{"id":212,"date":"2006-07-17T20:47:47","date_gmt":"2006-07-17T11:47:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2006-07-17\/212"},"modified":"2006-07-17T20:47:47","modified_gmt":"2006-07-17T11:47:47","slug":"another-day-of-travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2006-07-17\/212","title":{"rendered":"Another Day of Travel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<p>Yesterday was <a\nhref=\"\/blog\/2006-07-13\/210\">another<\/a> day of travel, as\nwe moved from Ohio to California.<\/p>\n\n<p>Due to jet lag, <span class='nobr'>I got about<\/span> three hours of sleep and awoke at 3am. Fumie\ndidn't do much better. Anthony awoke at 7am just as we were starting to\ndrift back to sleep. Oh well, it looks to be <span class='nobr'>a loooooong<\/span> day ahead.<\/p>\n\n<p>In the end, we arrived without too much trouble, but it was somewhat of an ordeal at times.<\/p>\n\n<h3>Leaving Ohio<\/h3>\n\n<p>We called the hotel's front desk for luggage assistance (we had a\n<b>lot<\/b>) at 11am, but it was <span class='nobr'>a busy<\/span> time and they had no carts available\n(as if &#8220;morning checkout&#8221; should be <span class='nobr'>a surprise<\/span>? They have 209 rooms and\nonly something like 5 luggage carts). So, <span class='nobr'>I start<\/span> making trips to the car,\nalthough they finally showed up for the last trip (after <span class='nobr'>I noticed<\/span> an empty\ncart and reminded them that we'd been waiting for half an hour).<\/p>\n\n<p>As I said, we had a lot of stuff:<\/p>\n<ul><li>Three <b>large<\/b> suitcases<\/li>\n     <li><span class='nobr'>A large<\/span> duffel bag<\/li>\n     <li><span class='nobr'>A backpack<\/span> heavily laden with electronic equipment we didn't want to check in (my\nlaptop, cameras, VoIP modem, etc.)<\/li>\n     <li><span class='nobr'>A medium<\/span>-sized duffel filled with Anthony stuff for the flight (books, toys, change of clothes, diapers)<\/li>\n     <li>Fumie's carry-on small suitcase<\/li>\n     <li>Anthony's small milk cooler pack<\/li>\n     <li><span class='nobr'>A full<\/span>-sized baby stroller (which we haven't used with Anthony for <span class='nobr'>a year,<\/span> but it's very helpful in schlepping luggage about the airport)<\/li>\n     <li><span class='nobr'>A two<\/span>-part child car booster seat (base unit and back unit)<\/li>\n     <li><span class='nobr'>A three<\/span>-year-old child and his Curious George monkey, and new little bunny friend, &#8220;Bunny&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Our car was a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pontiac.com\/grandprix\/\">Pontiac Grand\nPrix<\/a>, which was not bad. <span class='nobr'>It had a<\/span> huge trunk, and we could fit our vast\namount of stuff in the car with <span class='nobr'>a few<\/span> square inches to spare. <span class='nobr'>We headed<\/span> off\nto Cleveland airport.<\/p>\n\n<p>Thankfully, Hertz had a huge luggage cart at the car-rental return area,\nso we could move all our stuff to the shuttle bus. <span class='nobr'>The lady driving<\/span> the\nshuttle bus had <span class='nobr'>a nice<\/span> name I'd not seen before: &#8220;Verita&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n<p>While I was checking in at the airport, Fumie was dealing with Anthony,\nwho decided that was the time for <span class='nobr'>a total<\/span> meltdown. Luckily, it was the\nonly one for the trip. <span class='nobr'>I had to<\/span> move 7 pounds of stuff from one large\nsuitcase to another, to avoid a $50 heavy-bag fee. <span class='nobr'>I'd forgotten<\/span> that the\ndomestic allowance is <span class='nobr'>a lot<\/span> less than the international one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The biggest hassle of going through airports with <span class='nobr'>a stroller<\/span> and <span class='nobr'>a kid<\/span>\nis going through security, because you have to take the kid out of the\nstroller, and then deal with all the security stuff (emptying pockets and\nshoes into the bin, taking laptop out, folding stroller, etc.) while still\ndealing with the kid. This time, while emptying out my