Friday is coffee date day so Travis and I went to Barnes and Noble on the way to the airport. We went much earlier than normal, but that was fine. I saw this wonderful sign, which is totally true, but I resisted buying any books for myself. That was a poor life choice as it turns out.
Travis had a great time on the plane again. Though I think even he was a little bit bored by the end of the 4 and a half hour flight. He didn't seem to want to just look out the window the whole time. But he did seem to enjoy himself.
I don't know if Colorado is always this brown, but it was pretty brown when I took this photo. Though I am also not 100% sure we were flying over Colorado at this point. Still, I managed to keep my eyes open for a lot of the flight. I finished my book much more quickly than I thought I would. I worked on my Spanish, even taking a bunch of notes, took a nap for about an hour and I ran out of things to do and started thinking longingly of layovers, just to break up the flight and have something to do. We do have a layover on the way home. Though it was because the direct flight for the way home didn't have a window seat for Travis.
Once we landed in Colorado the reasonable part of the trip ended. The Denver airport is ginormous and I immediately had no idea where to go. But I was told to go take the train to baggage, then go outside and find where to take the shuttle to pick up the rental car. Here is where things go from vaguely confusing, to kind of annoying, to incredibly angry and a one star review.
So I requested a shuttle through the link the rental company sent me 3 times. It still took 25 minutes for them to pick us up. We got to the rental place and there were a couple of people in front of us so we waited about a half an hour for it to be our turn. We got the car and I was told there was about a half a tank of gas, which is super abnormal for a rental car, but whatever. We got the car and headed out. It was making some very strange noises, somehow I ended up turning on the hazards (no idea how) and couldn't figure out how to turn them off, things were bad. So when we stopped at a light I turned it off. Because sometimes if you turn a thing off and back on again things get better. And I figured maybe I hit some weird controls on the steering wheel because there were buttons and knobs all over the steering wheel! Front and back, it was kind of ridiculous. So then I went to turn the car back on... and it wouldn't start. I tried a couple more times, all of a sudden kind of thankful that the hazards were on, and when it still wouldn't start I called the rental company. I had to call twice to figure out how to actually get a line to ring. And then I had to let it ring for 5 or more minutes before someone answered the phone. Eventually it was answered, I told them my problem, and was put on hold multiple times. I was told that maybe I was out of gas, since the tank was empty when I took it. I said that I was told there was a half a tank of gas (yes, I should have checked it myself) and there was no reason I should be out of gas less than 10 minutes down the road. She said the other option was maybe the battery was dead. So what were her suggestions? I could Uber to a gas station or get someone to jump the car. Wow. So the rental company (Routes by the way. They are the absolute worst and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone) said, basically, figure it out yourself. I asked the woman if that was what she meant and her response was those were her suggestions of what to try and no, no one would come out to help me. Heather sent Josh out to rescue us and a random motorist stopped to ask if we were out of gas and said she'd see if her husband would stop to get some for us (they did not come back). I did eventually figure out the car wouldn't start from user error (I am not at all familiar with push to start and skipped a step) but it still stands, the rental company gave me a car with an empty gas tank (it was in fact basically empty) and then when I called and said the car was dead on the side of the road they basically told me to figure it out myself. So yeah, I was pissed and I left a detailed one star review. Josh found us and followed us to the gas station. We did make it at least.
Heather's house is incredibly quiet compared to mine. Sometimes I could hear the heat coming on quietly but other than that it was so quiet. I live near the Mass Pike so I hear traffic constantly. It is never quiet at my house. So it was interesting. I am still adjusting to Colorado so I am super dehydrated (working on it), my ears have been blocked since we got here, and I am very congested. But that could be because I am allergic to cats. Or because I have been congested since I turned my heat on a couple of weeks ago. I do have to say though, my Flonase is doing amazing things! I am a bit snuffly but my eyes are not itchy at all. And I was petting cats.
I got more sleep than I usually do on a Friday night, though I have no idea how much because my Fitbit decided not to track. Again. But I am usually out really late on Friday nights and still get up relatively early, so I got pretty reasonable sleep as far as I can tell. I am not my usual level of Saturday tired. Travis and I are here hanging out at Candyland Live and I am doing random things, including blogging, in between judging performance classes. So far the worst part of the trip has been the rental car company. I seem to learn new things every time I travel. This time around it's check the reviews. It would have been worth it to pay more to not deal with a company as terrible as Routes.
Travis and I went out to Barnes and Noble during the lunch break so I could buy a book. Since I apparently can stay awake on the plane now, at least some of the time, I definitely need something to do on the way home. And really, I can always use a new book.
1 comment:
Great Scott!! I am ashamed of Denver for you (my brother lives there). I'm so glad Josh (SplainMan) was able to rescue you. // Yes, one can always use another book.
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