Sorry if the rest of this sounds like a rant, but that's kind of what it is it is.
Our flights were, for the most part, on time. BOS-SFO, SFO-KOA and KOA-LAX came off without a hitch (we even had an empty seat between us on the to/from KOA flights). Then there was the LAX-BOS flight.
The 8:20am flight was rescheduled to 9:39am because of snow issues in Boston and then it was moved back to 8:20am. When boarding time rolled United realize that they had forgotten to notify the crew that the flight was back on schedule (they were able to keep passengers aware of what was happening through a multitude of texts but, somehow, the crew didn't get the word). The flight was rescheduled to 9:00am, boarding proceeded and we were just about to the door of the plane when they had us return to the terminal. The delay had cost us our place in the lineup and our eventual departure was moved to 11:10am (with actual departure closer to noon).
That was flights. Then we had car rentals. Our original plan was to pick a rental car up at Worcester Airport the day before and drive it to BOS and then Uber back home at the end of the trip (the rental prices were much higher coming home). We booked that rental and rentals at SFO, KOA, and LAX.
On rentals between airports, you usually get whatever it is that needs to be moved. Our Worcester Airport to KOA rental was a new Camero that reeked like a dirty bong (I wish that I'd noticed it sooner). It was threatening to snow so we decided to spend the night before our flight near the airport. We drove all the way into Boston with the windows open (Brrr).
I wrote to Budget about their foul car and was eventually given a coupon that was good for one day of rental. In order to claim that coupon, I had to register on their site. The coupon made renting a car a favorable alternative to taking an Uber so we booked a rental for our trip home from the airport.
Our rentals at SFO and KOA were uneventful (non-Budget). Then we got to LAX. It was Tuesday of Thanksgiving week so it's understandable that things were busy at Budget. We inched through their line for over an hour and were then told that we should have gone to their FastBreak kiosk and avoided the line. That would have been nice to know. Apparently, when I registered to receive the coupon, I became a member of their FastBreak program. The car that they gave us only had 8 miles on the odometer so that was a plus.
Then there was that final rental home from BOS. We followed the FastBreak signs past the Budget counter to the line of cars in FastBreak slots. There was no indication whatsoever of who those cars might be for. We backtracked, looking for a FastBreak board with our name/contract on it. Eventually, we found a FastBreak counter with a long, long line with one person at the counter (and another that wandered in ever 10 minutes or so, helped one person and then wandered off again). When we reached the counter 30 minutes later, they were unable to print the contract because the printer was out of paper (you'd think that it would have been pre-printed). We were told where to find our car (not in the FastBreak line) and that the person at the exit would print our contract for us. That person didn't know how to do that so we had to park the car and return to the desk. The line was still long but I went straight to the person at the counter. Miraculously, he was able to immediately produce a contract. Fastbreak seems to be a wonderful thing (avoid it like the plague).
Arriving home, we found that we'd had about 18" of snow. We had been warned and Kristen had hired someone to clear the driveway. As agreed, he cleared the straight part of the driveway all the way to the back edge. We were able to pull all the way in but still had to cross about 20' of 18" snow to get to the house. Interestingly, we'd had at least one package delivered (well ahead of what the tracking indicated) and it was just sitting in the yard on top of the snow. If there are other packages, we may not find them until the snow melts. I got the blower out to clear a path so we could bring the luggage in. We cleared the rest of it in the morning.
Which brings us to our first day home. Lots to do to get the house out of vacation mode. Once the driveway was cleared, we had to return the rental to Worcester Airport and then to a large marketing. An unexpected bonus task was dealing with a pellet stove that worked fine when we got home and in the morning but wouldn't fire up when we returned from marketing (the stove has a long history of issues). No one can look at it before late on Christmas Eve.
The big task on day 2 was to get ready to decorate the town common on Saturday afternoon. We somehow acquired that responsibility a couple of years ago but we've never had to deal with snow before. But first, we decide to pay a visit to the people who sold us our stove. It seems to be a real lemon and we're working on them to replace it. We did manage to get their service call moved up to the 18th (from Christmas Eve).
Back at home, we cleared a path across the town commons, shoveled the snow out of the bandstand and got things set up to receive the tree. After lunch, we headed out to the New Braintree tree farm that always donates the town tree. It was hard work hauling a large tree across the tundra but the tree is now in it's stand in the bandstand.
We'll have lots of help for the much easier decorating job on Saturday but we sure could have used some of that help today.
That's enough of my bitching and moaning. Maybe my next vacation blog will actually deal with the vacation,
-JC-
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