I wanted to drive, my sister-in-law Diane wanted to fly, she was not interested in an epic road trip which meant riding over 1000 miles each way in my Beetle. She assured me it wasn't personal, she was not interested in a road trip with anyone, anywhere, in any vehicle.
I rented a 2 bedroom property on the Rio Grande River in South Fork, CO and she took care of the airline reservations and car rental.
The night before we left, my husband took me to her house to spend the night because she lives 30 minutes from the airport. Her husband dropped us off on his way to the office the next morning. It was sprinkling, we checked in, our flight was on time. We sit down United Airlines let us know our flight is delayed because it is still in Iowa due to a battery problem. We know that means we will arrive at least 3 hours later than planned. Planned...planning...plans...to plan - we had many plans for the next week in CO.
The rain increased significantly, lightning strikes were frequent and dramatic. Tropical Storm Imelda was making her presence known. The airport was closed, all roads leading to the airport were flooded. Thankfully due to Diane's travel perks we were in the President's Club so we were seated in comfortable chairs, there were snacks and beverages, and of course, we could recharge our phones and tablets. 8 hours into our stay at the airport, I contacted the property owner and let them know we would arrive some time the next day. 10 hours into our airport stay, we decided to see if we could get to an airport hotel to spend the night. United had our baggage, unfortunately, we could not retrieve it. We managed to book a room a few blocks from the airport, we felt confident the hotel shuttles would begin their routes because it was barely raining. But no...the hotel flooded. My husband called to see if Diane and I had anything left to talk about and check on us. Funny, funny man. 14 hours into our stay at the airport, we noticed a cab arrived. One lane in each direction of JFK was clear, tow trucks were towing stranded cars off the streets and freeways. We found an Uber driver who would take us back to Diane's house.
Take 2, the airport opened at noon, my brother-in-law dropped us off at 12p, we checked in for our standby flight at 2p and went down the President's Club. The 2p flight was delayed because there was no crew. We were told we would not make it on standby on the 4p flight, however, our luggage was in CO. waiting for us. At 4p we walked to the gate for the 2p flight hoping to make it on the flight. At 7p, we gave up, changed terminals and checked in for our 7:45p flight. We sat down and received texts our 7:45p flight was delayed. The 2p flight took off at 7p. I texted the property owner and told him we'd arrive sometime Saturday. We boarded our 7:45p flight at 9:30p and took off at 10p. We landed safely in Colorado Springs, retrieved our luggage, found an airport hotel (We did not book a room before we left in case our flight was canceled to avoid the non-refundable charge. I'd already lost 2 nights rental in South Fork.) and took a cab to said hotel because we arrived 5 minutes after the rental car counter closed.
Saturday morning, no one would accuse us of being bright-eyed or alert. We powered down coffee and picked up our rental car and stopped at a pharmacy to pick up medication that was lost somewhere between Houston and CO.
I've never been so glad to see South Fork, CO in all my life. We turned onto the old dump road which has been renamed and found our townhouse which was lovely.
On the remaining days of our vacation, we drove across Aqua Ramon and surprised a bicyclist and 2 hunters. Guess they never saw 2 broads in an Escalade up there before. Days later, imagine my surprise when I found out the vehicle was not 4 wheel drive! (I now understand the surprised faces on the Aqua Ramon drive.) We drove to Durango, took a 4 hour ATV tour outside of Creede, visited the Great Sand Dunes, and drove to Lake City. The fall foliage was beautiful and almost at its peak in many areas. Due to our shortened trip, Leadville and Summitville will have to wait until next year.
Our travel was for pleasure, other passengers missed funerals and weddings. One young lady was standing in the terminal holding a bridesmaid dress. I felt for them.
Patience was necessary, plans had to be changed, and nothing was in our "control" except how we chose to behave. I even managed not to laugh when a woman screamed, "I've been here for 3 hours!"
Now, maybe I'll plan a road trip over Thanksgiving!
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