pockets, <span class='nobr'>I was surprised<\/span> to find the keys to the rental car. Ooops! Fumie waited with\nAnthony while <span class='nobr'>I ran<\/span> out to the curb and gave them to <span class='nobr'>a passing<\/span> shuttle-bus\ndriver. <span class='nobr'>For good measure<\/span>, <span class='nobr'>I called<\/span> the Hertz rental counter to tell them\nthat the keys were on the way, only to find that they didn't seem to care\nmuch. <span class='nobr'>I got the<\/span> feeling that they figured that the keys would turn up some\ntime or other, or, perhaps not, and in the end, it didn't seem to really\nmatter. Odd.<\/p>\n\n<p>The first leg of the flight was on <span class='nobr'>a relatively<\/span> small (70-ish passenger)\nshort-haul commuter jet to Chicago, on America West, apparently in\npartnership with United Airlines, which <span class='nobr'>I thought<\/span> <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> flying. Because the\nplane is small in every dimension, an announcement was made that large\ncarry-on bags should be gate-checked. This turned out to be great, as we\ngate-checked four items (stroller, two-part booster seat, and Fumie's\ncarry-on suitcase) which made getting on and off the flight so much easier.<\/p>\n\n<h3>Chicago O'Hare<\/h3>\n\n<p><span class='nobr'>After 48<\/span> minutes in the air, we arrived at Chicago. The <a\nhref=\"\/blog\/2006-07-13\/210\">last time we were there<\/a> we\ntaxied for 25+ minutes to get to the gate, so <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> happily surprised when\nwe zipped there directly this time. Unfortunately, it was to Terminal F,\nwhich is far away from our connecting flight in Terminal C.<\/p>\n\n<p>Soon after getting off the plane and collecting all our gate-checked\nstuff, we came upon <span class='nobr'>a line<\/span> waiting at a &#8220;Shuttle to Terminal C&#8221; sign.\nBeyond the sign was <span class='nobr'>a set<\/span> of narrow twisty\nlooks-like-it's-emergency-use-only stairs, manned by <span class='nobr'>a United<\/span> Airlines\nemployee who looked like she' be more comfortable working at <span class='nobr'>a DMV.<\/span> <span class='nobr'>I asked<\/span> where the elevator was, and was informed there was none. <span class='nobr'>I asked<\/span> what do <span class='nobr'>I\ndo<\/span> with <span class='nobr'>a stroller<\/span> and <span class='nobr'>a ton<\/span> of luggage, and without an ounce of\ncompassion, she told me &#8220;you carry it&#8221;. <span class='nobr'>I asked,<\/span> not at all aggressively,\nwhat would someone in <span class='nobr'>a wheelchair<\/span> do, and with <span class='nobr'>a look<\/span> and tone that said\n&#8220;I've had just about enough out of you&#8221; she clearly enunciated &#8220;Call -\nCustomer - Service&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n<p>So we wait in line and after a while <span class='nobr'>a few<\/span> people are let down the\nstairs. After <span class='nobr'>a longer<\/span> while, we, too, are allowed. With much sweating and\ngrunting and bumping of elbows, we make it down, and then to the little bus\nwhere we have to break things down again. <span class='nobr'>We make the<\/span> drive across the\ntarmac and repeat the whole series of events in reverse. <span class='nobr'>A young<\/span> but\nhorribly overweight lady was physically laboring with her luggage and\nherself with each step up the stairs, so to avoid the impending cardiac\narrest, <span class='nobr'>I whisked<\/span> her luggage up for her, then attended to ours. <span class='nobr'>I think<\/span> she made it alive.<\/p>\n\n<p>At the top of the stairs there was <span class='nobr'>a line<\/span> of people blissfully unaware\nof what they were about to get into. <span class='nobr'>On the ride<\/span> across the tarmac, it had\nseemed that the airport building went around from Terminal F to Terminal C,\nso <span class='nobr'>I asked<\/span> the much friendlier lady guarding this entrance if it was not\npossible to walk it. Sure, you could, if you had the 20 minutes it would\ntake. Well geez, <span class='nobr'>I would<\/span> have much preferred to stroll for 20 minutes than\nstruggle with the luggage for 20 minutes on the staris+bus+stairs -- why\ndidn't the sign or the uber-unfriendly lady mention this option?