Bahamas, Part 1

It was a crazy trip getting to the Bahamas with Cara and Tony. It all started well enough. I finally got hold of mom after two hours of trying to call and make sure she was coming to get me. She, of course, was asleep. Luckily, Steve finally returned my call and we were off. And Blythe T. was off the hook too. She was my backup ride.

At the airport, I got checked in, but my ticket agent said she couldn't check me through all the way and that I would have to do it at the gate (I was changing airlines in Seattle). She did get my bags checked all the way through, but wasn't sure if my bags would make the exchange in time. My bags did in fact make the plane, but I didn't. My seats were given away at a half hour before the flight took off, while I was waiting in line to check into the flight, as a matter of fact. After the flight took off (it was of course overbooked by about twenty people.). I got to work out my situation with perhaps the nicest gate attendant I have ever met.

After 45 minutes of him trying every which way he could think of to get me to DC/Virginia Friday night to make my flight on Saturday to the Bahamas, he realized there was no way Delta could do it (Not Delta's fault, just so we're clear). So instead he redid my entire trip, and flew me to the Bahamas from Seattle on Saturday. He also arranged for a hotel and meal vouchers, as well as changing my return flights for me, so I could go from the Bahamas to Spokane. Not only that, but he was waiting for me on Saturday morning at my gate to make sure that everything was OK with my ticket. Seriously, the nicest guy, especially considering Friday had been the end of his shift. On Saturday, he also took care of rerouting my bags from Virginia so that I could have clothes in the Bahamas.

After waiting for my shuttle to the Red Lion for pretty close to two hours (or at least it felt that way in the cold of Seattle), I realized I was being an idiot and called aunt Sue, who came and rescued me from the airport. My original plan was to check into the hotel and then call the family. I didn't want anyone to have to get me to the airport at 5:30 in the morning. We had a fun evening of knitting with the girls at Mill Creek yarn. Pam dropped by too and told us about her weird shake and bake class. It seems worth a try as a workout, even though it's incredibly crazy sounding. We also tried to break into the guest room which was locked due to the door handle having been put on backwards. It didn't work, so I slept on the air mattress...

My trip to the airport and the Bahamas went pretty smoothly on Saturday. My super-awesome gate attendant even got me a seat in first class for the Seattle-Atlanta leg, and I had an exit row to myself on the way to Nassau. Could it have been any better!? Did I mention he was amazing? I made it to Nassau a few hours behind Cara and Tony. Once I made it through customs (surprisingly quickly), I headed to the Delta counter to get an ETA for my lost bag. I was ecstatic to learn that it was actually on the same flight as me. So, I collected my bags and headed to the hotel, where after a half-hour of calling Cara and Tony, they finally woke up and took me up to the room. Let the adventures begin!