Monday, January 17, 2011

I'M HOME !!

Yes I am home from sunny California. I had a wonderful visit with my children but the entire trip was against me.

First of all I was scheduled to fly out of North Bend at 3PM Friday Jan 7th. My plane was delayed for three hours. Okay my dear friend Brenda dropped me off since my hubby was out of town for the weekend so I had no choice but to wait. After about an hour the announced over the loud speaker that the flight had been canceled due to fog in San Francisco.

Okay I called Brenda and bless her heart she came back and picked me up and took me home. Saturday I called the air port to make sure the plane was on schedule and leaving at 3pm. Yes they said it was on time. So I drove my car and left it in the parking lot of the airport for 8 days costing me 58.00 ! I was taking no chance of the same thing happening again.

I was scheduled to fly in to John Wayne Airport but that got changed too , why?, not sure but instead, I had to fly into Ontario Airport causing yet another problem. I had rented a car at John Wayne so I had to reschedule that so I would have a car when I got to Ontario. I arrived in Ontario at 7:30pm and picked up my car and drove to Corona where all of my children and their families were waiting to meet me for dinner.

It was a wonderful reunion with my sons. My granddaughter was there too and of course my new great granddaughter Ava June. She is the most beautiful baby girl in this generation. We took pictures of the four generations and had a wonderful dinner. Since I got in so late, this took away the plan to spend 2 and 1/2 days with each son. I lost an entire day.

After dinner everyone split up and I went to my youngest sons house in Temecula. We went to church on Sunday and spent the day in old town Temecula after church and had a nice lunch, walked around the antique section and then returned to his home where we had a good visit but it was cut short due to my rescheduled flight.

On Monday afternoon I had planned to meet a couple of friends from my old job on the way to Anaheim where I would spend 2 and 1/2 days with her and my grandson Donovan. We had planned to have lunch and then go visit our old boss and his new showroom. We called before we got on the road to make sure he was in and he had to leave. He had an emergency at home so I missed seeing him.

I headed for Anaheim and got in a bit to early to go directly to my daughter in laws house since she was still at work so I waited for her for about 2 hours in the Target parking lot. Finally she called that she was on her way home so I made it to her house around 7 pm. We went to dinner and had a good visit talking most of the night. She was unable to take any time off work so I spent the next 2 days with my grandson and I am so glad I did. We bonded more than when I lived there.

I had planned to spend 2 and 1/2 days with my middle so D'Angelo but he was working out of town and I didn't get to Placentia until Friday evening so I spent an extra day with Lori my daughter in law in Anaheim. We again talked all night and she was so tired she came down with bronchitis ....I made her sick.

I finally was able to go to Placentia and visit my son D'Angelo on Friday evening and all day Saturday. He is the son that has the flesh eating disease in his leg that keep rearing it's ugly head. We had some deep heart to heart talks and it was so good to see that he is okay but his leg is still swollen and a little red.

So here is the last straw...
I thought I was scheduled to leave out of Ontario since I flew into Ontario . I went online to check in and it said that this flight was not available to confirm...what? So I had to call to find out what was up. They had not changed my flight for my return so I was scheduled to fly out of John Wayne. Oh this was not right! It is in Santa Ana CA and I am in Anaheim. I had to modify my flight. Done! So I ask if the plane was going to be on time and if there were any problems or perceived problems with the flight to San Francisco going home. Oh no, everything was on schedule and on time. Great, I will get home with no problems.

My flight to come home was scheduled to leave at 1:10 pm. I left my sons house at 10am to make sure I got there in time to turn the car in and give myself a little time in case there was traffic on the freeway. I arrived at 11:15am. I get to the check in counter and they tell me the flight has been delayed and will not be leaving until 3pm. What! I just called to confirm the time and they told me it was on schedule!!

So here I am sitting in the airport for 4 hours. The plane finally got there and I got on and then the pilot comes on the loud speaker and says..." there are high winds and low visibility in North Bend and we are not sure we can land there, we will try but if we can't land we will have to fly you to Eugene and we will keep you posted as to what will happen from there, you will be taken care of , this is just a warning"
Oh great, Eugene is 2 1/2 hours from North Bend /Coos Bay....wonder how I will get home. It is dark and raining and windy? Okay, calm down take a deep breath it will be okay.

We get to North Bend, the plane is being blown around and it is raining and it is dark. I can't see the ground and we are descending. I can't see the ground and we are descending.... I start to pray for God to make a path through the wind and fog for us to land. The pilot tried three times and he could not land. So he gets on the loud speaker and says "well as you can see, we were not able to land in North Bend so we will be going on to Eugene. Stand by for more details, we are talking to Eugene airport now"

As we start to descend in Eugene the same thing is going on...high winds, lots of rain, low visibility but suddenly I see the lights of the city and we landed! We were bused back to North Bend/Coos Bay and I finally arrived at the airport at midnight. I am home and safe and very tired and oh so frustrated with the airline.

We are stuck here in North Bend/Coos Bay. We only have one airline that fly's out of here . Want to know which on? My advise would be to stay as far away from it as you can. Every time I have had to fly on this airline I have been delayed for one reason or another. The reason is that it only fly's to SF from here. When we had another airline it flew us to Portland to change plans. Portland, where there is no thick fog or high winds or low visibility. I will NEVER again fly on this airline. I will drive to Eugene and catch a direct flight. This whole thing wasted 2 days I could have been with my family. Shame on them.

The air line ?..... UNITED !

Stay tuned for pictures of my trip, I am pooped tonight.

9 comments:

Junibears said...

What a trauma! Welcome Back anyway. Looking forward to the pics! Hugs xx

Sueann said...

Oh my! I bet you home never looked so good! Welcome back! I have never flown United...and now I know I won't. Ha!!
Glad you got to see your kids and grands even though trauma was involved. God is good...He got you home safe and sound. Though a bit beat up!!
Rest up dear one...a nice long soak in some hot hot soapy water should do the trick!
Hugging you
SueAnn

Anonymous said...

Sorry that the flight time was so frustrating. However the prize of seeing your family must have made it worth while! Sounds like flying out of Eugene would be a good plan. Glad you're home safe though Patti.

Debbie said...

Oh my goodness. Why are you living up there? LOL

I'm glad you are home safe and had a wonderful visit with your babies and their babies!! Look forward to the photos :)

Art From The heart said...

OMG!! What a nasty experience.
But at least you got to visit some and see family,that's the important part.
Glad your home safe & sound.
Hugs

Pamela said...

Goodness, you had quite the adventure with your travels didn't you! So glad you made it home safely, and for the good time spent with your family.

Maria@BubblegumandDuctTape said...

oh my goodness! that was an adventure I don't think I want to try. I honestly am a very impatient person, this would have driven over the edge.....not very pretty. At least you got to see your family and you were so close to me here. I have family and friends in Temecula and near Temecula. Yes, I would avoid that airline too if I was you. Good thing you are home safe and sound now.

Lori Garbarino said...

Glad you made it home okay! but I miss you so much!!!

Love you

Lori

Pellie / Penny said...

Alls well that ends well and this sounded like it turned out ok in spite of all the hassles.

Hugs,
Penny