Portland

Good morning all.

On our trip out to Portland we flew Northwest. Like I said earlier, we had free tickets.

And like I said earlier, any one who has used free tickets knows what a hassle it can be.

Well, our trip out was true to form. After working most of the day, we flew out at 3:39 pm.

Arrived in Detroit at 4:25 pm, or 4:35 pm by time we got off the plane at gate 11. Then had to go to gate 66 to catch our 5:01 pm flight. And of course you have to be on board 15 min before takeoff!

So off we went. Took the tram to the other end and got to the gate at 4:45 pm, and it was the wrong gate! They changed the gate while we were in the air from Lansing! So where was it? Gate 16! Ohh-Nooo!

So with no time to spare, off we go, back to the other end of the terminal! We get there as they're loading the standbys. But we get on! And not only that! We were delayed for take off because of mechanical issues! So, we ran for nothing! Was an hour late leaving. Not a problem because we had originally a 3 hr. layover in Minneapolis.

Got there, had a little dinner and got to the gate
to find out that flight was delayed because they had to get a different plane! Needless to say, we were both pretty tired by then.

So to make a long story not any longer. We got to Portland at 12:30 am their time, or 3:30 am Lansing time.

And that's not the end yet!

We had reserved a rental car from Thrifty. Even called them from Minneapolis to say we were delayed. They said no problem. After we got our luggage, we called the shuttle and waited at the stop. When the shuttle got there, three groups of us got on the shuttle. He called the office and then turned to us and said they only had 2 cars available! Our name wasn't on the list! And said we had to get off the shuttle! At this point we were too tired to argue so got a cab and made it to the hotel and crashed at 2 am or 5 am Lansing time.

More on our trip later.

Did I say I hate flying?