<\/p>\n\n<h3>Flight to San Jose<\/h3>\n\n\n<p>Like our first flight, this one to San Jose, CA, was overbooked and it\nwas <span class='nobr'>a minor<\/span> madhouse boarding the flight. <span class='nobr'>Our three<\/span> seats were not\ntogether: we had one pair together (window + middle) and one window seat in\nthe row behind, so we thought we'd ask the aisle seatholder if he or she\nwould like to switch for the singleton window seat. <span class='nobr'>As we waited<\/span>, our hopes\nwere dashed with two very, uh, &#8220;plus-sized&#8221; people sat in the\nmiddle+aisle seats next to our singleton window seat. Ugh, no one will want\nto swap now. <b>)-:<\/b><\/p>\n\n<p>As I was giving up the idea of asking, another plus-sized lady showed up\nfor that aisle seat next to our pair. <span class='nobr'>I'd been standing<\/span> at it trying to\ndecide what to do, and <span class='nobr'>a bit<\/span> flustered at the turn of events, found myself\ntelling her in <span class='nobr'>a somewhat<\/span> sheepish voice that we'd been thinking of asking\nfor <span class='nobr'>a swap.<\/span> <span class='nobr'>To my delight<\/span> and no small amazement, she said\n&#8220;sure&#8221; and seemed to immediately click with the plus-sized lady\nshe was about to sit next to. <span class='nobr'>The row behind<\/span> us became very, very packed,\nbut they chatted like old friends the whole flight, so <span class='nobr'>I hope<\/span> they got\nsomething out of it.<\/p>\n\n<p>Non-alcoholic drinks are free on the flight, but the rest of the food\nservice was &#8220;snacks for sale&#8221;. <span class='nobr'>It was a<\/span> small gesture, but <span class='nobr'>I\ntold<\/span> the flight attendant that I'd pay for anything the three in the row\nbehind us wanted, but that they should be told that they were today's lucky\nrow, or something -- if they knew it was me paying, they might feel\nhesitation to order what they wanted. <span class='nobr'>In the end<\/span>, over the entire flight,\nas <span class='nobr'>a group<\/span> they got only one $5 snack box.<\/p>\n\n<p>I thought for sure that Anthony, up for <span class='nobr'>a long<\/span> time by now, would sleep\nduring much of the flight, but he played nicely the whole time. <span class='nobr'>He's such a<\/span>\nsweet boy. (Usually. Well, sometimes.)<\/p>\n\n<h3>San Jose, California<\/h3>\n\n<p>We arrive in San Jose at 5:30pm local time (8:30pm to us), collect our\ngate-checked stuff, and head out for the car-rental shuttle bus. <span class='nobr'>The bus that<\/span>'s waiting when we get there is fairly full, and with all our stuff we\ndon't want to try it, so we wait for the next one (which arrives, almost\ncompletely empty, 30 seconds later). <span class='nobr'>We get our<\/span> stuff situated, sit down,\nand finally breath a &#8220;we made it&#8221; sigh of relief.<\/p>\n\n<p>Moments later, <span class='nobr'>I rocket<\/span> out of my seat, grab our stuff, and as I'm\nshoving it out the door, <span class='nobr'>I get around<\/span> to mentioning to Fumie that we\nneglected to pick up our checked luggage. Oops! <span class='nobr'>The moment<\/span> we &#8220;de-bus&#8221;, the\ndriver closes the door and takes off.<\/p>\n\n<p>It was easy to find which luggage carrousel was ours because the entire\nflight was waiting -- it was a <b>long<\/b> time before any bags showed up,\nand when they did, it was at <span class='nobr'>a snail's<\/span> pace. After the longest time, we got\nour four checked bags and headed off to the rental bus again, then to the\nHertz counter at the remote car-rental site.<\/p>\n\n<h3>Renting <span class='nobr'>a Car<\/span><\/h3>\n\n<p>Fumie watched Anthony while our massive cart of luggage waited in the\ncorner and <span class='nobr'>I waited<\/span> in the short but unmoving line at the rental counter.\nWhen it finally became my turn, the guy asked for my Hertz frequent-renter\ncard (which <span class='nobr'>I don't<\/span> have). <span class='nobr'>It turns<\/span> out that the building we were in was\nfor VIP renters, and that we should have been in the neighboring building.