Where's Isla?...don't ask United!!

I say that because they don't have a clue what they are trying to do with us. Let me break it down for ya...We arrived this morning at 6 am to leave for our 725am flight straight thru to DC. The guys at ticketing says..."awww, we overbooked your flight and so the plane is already full w/checked in travelers". WTF?? How does that happen? And, shouldn't someone get a stern talking to for that?? The dude didn't even seem like it was uncommon. So, he said he was gonna "help us out" and get us out on the 835am to DC by way of Chicago...THX! So, I called the rental car place and told them and they said we were good for 24 hours after the reservation....sweet! So, we go up to the gate and the United supervisor calls our name over the loudspeaker to tell us that the guy downstairs really messed up...b/c there are no seats on that flight via Chicago. Ummmm....already I am having a serious problem with this whole situation. Meanwhile, the earlier flight we should have been on ends up having a mechanical problem and deplanes all the passengers...warm and fuzzy isn't it?? I then proceed to tell myself 'we weren't meant to be on that flight anyway'. So that means we are "in luck", as the supervisor says, because some of the old passengers decided to take a free round trip ticket for a later flight...which in turn opens up 5 seats for us whenever the plane gets fixed. To be on the safe side though, the big wig (it sounds better than supervisor) decided to book us on the 2:15 that goes from (keep up now) Seattle, to Denver, to DC with an arrival of 5:08am on Monday. So you're saying to yourself, 'that blows'...but wait, I forgot to tell you...our bags were checked on that Chicago/DC flight at 7am. But, with 5 meal vouchers and 5 free round trip tickets to anywhere in US (oh, wait we don't live in the US...I suggested first class instead, but HA, No) in hand, we decided to 'see the positive' in it all and held on to the fact that we are still going to see our family.

2:00pm rolls around and all three of my kids are laid out across two chairs each with blankets and pillows (man I'm glad I carried those) like vagrants and I was trying to catch a little power nap on my one hand while clenching my purse in the other ONLY to spasm 3 minutes later with what could only be described as drool running down my wrist...it's getting better isn't it?? So they announce over the speaker..."Sorry, but the rescheduled flight from 725am is going to be canceled for the day". Whew, good thing Big Wig decided to have a back-up plan with that horrendous flight with two layovers. At this point, you grasp at any bone thrown your way.

So, finally we are ON A PLANE! I'm feeling like something is going in the right direction...I even got a FABULOUS picture of Mt Rainier as we were ascending...

We were just about to level off when I noticed something...something WRONG! We were turning...not a veer, a DAMN TURN! The captain intercoms his cheery news..."folks we are heading back to Seattle, the smoke alarm seems to be going off". NOOOOOOOO! Immediately I blurted out (cuz you know I have to keep it real), "IF ANYONE IS SMOKING IN THE BATHROOM, THEY ARE GETTING CUT!" We land the plane and are greeted with this....

And then...bum rushed with this...

Good times...we got deplaned after I took that pic. They were planning on just moving it ahead an hour since there was no actual fire (so they say). BUT, that wasn't gonna work for us because our layover in San Fran was only 20 minutes. Now we are back at square one and we now have three whining kids pissed like they are adults. Enough was enough. Big wig called us over and was like, "I guess we need to re-route you"...as if he had been reading my mind, George said exactly what I was thinking at that moment...."Can we fly on a different carrier now or what?"

Big wig said to stay put while she worked some magic. She came back with...more food vouchers, a hotel voucher and tickets on a 1015pm straight thru to DC. But, we have to get our seats when we come back from relaxing (aka killing time). After we go to the hotel, George immediately shed his clothing and plopped on the bed only to start snoring two minutes later. I on the other hand cannot sleep. How could you when you know you are about to get on the third United plane, two of which are no longer in service because of faulty machinery/equipment. I am not at ease AT ALL. I am starting to feel like I am getting hit with signs...you know, bad omens about this trip. It's scare me!! So, if anything happens...UNITED DID IT!! Oh, and I'm an organ donor...Pray for us!! My next post will hopefully about how different W Palm looks and how much my nieces and nephews have grown...check ya later!!