Stress and travelling (day 18)

With heavy hearts we left the Port Orleans French Quarter late in the morning. The bags had been packed, and we tried to convert our 21 Quick Service meal points into snack points, but that wasn’t allowed. The girl behind the counter told us that if we would get drinks, and more snacks, she could pretend they were dining points. So with a tray filled with about 8 drinks and 13 snacks and 3 meals, we made our way to our room. There we packed the things that we could take with us, like fruit and carrot sticks.

In the shop we spent our last 8 snack points on slightly less healthy things. We didn’t have time to go swimming or to go to downtown Disney anymore, but it was okay, we were eager to hit the road.

The drive to Orlando went reasonably smooth. We stopped once for lunch at the Stake and Shake. Oh, Stake and Shake, where have you been all my life. Daan and I shared a massive butterfinger milkshake and a jerk burger, and it was heavenly. It took ages to get service, and the place was chaos (we were there for over an hour)  but it was all worth it!

I wasn’t as stressed as I thought I would be, and actually enjoyed the drive. In between we made some stops, and I saw some of the dirtiest bathrooms ever. Otherwise we just entertained ourselves during the drive. We talked, listened to  music and had fun. Everything was okay until we hit the airport at a little after 19:00.

We dropped off the car, which happened in a lot of chaos. The guy was already scanning us out before we even had time to get our stuff out of the car. Daan was feeling the stress and time pressure, and I was starting to get nervous about the flight. We had been travelling (including stop) for about 8 hours, so we were pretty tired. Elora had been a trooper, but I could tell she was getting a little tired too. She kept hanging on us, and tripping over her own feet. We warned her that there was a chance we wouldn’t be able to fly tonight. She seemed okay with it then.

When we took the bus from the car rental place to the terminal, we were travelling with two other standby flyers from the same flight. One of the guys actually knew my brother, which was kind of cool. They had priority over us, so we were joking about sabotaging them, to get their seats. Then we joked that it was better to work together, and get a large family to miss their flight. (For those of you who don’t know me, I would never do that)

The guy told us the flight was overbooked by 4 seats, so the chances we would get on were slim. I was gutted. My instinct sort of said we were going, so I hadn’t completely given up hope.

After we got through customs, I wanted to take a picture of Elora and suddenly realized my camera was missing. The front pocket of the bag was open, which meant it either fell out… or someone took it out (I still don’t know the answer to that one). My moderate stress level suddenly went to high.

Daan calmed me down and said there was one hope, maybe the phone had slipped from the bag and landed in the car. It was the most likely scenario. We didn’t get time to really plough through the whole car, so we were hopeful. There was nothing we could do about it at that time, so I just had to bear it. I was very miserable though. The phone was filled with most of my vacation pictures. I only uploaded a small percentage to the dropbox, because internet was so damn slow. And it also has all my writing notes in it.

We ate some shady tasting tacos at the airport restaurant, but my appetite was gone. When it was time, we walked to our gate, where we found this really handy screen that told us how many seats that were booked were claimed. It wasn’t looking good, and for almost two hours we followed the updates breathlessly. The stress was incredible, and I felt ill. At one point I was starting to give up hope. My instinct HAD to be wrong, there was no way we could be on this flight. So we started to prepare Elora for the worst.

At that moment my brave little trooper lost the plot. It was almost 10:30 pm, and she had been awake too long. The tears started flowing and she kept saying she just wanted to go home. She was so sad, and it broke my heart… but there was nothing I could do.

As we watched all the passengers board, we waited to hear what flight we could be on then. The two other guys we met on the bus were allowed to go on board, and there was talk of one of them taking the jump seat. It was all very chaotic. They said he couldn’t get on the jump seat, but both of them got on anyway. I had no idea what was going on because a lot of people were talking at once. Suddenly one of the ladies told us there were two more seats, and Elora and I could go. I was flabberghasted. Daan was telling me to go, Elora was begging me to go, and before I could think about it, I was standing in the plane… without Daan. We had always said that we would go together or not at all, and I wasn’t prepared for this.

