Why are you confused? Don't be. I'm in Vegas. No, it wasn't on my Founder's Circle Agenda. You didn't miss anything. AND, I certainly didn't expect to be in Las Vegas AFTER the time I was due into Philadelphia, but this girl just can't turn down a good deal!
Let's back up for a few (give me a break, I'm lonely and bored). The start of this afternoon was awesome! There were about twenty of us who were on the 3:00ish flight out of St George. We were just sitting around the hotel having a good ol' time with Bonnie and Pam. We pulled our chairs into a large circle and chatted about lots of things from ideal workshop attendance to favorite Founder's topics to mini catalog improvements! What a focus group! I'm not sure Bonnie and Pam were up to chatting, but we were! Pam was knitting away and Bonnie had her feet up relaxing. There was one, sad moment. I looked over at the front doors of the hotel to see the "Welcome SU" decor being scraped off of the windows. BOO HOO.
We loaded into vans around 1:00 and headed over to the most comical airport I've ever visited! We all checked in (single file) for our flight. We were led to a waiting area to wait for the security checkpoint to open. Yes, it is only open periodically throughout the day. So, of course you want to buy a beverage while you wait for your flight, right? That would be a mistake at St George - at least until you get through security. Security opened and we were screened. I had a feeling the flight was overbooked because several people didn't have seat assignments. The announcement came and they were searching for volunteers. I didn't jump up at first. But, no one was biting. After the second announcement, I wandered over to the agent to research my options. Before I gave a final answer, the entire luggage compartment was being unloaded to find my luggage!!!
However, I wasn't enough. Another gentleman had to get off of the flight because the plane was overweight (not a comforting thought). So, he and I became friends. Turns out we had to get a shuttle from St George to take us to Las Vegas. Delta had no seats so we had to be reticketed on another airline (USAirways). And, the flight didn't depart until 10:35 (here I sit waiting to depart). It took a LONG time to get us set. Besides, only 4 people work at the St George airport!!! One of the four drove us to a shuttle stop. We waited about 45 minutes for the St George Shuttle to drive us to Las Vegas. The shuttle was NICE. Sky West had booked us on the "Executive Level" shuttle. Basically a van with leather bucket seats, beverages (water), and free WiFi. It was a comfortable, quick ride over to Las Vegas.
It wasn't too painful to get checked in - we were about 5 hours early! But, USAirways mis-spelled my name on my ticket and it was a pain to get it corrected. YIKES! I'm glad I noticed.
So, here I sit in Las Vegas, stalking Facebook, watching all of my Founder's Circle friends talk about being home. And here I am, one time zone FARTHER away from where I was supposed to start. But, don't feel too bad for me, I had a free dinner and have $800 in travel vouchers in my pocket! Mike was already researching our next free vacation before I even arrived in Vegas. Aren't these MY travel vouchers?!?!? I guess I should be nice to him - he has to pick me up in Philly at 6am! Not exactly the way I expected to be starting my birthday! Oh look....it's my birthday in Elmer!!!
Happy Birhtday! Hope you made it home without any other bumps in the road!
Posted by: Julie Davison | September 20, 2010 at 09:42 AM
wow, $800 in vouchers!!! awesome. you sure know how to maximize these trips!!! I'm looking forward to chatting on Fri.!
Posted by: claire | September 21, 2010 at 02:43 PM