Okay, so this trip report is long overdue but after so many other good reports I thought I should finally get around to writing ours.
To start, my brother is an economics major at WVU. I go to a branch of WVU, not the main campus. So we rarely see each other. We planned to go on this trip because I'm a Disney-nut, he needed a vacation and because I had a season pass. Oh, and because we're siblings and we're close and we love each other and all that. That was a good reason, too.
So we started planning in June. He had planned to work and save enough to cover his half, but
after I bought our flights and made the deposit on the room he figured out he wouldn't be able to do that. Of course. This was around October and he started talking about bailing from the trip. Oh, no! I was really upset. I called him daily, I think, and pleaded with him. Finally- I laid it out. It was cheaper, at that point, for him to go then stay. But he was upset because his little sister would be financing it *gulp* little sister hadn't thought about that. Funny how us teenagers sometimes forget the financial side of things. I just wanted to see Mickey!
So because I was one heck of a determined 18 year old, I took a second job as a holiday waitress at the local Country Club. Yeck. They made me look like this--
Anyway. So, I used the Pay It Forward thread to have someone send him a card at his Dorm room, hoping to get his mind off the fact that his baby sister was financing this huge trip. It worked! He called me, mystified by the Disney magic and told me about a program he downloaded. Apparently this program sits on the desktop of his comptuer and he put our travel dates in it-- and it put a plane on the day we were leaving. Well he was so excited to see that plane move closer and closer and closer to the actual date.. I was so happy he was just finally on board with me, I bubbled over and told him my plan.
I had decided that this trip was my Christmas, Hannukah (no, we're not Jewish), Kwanza, President's day, New Year's, 22-28th birthday, St. Patrick's Day, Valentine's Day, Easter AND.. College graduation present from me.
He apparently liked the idea, though, and said I should make it his present until his 30th birthday. Which was fine with me-- hardly something one would argue with, right?
I was just so happy we were finally set!!
So from October-December 16, I worked fulltime at Burger King every morning, six days a week and waitressed private parties at the Country Club four nights a week. I was one tired girl, let me tell you. Oh, and I had two college classes as well. Luckily, they were night classes and fit into my schedule rather well as nap time..
(But hey, I got an A.. so apparently I sleep convincingly!)
So December 17th rolls around and I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. I had stayed up all night and packed my luggage and was off to work. Everyone hated me. Just as the Christmas rush was getting to be horrible and it was bitterly cold, I was gloating about a week in Florida. Oh, how I loved it! So after BK I went to the Country Club and hosted an office dinner party. I got out about 9 (because I had originally told them I couldn't work at all, but they needed me...) and drove home because I'd forgotten to put my luggage in my car. Well, I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I wanted to get on the road because it was getting late, but I kept remembering things I needed. I'm sure we ALL know how that goes. So I finally decided to put my slippers on and drive in them, figuring they were much comfier than my tennis shoes, which would definitely get enough wear later that week. So I grab my shoes and a handful of other important things (laptop, purse, books, money!, pillow and a blanket to crash at my bro's apartment that night) and head out the door. Unfortunately, I hadn't thought to unlock my car first and had to unload all my stuff onto the roof.
So I finally get the car unlocked and just start throwing things in the backseat and then I hop in and I'm off! I was so pumped, I put in a CD of Disney music and rolled down the window to make sure I'd stay awake. Anyone who has had the privledge of driving Rt. 50 in WV between Parkersburg and Clarksburg should know why I was worried about falling asleep. That stretch of road is so boring, not even moving Disney World up here could make it more interesting!
So I finally get past 50 and hit Interstate 79 when I realize I really need to stop and use the bathroom. However, I look at the time. It's 11:30 PM and I'm a young girl, alone, driving at night in the middle of nowhere WV, with slippers and a Disney hoodie on.
The thought of stopping at a secluded rest area petrified me. So I call my loving brother and I tell him that I need him for protection. "If I scream- call 911 because I've been attacked!"
He, however, does not find it amusing and thinks that I'm being crazy. I quickly remind him he is 6'4" and a man. Big difference, me thinks.
So after my scary side trip (in which a big white van sat idling just outside the rest stop) I literally RAN back to my car and jumped in and locked the doors. Silly or not, I was safe and I was going to Disney World!
So I drove the remaning 45 minutes to my brother's college apartment. I get there, expecting him to be packed.. but no. He's sitting on the floor with a pizza box watching Sin City with one of his friends. OH well. So I decide to go back down and start organizing my back seat. When I get done, I go back upstairs and tell Greg that I'm pully packed and we should start loading the car as soon as his friend leaves.
