I read, but need to actually get a bit of study time in tonight. So I'll take a stab at these and come back later...

It always concerns me when a nurse mentions anything about stabbing.

1. Delayed
2. A kid kicking your chair behind you
3. You get lei-ed
4. A bird

Bonus: While my snarky side says The Urgent Care Clinic, my nicer me says some sort of helicopter tour thingy

Noted... and your snarky side is mean!

I like that.

Ponzi, I always hang on your every word, and I love a good back-story. Well done!

Thanks Marita!

 

[pkondz]

Yup. Livin' the dream. Except this year winter has been milder than usual for us, so hard to complain much at this point.

For us too, actually.
Cold one this morning (-26C/-15F) but overall, it's been pretty mild.

Ah, fambily time. You softie, you!

Rotten little ingrates.
They better appreciate this!

Ugh, so sorry that you were involuntary volunteered to be a germ receptacle. Hoping that the Hawaii sun helped cure you.

I was possibly less than thrilled.

1. Delayed, because why waste all that adrenaline?
2. A seat kicker
3. A great hot tub
4. Ferret

Excursion: Volcanoes National Park Tour

Noted.

 

[pkondz]

I didn't participate in the last contest (although I did show up on the scoreboard with a few points... "pity points?" perhaps?) but I'll give this one a go:

Well, now you can get in on the ground floor.

1. Flight: Delayed. Because what's more aggravating than stressing out over being late than sitting there for an extra hour?
2. Annoying thing on flight: Some guy keeps coughing the entire flight
3. At the hotel your room is upgraded to concierge level, so free drinks! (This also happened to me - at the Beach Club - which was all kinds of fabulous especially because we are not the kind of folks who can afford the Beach Club at all, let alone Concierge level.)
4. Animals on the plane - Ants?
5. Excursion - I'm going to say surfing lessons, because this would be the most useful skill to take back to Winnepeg

Noted.

(I really want to say "8 year old boy kicks your seat back the entire time, except for when he is stripping his clothes off, leaving on only his underpants, which must make kicking all the more fun, with his mother somehow, conveniently several seats away" but seriously, this could only happen to me. And it did.)

What the heck?
The seat kicking I understand... Not condone, but understand. But stripping?

Bonus trip report! Bonus contest! Awesome!

Who's the best TR writer? Who is it? Who?

It sounds like your Hawaii trip had both ups and down, but at the least the downs were dealt with in the Hawaiian sun and not Winnipeg winter

Given a choice, I'd rather be sick and warm than sick and frozen.

Contest:
1. delayed, just to make all the rushing worth it
2. baby crying the whole flight
3. room upgrade
4. hmm...some kind of rodent...guinea pig? (someone already answered "ferret")

Excursion: volcano tour

Noted.