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Wild wild west, a real cliffhanger! Trip report
- Thread starter Songbird76
- Start date
Figgy1
Premium Member
Good luck and safe travels!
Cesar R M
Well-Known Member
Seconding. I'm now fearing about my next trips myself D:I am here, reading along.
Between the serpentine security lines and the snippy airport employee, I have second-hand anxiety reading this.
Back!Elbow!Shoulders!
Omnia mutantur, nihil interit
Sorry you had a bad experience in Detroit. The airport really is nice overall but I’ve never had to deal with any of the international stuff.
Perhaps the customs people at the airport are some of the same people who work the border at the tunnel and bridge. Those guys are often less than pleasant.
Perhaps the customs people at the airport are some of the same people who work the border at the tunnel and bridge. Those guys are often less than pleasant.
93boomer
Premium Member
I'm so sorry!! I hate the actual travel part of travel....I'm fine once I'm there, but the whole dealing with check-in, going through security, waiting on flights, going through immigration....all that stuff just sucks! When things go wrong, it's even worse! Hope you make it back safely. Please let us know when you get home!
See now, if we'd had one of THOSE, we might have faired better.Found your report and caught up to your "bumpy" adventure.
But bumps can be fun!
Is Mexico experiencing issues at their airports, too? My advice is just to get there as soon as you are allowed to just so you have time to compensate for any problems. We only missed the connection in Detroit because of the slow immigration guy. If we'd have been in any other line, we would have made it.
Welcome and safe travels!
^^^Seconded....or I guess Thirded? Is that even a word?
Glad to see you! What trips have you got planned?
We did enjoy the Longhorn Steakhouse, and our server was Amazing. I'm sure it's fine generally. We just had a bad experience, but honestly I shouldn't judge the whole on just the one employee. The people working in security were joking around and just fun. It wasn't their fault that their immigration colleague was less than welcoming.
Go big or go home, I guess?Following along and it is quite the start!!
Found your report and caught up to your "bumpy" adventure.
But bumps can be fun!
My advice:I'm here too!!! I haven't flown in over 3 years, looks like I'm not missing anything!
We were gone for a whole month...I'm not sure all the stress would have been worth it for a shorter trip.
Swissmiss
Premium Member
I’m right there with you - I’m fine once there but the travel part is awful. We made it back safe and sound last night AND with all our luggage - no small feat this summer considering we transited through both London and Paris. And I was extremely glad that we left Wednesday instead of Tuesday as we would have been landing in a horrific storm (if we had even been allowed to take off from Paris) and parts of the airport flooded. Yesterday storms were predicted but in the end they came a bit later (couple hours after we landed) and they were not so extreme.
MinnieM123
Premium Member
Glad you had a safe flight home, and that your luggage arrived with you.
I'm glad you made it safely! I saw about the flooding in Paris! Good you were able to make it despite that! I was worried about our luggage as well, especially on the way over when we missed the connecting flight. On our last trip, they lost some of our luggage and had to deliver it to our house a few days later, but it was confusing because they gave us a baggage carousel number, we went to that one, and then they said no, we needed this other one, so we went there and like half the bags came on one and half on the other. We didn't realize because they switched halfway through that the one bag was missing, and there were a WHOLE BUNCH of people from our flight who were missing luggage. I don't know what happened, but we waited around for ages before we heard some people talking and they were told to go fill out some paperwork, so we followed them, and there were several others there who had been on our flight. We wasted probably a couple of hours wondering where our bags were and waiting for them at the wrong carousel. Then waiting at the other one when it was lost somewhere. Now we know what to do, but we didn't have any issues this time, thank goodness!
July 13th
We got up the next morning and went to breakfast in the hotel before packing up and heading out. I had told my husband I didn't feel comfortable driving in Denver. I grew up in a town so small that there wasn't even a stoplight. Dealing with multi-lane interstates and city traffic is way outside my comfort zone. I don't think he was very happy about it, but he got behind the wheel.
We stopped at a Walmart in Laramie for a bathroom and snack break, and E went through the parking lot to see which states were represented. I offered to drive, but M said he was alright. We stopped at a rest area in the middle of nowhere to switch drivers an hour or so later. E added a few license plates to her state list. M kept snapping at me about the driving, making snide comments and just being nasty about it. We stopped in Rawlins for lunch at McDonald's for A. E and I got a watermelon lemonade slushy and a frozen fanta cherry, but the frozen drinks give me a major headache. I asked for a spoon instead of using a straw, but it didn't help, so I gave up and E drank them both. As we were driving to the McD's, E had mentioned there was a subway and I had seen a Taco Bell. We decided on Subway, but I hadn't actually seen it so I didn't know where it was. E had said it right as we were by the Taco Bell, so I thought they were all in one little strip and I drove up the street and my husband snapped at me about why were we going to Taco Bell when we said Subway. I told him I thought the Subway was up there as well and he was just really condescending. So I got back on track, but ended up missing the turn because you aren't allowed to switch lanes in an intersection....you can in the Netherlands in certain situations, and I don't think he realized you aren't allowed to in the US. So he started yelling at me that I missed the turn. I took the next turn, thinking that the hotel next door might have a sort of road attached to the Subway. Sometimes there's a little pathway in the back between 2 businesses. So I start to drive towards the back, and M starts yelling at me to just go through the hotel car port where you would park to check in, but I wanted to check the back for the little alleyway. I asked him to please stop yelling at me and asked him if it was that big of a deal to have to go around the back of the hotel. He apologized and said he was just tired.