\nArrgh.<\/p>\n\n<p>When he saw my luggage and child, he took pity on me and said he'd take\ncare of me, especially when he found out that my reservation was for <span class='nobr'>a\nmid<\/span>-sized car that probably wouldn't handle our amount of luggage. <span class='nobr'>It took a<\/span> while, but he eventually got an SUV-ish something called a &#8220;Yukon&#8221; for me,\nat what he said was <span class='nobr'>a steep<\/span> discount. <span class='nobr'>It still<\/span> ended up being 2&times; the\ncost of my original reservation, but for substantially larger vehicle.<\/p>\n\n<p>I didn't know what a Yukon was, so when <span class='nobr'>I got<\/span> out to the lot and saw it,\nmy jaw just dropped. <span class='nobr'>It's not that<\/span> it's the size of the Queen Mary, but\nthat it could <i>carry<\/i> the Queen Mary inside (and still have room for\nluggage). I've driven <span class='nobr'>a large<\/span> flatbed truck before, but the thought of\ndriving this monster scared me. <span class='nobr'>We put our<\/span> luggage in and still had room\nfor <b>eight<\/b> adults. <span class='nobr'>I kid you<\/span> not. Anthony sat in the middle row, and\n<span class='nobr'>I felt<\/span> <span class='nobr'>I needed<\/span> an intercom to talk to him from the front seat. Further\nback, there was <span class='nobr'>a full<\/span> row of plush, empty, seats between him and the\nluggage.<\/p>\n\n<p>The more I think about it, the more <span class='nobr'>I feel<\/span> that the Hertz guy that &#8220;took\npity on me&#8221; really took advantage of me. <span class='nobr'>I see on<\/span> their web site that they\nhave equally large vehicles available at that location today, for half the\nprice <span class='nobr'>I got.<\/span> (They're more &#8220;soccer-mom minivans&#8221; than &#8220;monster SUV&#8221; and so\ntheir lower cost makes sense, but he didn't even offer them.) And when it\ncomes down to it, it's way Way WAY more size than we needed. <span class='nobr'>I think<\/span> he saw\nhow tired <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> and took me for <span class='nobr'>a ride,<\/span> so to speak. I'll take it back\ntomorrow and exchange for something that makes more sense, even though I'll\nprobably have to bite the $100 <span class='nobr'>I pre<\/span>-paid for fuel. Poop.<\/p>\n\n<h3>The House<\/h3>\n\n<p>So we launch ourselves in this boat\/tank toward Cupertino, and head to\nour old house. <span class='nobr'>It's been empty<\/span> for six months, and so was dusty and had\nspider webs, but it was nice to see. (On the other hand, <span class='nobr'>I see how<\/span> much\nwork will be needed to dispose of all our stuff we still have, and to clean\nit up for sale, and <span class='nobr'>I feel<\/span> dread.)<\/p>\n\n<h3>Sleep<\/h3>\n\n<p>Getting extremely tired, we pick up some food and head to the <a\nhref=\"http:\/\/www.thecypresshotel.com\/\">Cypress Hotel<\/a>, about two miles\nfrom our house, for the evening. Having been up since 3am, <span class='nobr'>I finally<\/span> lie\ndown at about 10pm local time (1am to me) for some much-needed sleep.<\/p>\n\n<p>Three hours later, I'm up, wide awake, with jet lag. This sucks. <span class='nobr'>And I have<\/span> to be at the house at 8am to meet <span class='nobr'>a cleaning<\/span> guy. Ugh.<\/p>\n\n<p>\n[<b>UPDATE<\/b>: the second half of my <a href=\"\/blog\/2006-07-18\/213\">next post<\/a> has an update]\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yesterday was another day of travel, as we moved from Ohio to California.<\/p> <p>Due to jet lag, I got about three hours of sleep and awoke at 3am. Fumie didn't do much better. Anthony awoke at 7am just as we were starting to drift back to sleep. Oh well, it looks to be a loooooong day ahead.<\/p> <p>In the end, we arrived without too much trouble, but it was somewhat of an ordeal at times.<\/p> Leaving Ohio <p>We called the hotel's front desk for luggage assistance (we had a <b>lot<\/b>) at 11am, but it was a busy time and they [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}