You see, I got there about 12:30 A.M. Our flights left Pittsburgh at 7:30. Morgantown is about an hour from Pittsburgh. I am a very, very anxious person and wanted to be at that airport the full two hours before hand. I was not taking any chances! I discussed it with Greg who decided we'd leave his apartment at 4. I was okay with that. So I started to look around when I realized... there weren't any bags packed. Anywhere. There were piles of dirty clothes, college texts, empty pizza boxes.. everything but packed bags! So, I have to ask him.. just where is his luggage!?
"Oh, I need to wash stuff before I can pack." WHAT?!
So I'm immediately on his case. He finally gives in to me and starts picking through his clothes and throws them in the washer. When they're done, Greg throws them in the drier. And we wait. And wait.
So there we are. Waiting on a drier. Then.. my dad calls. I figure he's going to wish us off but he goes "Pats, are you missing a shoe?"
Huh?! My father had come home from his night out with my mom.. and found my shoe lying in the middle of our street. (I park on the street)
Apparently, in my hurry to throw things in my car.. I didn't notice that one of my tennis shoes had bounced or fallen back out. Oops. What was I supposed to do? I'd bought AND broken those shoes in just for this trip. I was bummed. So, we went to Wal*Mart. I'd left out $100 for *in case* money for the night in Morgantown and the plane ride down. I bought a $30 pair of Dr. Scholls Gel Tennis shoes. I knew this was not something one should skimp on and I prayed they would not give me blisters. Thank heavens, though, for 24 hour Wal*Marts.
So back to the apartment we go and the drier is still not working right. The stupid thing will just not do it! 3:30 rolls around, as you can see from my previous post.. and there were still no clothes! 4 o'clock comes and I'm starting to get nervous. So, trying to take my mind off of it... he decides we'll go get gas because he doesn't have any to drive to the airport with. So, off we go. We also stop at a liquor store and get some Jim Beam and Smirnoff Black Cherry Vodka. Amazing to me that there is a 24 hour liquor mart open in a college town, even once classes are out. I had $20 of my original 100 left now. Good thing I kept it out...
So we get the gas and go back to his apartment. It's about 4:45 and the clothes still aren't dry. I'm starting to get really, really nervous at this point and he notices. He decides if they aren't dry by 5:30, we'll just take them wet. 5:30?? I was so worried we'd miss our flights. I almost go knock down his super's door to ask them if we can use HIS drier since my brother's doesn't work. Crazy, too.. seeing as how he lives in a BRAND new apartment building.
So 5:35 comes and he finally agrees we have to go. I'm close to tears and just genuinely terrified we aren't going to make it. So on the way to Pittsburgh, I call the airport. They tell me security is backed up and we probably won't make it in time unless we haul a*s. Yes, the telephone operator told me to haul a*s. I had no problem relaying the message to my brother who chose THEN to tell me he hadn't slept in two days because he stayed up all night studying for his final earlier that day. Great. We were such a pair.
He told me, though, because he wanted my help to watch for deer and cops.
So we finally reach the airport at 6:45. He takes me to curbside check-in where we ask the lady if I can check his luggage if he goes to park. She assures me that I can and says the lines are much shorter inside. So, I haul all the luggage inside-- and she's right! No lines at all! I race up to the counter.. only to be told I can't check his bags. She will, however, hold it for me and all he has to do is come show his license as proof that he's..him. Okay. I can do this. So I take my two suitcases and drop them off at security and immediately call my brother. He assures me he is running back to the airport from the parking lot and that the parking lot is packed and he had trouble finding a spot. Imagine that, a packed parking lot at an airport the week before Christmas? Hmm..
So he finally gets there and I practicaly shove him to the counter to get his bag checked. He takes it and drops it off at security and the agent notices his ME tag and says "Have a great time at Disney!" Awww... if I weren't in the midst of a panic attack, I would have stopped to appreciate the Disney magic that had already found it's way to us.
Time: 7:02 A.M.
So I bolt. Yes, I literally run to security, so afraid of the lines the agent had warned me about.
We race down the escalator only to see.. no one.
I kid you not. There was no one there but TSA agents.
I let myself breathe.
Then I curse myself for having so much to carry on.
And I desperately cling to my laptop case which holds my $1000 computer, $400 in travelers checks and $1200 cash.
I had not thought this through very well.
So after watching that bag like a hawk, I snatch it up and run for the tram thing-a-ma-jig.
Time: 7:15 A.M.
My brother still thinks i'm crazy, but our plane leaves in fifteen minutes. What if we're on the very end of the terminal? What if, what if, what if?! That is all I am full of that morning.
So we board the tram and we take off searching for the terminal. Ahh, another chance to breathe as it's the first gate in the terminal.
We sit down and Greg looks at me and goes "I told you we wouldn't miss the flight."
Oh, psh. What does he know?
Part 2: The flight down and check-in..