I realized I didn’t have anything with me. No phone… no money, no car keys, no house keys…. NOTHING. Now it was my turn to lose the plot a little. All the stress of the past hours, the fatigue of the journey, the crying child, leaving my husband behind without a plan… it all came out, and my tears were rolling down my cheek. I was trying to hide it, but people had noticed. I hate crying in public, and it doesn’t help having an 8 year old who will point out loudly that you’re crying. The stewardesses brought me some water that I really didn’t want. I just wanted to be left alone.

One of the stewardesses thought it was a good idea to tell me that Daan could have come along anyway, since the other guy (from the bus) had been cleared for the jump seat after all… but the door was already closed, so they were too late.

Thanks lady… I did not need to hear that!

The trip was horrible (though not as bad as Daan’s). Elora barely slept, though she was an angel. She kept trying to be supportive off me, and told me everything would be okay (so sweet, though it got annoying after the 50^th time). When she slept I was trying to get her to not lean on the lady next to her, and when she was awake she would make me get up out of my seat every 5 minutes.

The seats were not as spacious as the ones from the other flight. My knees barely fit, and I as lodged in there I could feel the bruises develop. The lady in front of me was so kind to lean her seat back as far as she could, all trip long, and she was one of those annoying creatures who wouldn’t sit still, so she kept pushing against me. It was very painful, and I have to admit, I kind of hated her. I wasn’t too subtle each time I stood up, and I shook her chair as much as I could for revenge.

The remote control to my video screen was kind of busted, so I had to be a cross between the hulk and MacGyver to watch a bloody movie, it was horrible. Not that I could see much, because I’m tall, and the screen couldn’t rotate enough, so I couldn’t really see the screen in its proper colors, everything went a weird inverted tint.

When the plane finally landed, I was relieved. I didn’t sleep at all, and I was exhausted. The pilot of the plane lend me his mobile phone, so I could call my mother. Of course I got a voicemail. I hoped that Daan had managed to get through to my parents, or I would have to come up with a plan B. As far as I knew, I was stranded on the airport.

Putting on my brave face, I maneuvered Elora to the baggage claim. We waited for a bit… no bags. I wasn’t sure if our bags got on the flight. I had tried to ask the stewardess, but she didn’t know either. So I went to the information desk and stood in line. Elora was guarding the hand luggage a few feet behind me.

I didn’t have the baggage tag or number… that stayed behind with Daan (just like everything else) The lady behind the desk offered me to phone Daan. I did… no response.

I kept my cool and phoned again, and this time I heard the wonderful voice of my husband. He told me two of the bags got on with me, and at that point I heard Elora shout: I see our bags! I quickly said goodbye to Daan, and ran like a crazy lady to retrieve our bags.

Feeling a faint sense of relief, I loaded the bags and Elora on the cart, and went to the exit. Elora pointed when we walked through the sliding doors and said: I see nanna!

At that moment I broke down again. This time because I was so relieved. The sight of my  mother made me cry again. She helped us with our luggage and we went to the car. Mom drove us home and gave me some money for groceries. We just bought a few necessities, because we had nothing in the house.

Elora was ecstatic to be home. She cuddled the cats and immediately dumped the contents of her suitcase on the floor of her room *cringe*

I was less happy, I didn’t like that Daan was left behind and that we couldn’t call each other. I had no idea what to expect, or when he would be home.

My daughter didn’t mind as much, I think she enjoyed the girl time. We were both suffering from jetlag, so we watched movies until 3 AM and she slept in my bed.

That evening I heard from Daan. He and I skyped. He had found a hotel (which cost more per night than the bloody Disney hotel, but it was all he could find in the area) and was hoping to get the 3 pm flight. In the end he did catch that one, though it was horribly delayed. I hear his journey was terrible. Filled with turbulence and stress. But he made it home, and I’m so glad he’s here.

I still haven’t heard anything about my phone, but we should find out in the next 24 hours. I’m glad to be home, but I’ll miss the vacation. With the exception of the terrible journey, it has been amazing. We had so much fun, and I can’t wait to go back!