"WHAT, ME WORRY?"
HELL NO!
BUT I'D NEVER TRAVEL
WITH
RALPH!
Click to stop music
WED. 11-14 VALLEJO
Work was hectic right up until I boarded the High Speed Ferry to San Francisco around 15:00.
OK! MY VACATION OFFICIALLY BEGINS.........
NOW!
I Ordered up a
, sat back to relax and think about what I must have forgotten to pack. You KNOW you always forget SOMETHING, don't you? Well, 1/2 mile from the dock I remembered what I had forgotten to bring.
When I asked the deckhand about a roundtrip ticket and why I needed it, ODDLY ENOUGH Lucy, the Bartender from behind me spoke up. “Aren’t you the guy that about 6 months ago missed his flight and then lost his passport? You’re the unluckiest guy I ever met! Let me buy you a drink and change your luck.” They felt so sorry for me that they didn’t even charge me for the extra round trip to retrieve what I had forgotten......
my money envelopes.
SO..... I Rode the boat down to San Francisco
Then promptly turned around and went back to Vallejo
Where I picked up the cash from my sympathetic, but hysterically laughing friends,
and returned to the City. I still don't know who arranged for the escort boat.
I easily caught the BART train to the airport for dinner.
The waiter serving me THERE asked if I was going to be drinking Scotch later this evening after I miss my flight. I couldn't believe he remembered me too. "Oh, I hear everyone's stories about flight troubles, but yours was TOO funny. I tell it all the time!" He nearly choked when I told him about the lost passport. "You are just
TOO
UNLUCKY! Let me buy you a drink and turn that around."
Well, I got an "ON TIME DEPARTURE" at 22:30 but leaving the ground was delayed another 1:10 min. Although we picked up a little time, this cut my 1 hour layover in JFK only 10 min.
BUT AT LEAST I WAS FINALLY ON MY WAY!
THURS. 11-15 NEW YORK
Thank God this was not DFW or I surely would have missed my flight. I got off, walked 3 gates down and straight onto the plane. They closed the door the instant I boarded and told me how lucky I was to make the flight. Naturally being JFK, everyone leaves the gate with another “ON TIME DEPARTURE”. However NOBODY leaves the ground within an hour of that time. Even though I got to Miami late, I was again was blessed with a short gate change from 41 to 46. For the second time, I walked straight onto the plane and was told how lucky I was as they closed the cabin door right behind me.
The bartender's free drinks must have changed my fortunes!
Unfortunately, after I touched down in Costa Rica I found that
my luggage
, was not so lucky. Remember the last minute repacking due to being overweight in SFO? My "Emergency Kit" was, You guessed it, In the belly of some plane somewhere else.
Daniela at the
El Rodeo Hotel
, had already arranged for an excellent company,
Tropical Expeditions
to meet me. After making my claim for the luggage, my driver, Juan Carlos took me to the hotel in San Antonio de Belen. With only my carry-on, and fresh supplies from the grocery store, I settled in pretty quickly.
Ahhhhh............LIFE MO' BEDDAH NOW!
The next night Luis Salas, the President of Tropical Expeditions was going to get Penny at the airport. He picked me up on the way so I could welcome her to Costa Rica and get my luggage.
He explained that his company has a fleet of vans, as well as some English speaking guides that could facilitate ANY of our needs for the entire week.
Naturally I had lots of trouble trying to go backwards through 1st the Federales, and then the Costa Rican TSA, but considering how my life works, I've gotten used to challenges. I was just thankful to get away with my life, my luggage, AND my passport.
