Day #12 - Me, Dad, and Al On Line To See Ron Guidry

WHOA WHOA WHOA! CUT THE MUSIC!!!!!

Not so fast! Michele and I had a nightmare night on what was supposed to be our last day in New York. Here's what happened:

My brother picked us up at 4 PM to bring us to JFK airport. Along the way, Michele called in to see if the flight was running on time and found out it was in fact an hour and a half delayed. It was to leave at 9:30 PM. Crap, we have a long wait ahead of us.

It took a while to get to the airport, about an hour, and when we did my brother dropped us off and we said our goodbyes. He dropped us off at Terminal 4. We walked into the gate and looked for Jet Blue...

And looked...

And looked...

No Jet Blue. In fact, Michele had objected to the determination that Terminal 4 was where we had to be when she said we were supposed to go to Terminal 6! Sure enough, Terminal 4 is an international terminal. We were in the wrong place. :-(

Lucky for us, however, we weren't in the typical "You're screwed!" airport in New York and JFK actually had an AirTrain that went between the terminals. We found our way to it and were able to take it to Terminal 6. No problem. Just some extra walking, but we were where we needed to be.

Once at Terminal 6, we checked in (shoes off!) and had some dinner. We had cheeseburgers...and they were a lot greasier than we'd have liked. Then, we headed to Gate 22. We follow the signs and realize, hold on just a sec, we're headed down a dead-end hallway...

The security guard said Gate 22 is actually a shuttle bus away. What?! We had to take a bus to this particular Gate! So, we walk to the bus (waddled in Michele's case, as she's getting very pregnant now) and took it to the Gate.

We get to the Gate and hang out for a while. The Gate is marked for "Boston" because our flight is so delayed. After a while, the woman gives the announcement:

"The plane for flight 98 to Denver is still sitting in Phoenix, Arizona. We will let you know when it has left the airport. Flight 98 has been delayed until 11:30."

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, we're sitting in New York and waiting for a plane that is in ARI-FRICKIN-ZONA to pick us up to take us to Colorado! AND IT IS STILL THERE!!!

So, we're looking at 5 hours of waiting at the airport. Dandy.

So, I start reading my Daddy-To-Be book and Michele is reading her magazine. We wait and wait and wait. The woman gives another announcement:

"The plane for flight 98 to Denver has left Arizona and is now en route to New York."

Whooo! At least we know there will be no more delays. Michele and I wait some more. And after, a couple hours, we go for a walk around the Gate to move our muscles.

After taking a restroom break, we're walking back and we look at the Departures on the TV:

"Flight 98 cancelled."

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our flight was cancelled. :-( We scurry to the gate to see what the heck is going on -- what happened to that plane??

We're sitting at the gate and Jet Blue seems incapable of explaining what's going on and what we need to do. How do we get home?? What a mess. After 5-10 minutes, a Jet Blue rep comes over to help and announces to the gathering crowd that we need to reschedule and to call 1-800-JET-BLUE. He said there were still available seats on the next morning's 8 AM flights. He also says our luggage is being release back to us (like this is supposed to make us feel good) and if we don't want it released back to use yet, to go to the Gate Services area and tell them to keep it held.

I immediately fish for my phone and start calling 1-800-JET-BLUE. Depressed that we may not have any options available to us, we hope that we can at least get a morning flight. I tell Michele I can stay at the airport all night, but Michele is more concerned that her pregnant frame can't sleep on the floor and she's probably right.

Still on hold with Jet Blue.

15 minutes of holding later, I talk to the rep and explain my situation. She checks the 8 AM flights and says they are now full and we didn't call in time. WHAT?! You didn't answer in time, lady!!!! The woman says she needs to put me on hold while she checks the 8 PM flights.

Now I'm on hold again -- meanwhile, we're being chased out of the Gate area we were in that I had sniffed out when I needed silence to hear my phone.

After 10 minutes, the woman gets back on again. There's a big rush on those flights, but she says I need to go to gate Services to reschedule. WHAT?!?!?!? The guy gave the wrong info!!!

Michele and I run (and/or waddle) to Gate Services!

The line is long. Oh my god, when are we EVER going to get a flight?! We're waiting on line...waiting...for about 15-20 minutes. Then, the doofus from earlier who said to call 1-800-JET-BLUE comes over to the line again. Haven't you done enough, doofus?

He tells us that the "other" line is just about empty and some of us should go there. I don't hesitate and immediately take off. Michele follows. We get to the line and we're immediately 2nd! Awesome, at least we can get this done with.

We wait.

And wait.

Having a conversation with the woman in front of us who's trying to get to Tampa but her flight is 5 hours delayed.

20 minutes -- for two people!! Finally, we get to the rep. We tell her what's going and on and she gets us reserved for the next day's 8 PM flight.

Now, the real problem. Where do we go? After much debating, I call up Chris to see if we can maybe take the Air Train to Theresa's in Brooklyn. Well, that was going to be too much of an adventure. So, we call Pam...and saves us.

We get home way past midnight. WHAT A NIGHTMARE! 8 hours and we're still in New York! One more day I guess...

...

On the last day in New York, we spent more time with my grandma and sister, Pam. Then, at around 2, my brother-in-law Al and my dad drove us to the airport -- but first we stopped at Last Licks. Al got a signed autograph from Ron Guidry, and I got a pic of them together.

From there, we went to the airport where we spent 4 hours waiting around and then we got on the plane to Denver...

Where we waited on the tarmac for 45 minutes!

But, FINALLY, we were off! And 4.5 hours later (the flight was slower due to winds), we were in freeze-your-ass-off cold Denver, Colorado.

The End. :-)

PS - Oh, we had trouble getting out of the parking spot at the airport due to ice. :-) OK, now really, THE END.