I woke up pretty early, per usual, on
this my last day in Aruba and my inner debate raged on. I really
wanted to take one last swim before leaving but knew that I didn't
want to carry a wet swimsuit and towel on the plane. As I was
packing up the rest of my stuff and checking over the room, I found
the bill had been slipped under the door. Yes, it was outrageous
but it also said that checkout was at noon instead of 11 which would
give me plenty of time to swim, eat, checkout, and be in the lobby by
1:15. Cool.
It was almost like I had the entire
ocean to myself. The boats were still anchored just past the
cordoned off area and there were a few early risers sitting
out on the beach but there was absolutely no on in the water as far
as I could see. The sun hadn't quite risen yet and it was overcast
meaning no risk of burning my forehead again.
One last trip to the buffet then I
gathered my stuff and checked out. I waited in the lobby until the
shuttle arrived then it was off to the airport. Customs was
different than I remember from my trip to the Bahamas ten years ago.
You go through Aruba customs first, drop off any checked bags, then
pick the bags back up and go through American customs. American
customs was automated making the forms we were given when we landed
in Aruba completely useless. Well, at least I wouldn't have to bother with customs once I landed. The only issue I had was that I couldn't get a window seat on the flight to Atlanta. Oh well, I figured it was only a two hour flight so I'd have to rough it on the aisle. No big deal.
The flight from Aruba went off without a hitch. I at least had my window seat on this flight and there was one other guy in the 3 seat row who took the aisle. Awesome. We even landed in Miami a 1/2 hour early, giving me enough time to grab some dinner ...
... And even more time besides. My flight was supposed to leave at 9 yet it was close to 8:45 before I noticed that boarding hadn't started yet. It was only by looking at the gate sign did I learn that the flight was delayed until 10:40 p.m. Fun.
I sat for a while until I couldn't stand being around the family of hyper kids who were all making too much noise. I wandered around the airport for awhile but got tired of lugging my bag around. I'd bought a new collapsible bag for travel spillovers and while it did hold a ton, the soft body and long shape made it incredibly unwieldy. I was more than ready to get the night over with.
No luck there. The flight was again delayed until 12:30.
Again there were no announcements about these changes. I saw people going to the counter to ask but that shouldn't have been necessary as we were all wondering what was up. The kids had finally dropped off to sleep but everyone else was just restless and getting crankier by the minute. Count me among the cranky. I was tired and more than a little pissed that my vacation would have as bad of an ending as it had a beginning.
And every time I opened that bag I got
hit in the face with the smell of the leftover Cuban sandwich I'd had for dinner. Not a bad smell but I
didn't really want it permeating everything in my bag.
I had just started to nod off when I sensed movement around me. Okay, I guess we’re boarding even
though once again there was no announcement. At around 12:15 a.m,, we all silently filed onto the over-cooled plane. The
captain came on and finally gave us an explanation for the delay.
Apparently there was some bad weather in Houston and the crew who was
supposed to be on our flight got stuck out there. This crew was
trying to go to Houston and had to turn around because of the storm.
So they were just getting caught up with the doings on this plane.
Including the fact that the ground crew hadn't loaded the luggage yet. The plane had only been sitting there for FIVE hours. What
the flying flip were they waiting for?
Fifteen minutes after everyone had been
seated, the ground crew was still doing their check and loading the
luggage. Then the AC shut off. The cabin quickly got overheated and
the smell of jet fuel filled the air. I went from really wanting to
board this flight to really wanting to leave because the combo of the
heat and the smell was starting to make me sick. For the second time
during this vacation I felt like a trapped animal – really not the
experience I was going for. The captain came on again saying he would just have to spend the whole trip apologizing to us. The
plane was working on auxiliary AC that was spotty at best so he was
going to route some air in from the ground. A few minutes later the
cabin cooled down. The flight attendants started to pass out
headphones as this evening’s morning’s
entertainment would be comped to make up for all the issues. Too
little too late as most folks just wanted to sleep.
We finally got off the ground at 1:00
am – four hours after we should have taken off. There was
turbulence but I really don’t think anyone cared. As long as we
didn't fall out of the sky … whatever. I tried to get some sleep
but with the woman next to me loudly snoring and anyone passing me on
the aisle making me dodge so they wouldn't hit me, it just wasn't
happening.