We got our lunch and got back on the road. Every time I asked a question, like how to set the cruise control, he got mad at me. "I had to figure it out on my own!" I just figured, why fumble about when he already knows how to do it? We had forgotten to fill the tank up after lunch so we needed to do that in Rock Springs. I set the GPS for Pinedale, which was our end destination, and we had to go right through Rock Springs...for Wyoming, Rock Springs is a good-sized town and I knew there would be plenty of gas stations. It was raining heavily and visibility was not good, so it was kind of slow going for a bit. As we were approaching Rock Springs, there was a bunch of construction, and some of it was surrounding the exit that had the sign indicating gas and such, but there were 4 exits for Rock Springs and the GPS said we still had a mile and a half more to go for the one we needed. Anyway, M kind of halfway gestures to something, but I couldn't tell what he was trying to point out to me. He didn't say anything, just made a slight hand movement to the right. Apparently he wanted me to take an earlier exit, so he starts shouting "You just missed the exit!!!" and I was completely confused because GPS says I have more than a mile to go! So I'm like "No I didn't.....we still have more than a mile." and I point to the GPS. "BUT THAT WAS THE ONE WITH THE GAS STATIONS!" I was like....relax...there are several exits and I'm sure there will be a gas station somewhere in the vicinity. We take the exit the GPS indicated and right there were several gas stations. So we pull into one and I have to go inside to pay because the credit card readers often ask for a 5 digit zipcode, which I don't have. So I have to pre-pay. When I come back outside, I ask him what kind if gas he wants me to pump and he snaps at me and then he starts yelling that he can't move the seat back. I asked him again to please not yell at me, it's not my fault! I went to move the seat and he was being really demeaning about it as though I had broken the seat and he told me I was using the wrong button. I had asked him if the car maybe needed to be on to do it and he snapped at me "I DON'T KNOW! How could I know when I didn't do it before!" He said "I don't need the one for the seat back! I need to move the whole seat! " I think I asked him which button he used or something, but he snapped at me again and I moved the seat, and just said "Stop yelling at me!!! I don't know what I did wrong!" and he just looked at me like I was a moron and then ignored me. He took over the driving and I just sat there crying because he was being such a jerk. Maybe he really was just tired, but that was a really really rough day. We didn't say a word to each other most of the rest of the way to Pinedale.
We got up the next morning and went to breakfast in the hotel before packing up and heading out. I had told my husband I didn't feel comfortable driving in Denver. I grew up in a town so small that there wasn't even a stoplight. Dealing with multi-lane interstates and city traffic is way outside my comfort zone. I don't think he was very happy about it, but he got behind the wheel.
We stopped at a Walmart in Laramie for a bathroom and snack break, and E went through the parking lot to see which states were represented. I offered to drive, but M said he was alright. We stopped at a rest area in the middle of nowhere to switch drivers an hour or so later. E added a few license plates to her state list. M kept snapping at me about the driving, making snide comments and just being nasty about it. We stopped in Rawlins for lunch at McDonald's for A. E and I got a watermelon lemonade slushy and a frozen fanta cherry, but the frozen drinks give me a major headache. I asked for a spoon instead of using a straw, but it didn't help, so I gave up and E drank them both. As we were driving to the McD's, E had mentioned there was a subway and I had seen a Taco Bell. We decided on Subway, but I hadn't actually seen it so I didn't know where it was. E had said it right as we were by the Taco Bell, so I thought they were all in one little strip and I drove up the street and my husband snapped at me about why were we going to Taco Bell when we said Subway. I told him I thought the Subway was up there as well and he was just really condescending. So I got back on track, but ended up missing the turn because you aren't allowed to switch lanes in an intersection....you can in the Netherlands in certain situations, and I don't think he realized you aren't allowed to in the US. So he started yelling at me that I missed the turn. I took the next turn, thinking that the hotel next door might have a sort of road attached to the Subway. Sometimes there's a little pathway in the back between 2 businesses. So I start to drive towards the back, and M starts yelling at me to just go through the hotel car port where you would park to check in, but I wanted to check the back for the little alleyway. I asked him to please stop yelling at me and asked him if it was that big of a deal to have to go around the back of the hotel. He apologized and said he was just tired.
