Most people get stuck at their deparature airport. Some even get stuck at their layover airport. Me? Being the ultimate traveler who has to try all the unusual situations, I managed to get stuck at my destination airport. How did I do this, you might wonder? Well, it’s not so much a case of what I did as what I didn’t do. As in, reserve a rental car.
I really thought I booked it when I booked my hotels (especially since car is always the first thing I book – you can book as many reservations as you want and you don’t incur any cancellation fee even if you flat out don’t show up). However, it’s not showing up in the Avis system, and I’m big enough to admit that it was probably my mistake. They have plenty of trucks available, but even were I brave enough to try driving one of those, they don’t allow one-way rentals on trucks, and I need to head to Salt Lake City tomorrow evening to fly out of there on Sunday morning. So… I’m waiting at the itty-bitty Sweetwater County airport (seriously, it’s smaller than even the Ithaca airport… it is literally just one room with some vending machines) until 3:30 mountain time (that’s only 90 mins or so from now) when a normal car is due in. As long as it comes, I’m golden.
The good news is, I had no afternoon plans except probably hanging out at the hotel, catching up on some work, and resting up, and I can pretty much just do all that from the airport. The chairs are fairly comfortable, the wait isn’t too long, I have extra Sharkies in my bag to snack on, and there is even wireless internet (expect me to do some serious blog catch up!). Hopefully this snafu will resolve itself and all will be well in time for me to check in and then go to the pre-race shrimp boil at 5:30. I’m in a good mood and this little setback is not going to spoil it 🙂
At least you have a good attitude about it. :o)
The last time we traveled to Europe, I put the wrong date for the car pickup (yeah, I forgot about the whole traveling overnight/time change thing). Thankfully they were able to accommodate us pretty quickly.
Hope the car comes in on time and you are on your way soon.
Every marathon has a wrinkle. I missed the Indianapolis Marathon two years ago b/c of a canceled flight. Good luck in the race.
This type of thing happens to me all the time, too! I got stuck at the Denver airport a couple days ago so what was supposed to be 7.5 hrs. traveling ended up being 20.5. 😛 Those fro yo places tempted me as well, haha.
Hmmmm, if I do my math correctly then hopefully you’re in the car and on your way right now!
You said: I have extra SHarkies to snack on…… LOL!!
Yep, every trip (or every race) has an “uh oh” moment, and you’ve already had yours!
Hope the car has come and you’re gone and the race is great. Can’t wait to hear about it.