Summer Time Blues

It's almost the end of July, and I still have three weeks before I get to take some vacation time. I guess it is the price you pay for trying to be organized, frugal, and deal with multiple scheduling issues. And, no matter how you try to schedule, someone is always throwing a wrench into the works. I started planning my vacation in February, because that is when the tickets to Alaska go on sale--(can't imagine why no one would want to go to Alaska in February). For some reason you can get a great deal on a flight to Anchorage in February, and then you wait-and wait-and wait until that day finally comes. Plus, in Alaska, things book up quickly, so you also have to reserve your rental car, your motel/hotel/cabins early in the year because otherwise you will be up the creek with no room at the inn. And, many of the places require a 50% deposit, so you also obligate your funds long before the vacation ever comes. So, we have our flights, our reservations in Homer, Seward, and Denali, and the B&B in Anchorage for our last night, we have our car, my husband has his halibut trip all reserved. But here is the hitch. We get into Anchorage late in the evening, and have a 40 minute connect time in Chicago. We are also traveling with my Mom (my Dad died last November) who gets around really well for 78, but can't run to the next terminal. So, I called Travelocity to see if there was an earlier flight out of Hotlanta that we could take--I would rather have plenty of time to make a connecting flight, but no, as long as the connection time was more than 30 minutes--no deal---yes, they say they will make your flight "right"--I'm not so sure. If we miss our connecting flight to Anchorage, the next flight would take us to LA with an overnight, and get us into Anchorage the next afternoon.--give me a break, I don't get enough vacation time as it is--I don't want to miss a minute of it on stupid connecting flights because Travelocity can't see that there could be a problem. Also, it means I can't reserve a hotel for the first night because of the cancellation policies--if we don't make it, I still get charged. Well, I'm cheap enough that I don't like paying for something I don't use. So, I have to hope for the best--prepare for the worst, and try to convince Travelocity that making it right means giving us more than 40 minutes, given that Atlanta is notorius for backups.

My frustration for the day

Still Hot in Hotlanta