We landed in ATL at 3:00 on a cold and
rainy morning. MARTA had stopped running at least an hour earlier so
I spent the flight trying to figure out what to do. I grabbed my bag
and headed outside listening to the PA system telling me that the
airport doesn't condone passengers soliciting unofficial
transportation. Well, they shouldn't have stranded me in
Miami then. MARTA was my only way back, I’m 20 miles from my car and
another 25 miles from there to my house; what else am I supposed to
do?
Divine providence smiled on me for the
second time this trip. A yellow checked cab pulled up and let this
lady out (making me wonder where she was going at 3 in the morning).
I ran up and asked the dude if he was busy. He said no, get in. I
asked him if he took plastic as I had no money (in the 20 years I've
lived in ATL I've taken a cab maybe twice so I had no idea how they
worked). He said don’t worry about it, I’ll help you out. Get
in.
Hallelujah!
The reason he was so insistent about me
getting in the car is that, like the announcement said, Hartsfield
doesn't approve of cabs trolling the airport for fares. They could take his
license if they caught him -- which is nuts in my opinion. He wasn't
soliciting; he was just there at 3 in the morning when I had no other
options. I went up to him so my hope is that he didn't get into
trouble. We had a nice chat about both of our situations while he was driving and I kept an eye
on that meter. I honestly think that if you even breathe in a cab it costs money.
We pulled up in front of the job and he
took my card for the $55 trip. I included a generous tip and he
seemed surprised when he thanked me. “Dude. It’s 3 in the
morning.” He helped me with my gear and I hoofed it through the
parking garage to my car. I made record time getting home with no
one on the streets. Plane got in at 3 and I was pulling into my
garage at 4:30. If only all my commutes could be that fast.
House is still standing, cat is still
alive. Score. The house was freezing though. I had just turned on
the AC for the season before I left only to come back to a house that
was 64 degrees. Crawled into bed and despite being tired I was too
wound up to get much sleep. Well, at least I had Friday off.
I got up and took the car to the shop
as planned. There was a recall on the airbags so no charge but the
mechanic would have to keep it all day. The good thing about that is
that Honda pays for a rental. A really big rental in the form of
this huge white Ford F-something truck. I’m standing at the rental
counter, punchy, tired, and with my mouth wide open as the attendant
drives this behemoth into the bay. “This thing won’t even fit in
my garage.” “Oh don’t worry you can just park it outside.”
Brilliant.
The truck was cool, though. It had
satellite radio, a back seat, and this funky plastic key attached to
a remote. But something was missing. How do I shift this thing?
Turns out the gear shift is on the dashboard and looked just like a
big knob for the radio. It only had park, drive, reverse, and
neutral and it just took a few turns to get it moving. I had never
seen anything like that before. I had to be careful driving it though,
being tired and all. Not to mention the fact that it was brand new (which
encourages a lead foot), it was the length of a bus, and I could have easily run over one of those little
European half-cars and wouldn't even have noticed. I’m not
trying to catch a case just after my vacation.
Sure enough, the Canyonero didn't fit
in the garage (too long) so I managed to back into my neighbor’s
garbage can before parking it in front of the house. Still too wired
to sleep I puttered about the house until Honda called. They had checked
the car while they worked on the airbags and discovered three issues with it; two that cost
about a $100 apiece to fix and one that would cost close to $1000 …
but we could hold off on that last one. Thank Odin. Sighing at yet
another unexpected expense I told him to go ahead with the two
smaller repairs.
So to sum up; Aruba was beautiful and
the Marriott was very nice but the whole vacation ended up costing 3
times more than I planned. The two hotels, the unexpected cab ride, the car I wasted $90 to rent, the $60 for the pet sitter (I swear it wasn't
that expensive last time – and the sitter's bill had a note saying
that tips are welcome!?!?), the repairs on the car … and I still
have to buy a new mattress and a new pair of glasses. Despite hosing
myself down with sunscreen, I still burned and I also have a very
itchy heat rash on my arms and chest. Instead of feeling rested and
having an island/vacation buzz, I just feel some kind of way. I
won’t say the trip wasn't worth it because I did very much enjoy
being on the beach (which was the point) but next time I’ll just go
back to Hawaii. You get more for your buck and I truly love it
there.
As for Aruba … ehhh.
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