We got our lunch and got back on the road. Every time I asked a question, like how to set the cruise control, he got mad at me. "I had to figure it out on my own!" I just figured, why fumble about when he already knows how to do it? We had forgotten to fill the tank up after lunch so we needed to do that in Rock Springs. I set the GPS for Pinedale, which was our end destination, and we had to go right through Rock Springs...for Wyoming, Rock Springs is a good-sized town and I knew there would be plenty of gas stations. It was raining heavily and visibility was not good, so it was kind of slow going for a bit. As we were approaching Rock Springs, there was a bunch of construction, and some of it was surrounding the exit that had the sign indicating gas and such, but there were 4 exits for Rock Springs and the GPS said we still had a mile and a half more to go for the one we needed. Anyway, M kind of halfway gestures to something, but I couldn't tell what he was trying to point out to me. He didn't say anything, just made a slight hand movement to the right. Apparently he wanted me to take an earlier exit, so he starts shouting "You just missed the exit!!!" and I was completely confused because GPS says I have more than a mile to go! So I'm like "No I didn't.....we still have more than a mile." and I point to the GPS. "BUT THAT WAS THE ONE WITH THE GAS STATIONS!" I was like....relax...there are several exits and I'm sure there will be a gas station somewhere in the vicinity. We take the exit the GPS indicated and right there were several gas stations. So we pull into one and I have to go inside to pay because the credit card readers often ask for a 5 digit zipcode, which I don't have. So I have to pre-pay. When I come back outside, I ask him what kind if gas he wants me to pump and he snaps at me and then he starts yelling that he can't move the seat back. I asked him again to please not yell at me, it's not my fault! I went to move the seat and he was being really demeaning about it as though I had broken the seat and he told me I was using the wrong button. I had asked him if the car maybe needed to be on to do it and he snapped at me "I DON'T KNOW! How could I know when I didn't do it before!" He said "I don't need the one for the seat back! I need to move the whole seat! " I think I asked him which button he used or something, but he snapped at me again and I moved the seat, and just said "Stop yelling at me!!! I don't know what I did wrong!" and he just looked at me like I was a moron and then ignored me. He took over the driving and I just sat there crying because he was being such a jerk. Maybe he really was just tired, but that was a really really rough day. We didn't say a word to each other most of the rest of the way to Pinedale.
Sans Souci
Well-Known Member
I can feel the sarcasm coming from this all the way across the Atlantic.
I honestly think everyone has moments where they are jerks. I know I do. And if my husband was like this regularly, I wouldn't be with him. But I think the stress of the last few months since his mom's stroke has weighed on him, and I'm kind of wondering if he didn't really want to just cancel the vacation because he was worried about his parents, and then we were sleep-deprived and jetlagged, and I think maybe it was just too much to deal with. Just a few days after we got back, his dad got a hernia and the doctors couldn't pop it back like they usually can, so they sent him to the ER. The ER doc was able to get it fixed, but he's going to have to have surgery in the next few weeks, and he had an appointment on Friday to discuss that, and called in a panic because he couldn't find my MIL's keys. She can't really be left alone since the stroke because her short term memory is gone, so she can't use the stove or oven or anything, can't drive, and he was afraid if they didn't lock the house she would wander off and not remember where she was. But she hasn't exhibited anything like that, so I think she would have been fine, but the whole thing has just been a huge weight on my husband. My FIL calls him and he has to leave work to go sit with my MIL while my BIL takes my FIL to the hospital.
So I think it was more just stress and he took it out on us...I think maybe he was upset that I wouldn't drive in Denver and even though I had done all the planning myself and all the research for the trip, maybe he felt like I was making him do all the driving stuff, and he felt like everyone was putting stuff on his shoulders. He's the kind who doesn't talk a lot if he doesn't have anything to contribute, and when he gets sick, he just goes to bed and you don't really hear from him for a couple of days. A suffer in silence type, I guess? So maybe there was more going on there than I realized, but it was really weighing on me. My mother was very controlling and demeaning to me and I wasn't really allowed to make mistakes, so I don't deal well with someone making me feel stupid for things I don't know, or for doing something a different way than they would. My philosophy is like...if you want it done your way, do it yourself. If you want me to do it, fine, but let me do it the way it works for ME. So someone questioning that or getting mad at me for tiny little mistakes, like missing the turn....like...I can just take the next one or turn around. It's not a huge deal, don't make it one. So it really upset me in the moment, but in hindsight, it was just a bad day and there were a lot of little contributing factors.
Are you familiar with Booking.com? I guess the more you do through them, the better deals you supposedly get, but I have to wonder how true that is, because I was only "genius level one" because I had just started. And I actually got a better deal on a hotel than he did, and when he went back through to "check" all the hotels I had booked, he had the same prices I did. There were literally only 2 hotels that we changed, and one of them was because he balked at the price of the hotel I booked because I booked at one place that was pretty nice where the rest were all super budget type places. It was in one of the 2 biggest "cities" in Wyoming, and I knew the budget places there would be pretty seedy, and I figured one night in a nicer place wouldn't break us, so I went for a more upscale place. He guilted me into changing it. And then the other one we changed was really like 6 of one half a dozen of the other...the hotels looked very similar and the one was like 5 bucks cheaper than the other, so I had booked the one that had better reviews. He wanted to save the 5 bucks, so I changed it. But even with booking's "genius level 2" status, the prices it showed him were exactly the same as the ones it showed me, so it doesn't seem like there is actually any benefit to moving up in the system. I'm now genius level 2 as well after this trip.