“Look in the glove box.” Nope. Idea 2: call AAA.
“Our policy does not permit us to bring bolt cutters to cut the lock. We can however tow the vehicle and repair the tire. We will be there in 30 minutes to an hour.” Not enough time.
Idea 3: call Les Schwab Tire Center. So I sent a text message to GOOGL saying “les schwab wilsonville or”. As always Google didn’t let me down, responding to my message in less than sixty seconds with the phone number and address. “Our service trucks are currently out but I can have one come out as soon as possible.” said the Les Schwab guy.
“Can I come and borrow some bolt cutters?” said Andrew.
“Well I guess as long as you leave a deposit.”
At about 1038 Megan and I drove to Les Schwab which was about a 5 minute drive from our current location. Leaving my dad to continue removing the blown out tire to be ready for the bolt cutters. Les Schwab allowed us to leave $40 deposit to borrow some pretty hefty bold cutters. New problem. We now have to drive south on I-5 and then turn around and drive north again to reach the truck which was on the north bound side. This would cost us another twenty or more minutes. I decided to run south on north bound I-5 to truck. On our way to park the car in a convenient place we got stuck in some mildly heavy traffic, seeing that this would cost a few precious minutes I put the car in park, told Megan I would meet her at the rendezvous point, and jumped out of the car. As I ran I found that running on foot at a few miles per hour takes quite a bit longer than driving at 70+ mph but after a few minutes I was there, cut the lock and running back to meet Megan while my dad put on recently ‘unlocked’ tire. We returned the bolt cutters to Les Schwab, got our deposit back and where on the road north again at 1115.
After a few miles Megan told me that she had some trouble getting the car to move. She thought I left it in drive and put on the emergency brake prompting her to pull the nearest lever that looked like it would release the brake. However this lever released the hood. I now realized that even though she tried to close the hood she had not done so and the hood was now opening as far as the safety latch would allow it. Once again we pulled into the emergency lane of the interstate and fixed the problem.
We arrived at PDX about an hour early for our international flight that left at 1241. We found the continental ticket desk and I waited in line while Megan waited with our luggage. Once I got to the counter I was informed that Continental did not got to Hawaii and that I was at the wrong desk. Even though we booked the flight on Continental’s website we actually were to be flying on Northwest to Hawaii and then Continental to Pohnpei.
1153.
We decided I would run to the Northwest counter and get in line while Megan brought our luggage. After a quarter mile sprint I was back in line this time at the Northwest ticket counter. This time I got to the counter and checked in with no problems. We even had a bright spot to our seemingly stormy day. I informed the ticket clerk that we had five bags to check and also two oversized bags, which according to the website would cost us $240 extra. She did not charge us for the oversized bags which saved us $160. Yippee! On the downside she was a little bit slow, which is probably why we saved the money, so did not depart for the security line until 1210.
We ran to the security checkpoint, hugged my parents, and got in line.
1211.
At around 1228 we were at the X-Ray machine and metal detector. I went in a different line than Megan and as I was putting my sandals back on noticed that she just entering the metal detector. I yelled to her the Gate number, “D8!” and sprinted to hold the plane.
I arrived at D8 and informed them that my wife was stuck in security but that we were both here. While taking a breath, my first in quite awhile, I noticed that there were a few people standing around waiting for standby tickets. I was going to need a lot more breathes.
1232. No Megan.
1233. No Megan.
1236. No Megan. “Last call for Northwest Flight XXX for Honolulu.”
“Boes” the boarding clerk was calling out to see if we were there. Once again I explained the situation to her.
1238. I see Megan! She sees me! She's running! She drops her hat…
A few moments later boarded our plane, fastened our seatbelts and prepared for to begin our Micronesian lives. We arrived in Hawaii on time, checked into our hotel, and boarded a bus for Waikiki beach. We arrived a few moments before sunset and managed to snap a few quick shots…
Stay tuned, tomorrow will be about Micronesia...
5 comments:
One of my friends used to say:
"Cell phones: the world's solution to bad planning."
Maybe we could re-phrase that as:
"Cell phones: the world's trip-saving emergency back-up plan."
Wow! That sounds like one crazy day. At least you actually made it there. Last time I flew, I booked my flight through northwest, and after waiting in line for quite a while, I was told that I needed to go to the ticket counter for USAir. So, this must be a fairly common problem. They ought to tell you that somewhere on the website when you purchase tickets.
I can't wait to hear about Micronesia!
We prayed a lot that you would get there safely and it is soo good to hear from you and see your pictures.
We had a great time with you while you were hear, thanks for to good times we enjoyed.
DAD
Good grief! You must have been exhausted. Both of you. How did Megan handle the luggage and two bikes? Good thing you're both in such good shape. Pictures are great and sunset is breathtaking.
hahahaha, i need to learn that cell phone trick : P
Post a Comment