I'd Rather Be In Montana

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And allow me to share with you why I'm not...

I had my whole morning planned down to what I was going to read when I was finally seated on the flight for the first leg of my journey to Kalispell. Everything went smoothly...I left insanely early in case of traffic and was shocked when there was none. But then I got to the airport.

I've already posted a whole entry when I was on my way to North Dakota on how much I hate Philadelphia Int'l Airport so I'm going to repeat myself, but rather I will add to my reasons to stay away. PHL is easily overwhelmed. Between the storms we had in the area last night and the fact that this is the Friday before a week with a holiday...let's just say that Philly was freaking out.

The chaos I viewed from the window of the Economy Parking Shuttle as we pulled up to the terminal was more than a little frightening. Getting off of the shuttle, I made my way through the masses of people attemping curbside check-in and found a Delta kiosk so I could get rid of my giant duffel bag and head up to security as quickly as possible. This is when I found out that I was too late to actually check my bag for my flight as, due to an error on my part where I read the time of my flight off of the wrong boarding pass (I had 3 I was juggling for today). Oops! So while I still had 45 minutes before my ACTUAL flight time, it was not enough time to get my bag or myself through security and onto the plane.

Okay, I thought, no sweat. I'll just get myself rebooked on another flight. I have 24 hours before I actually HAVE to be in Kalispell so surely they'll be able to get me there by then.

So I stood in line only to be told by the ticket agent that there were no seats on any flights that would get me anywhere near Kalispell. None. Nada. Zip. I was dumbfounded. Was she sure? How about another airline? Another airPORT, even. Could she check again? She did. Nothing. What about standby? No standby seats available either. Nope, if I wanted to go to Kalispell, it would have to be another day...like next week.

I laughed - I mean, what else COULD I do? Thanked her for her efforts, proceeded to make my way past the 300+ (no exaggeration) people waiting to go through security, back onto the Economy Parking Shuttle, and then to my car where I sat for 15 minutes calling to cancel everything I had arranged for the next few days. Sigh.

And there you have it! I got a call back from the Montana guide company I had booked with who said they would be happy to rebook me for another trip some other time, but sadly I would lose 25%!o(MISSING)f my payment due to the late "cancellation" which was fine because hey, that's a heck of a lot better than losing it all!

I'll be working these days that I should have been spending trekking around deep in the wilds of Montana. I'll definitely be rebooking - for when, I have no idea. Possibly next summer, but we'll see. For now, I have to just assume that my not going right now is somehow for the best.

The wilds will have to wait and so will I...just hopefully not for too long!

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Comments

[becka]

where one plane dr closes...
oh deb...i feel your pain, really i do. But you are right, where God shuts a door, sometimes abrubtly and loudly, He always has a fabulous reason and another will open up that is by far, worlds better :) maybe we can do the trip together next year! :) Len is about all ready for me to run away with a good friend for a fun, child-less time.

[shauna]

bummer!
Hey there Deb, sorry to hear about the travel snafu, but I bet whenever you do end up rebooking it'll turn out to me an absolutely amazing trip! ~shauna

[Dad]

Missed you
Mom and I were looking forward to having that Starbuck's with you in your Atlanta layover. Oh well, better "luck" next time (as John Calvin would say).

[Jo]

so sad
at least you didn't get all the way through security and THEN have to turn around. It's funny, Atlanta is ALWAYS packed too, but it was always the people checking in at the desk or checking their bags or something. Security was always surprising quick. However, the long trek to the terminal via the tram was never fun.

[travelingbee]

You're On!
Hey Beck! If you're up for a serious backpacking/camping trip, I would LOVE to do this with you next year. Let me know if you want to start planning... :)

[Kris]

irony is always a little quirky
Hey, it occurred to me that this is not the first time God prevented you from taking a trip.. I know you recall a certain beyond painful gall bladder incident that kept you from Peru a few years back, but you were able to go again and had a fabulous time! Who knows? It's just interesting.