travel adventures
Jul. 13th, 2007 07:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancingyelso, i've been traveling a bit over the last week, with cin and nik at first and then with just nik in tucson. it all went pretty smoothly, with the driving and the taking the train to tucson and the renting a car in tucson...and then, nik and i took the train overnight to la with the intention of renting a car, going to the getty museum for a few hours, and then flying back to oakland from lax. leaving tucson, our train was about 2 hours late. no matter, we had plenty of leeway in la. we slept on the train happily (we got a roomette, and it was very exciting!) and had a nice breakfast that was included in the price. and then we found out that the train would be 4 hours late coming into la. ok, not too bad. we had enough time still to do the getty and everything.
so, we got to la union and wander over to the rental car area, only to find that enterprise (our rental car company) doesn't actually have a counter there, despite their assurance that they do. what they have is a counter a few miles away, and they pick you up when you arrive. we were very annoyed, but we called them and they tell us they'll have someone in 5 minutes. 20 minutes later, no one. we called them again, and they said, "oh, it'll be another 20-30 minutes, we're short-staffed." they had our contact info, but hadn't bothered to tell us that. great. so, we canceled our reservation with them, since at that point, we'd have time to see the getty for about 30 minutes and it wasn't worth it. instead, we decided to take the fly-away, a bus that goes directly from la union station to lax. we didn't have to go to the airport right then, but with nothing better to do, it seemed like a good plan.
we got on the bus with no hassle, and it took off. of course, there was lots of traffic, but we had plenty of time, so no worries. i was napping in my seat when the bus turned off. it didn't seem soon enough for us to have arrived, and when i opened my eyes, it was clear that we hadn't actually arrived. rather, the bus broke down in one of the 2 carpool lanes in the middle of the freeway. in friday afternoon rush hour traffic. with about 40 or so of us onboard. in 95 degree heat. we sat for about 40 minutes, having flipped open the emergency hatches to get some air into the bus. people were freaking out about missing their flights and we were just unhappy to be stuck in the heat. another bus (the next fly-away) caught up to us and stopped right in front of us with the intent of having us go onto it, but we couldn't get out, since traffic was streaming past us on the right. finally, the chp came and blocked off a lane for traffic to allow us to transfer. the poor people on the other bus were not so pleased with having to wait for us, but there wasn't much anyone could do. finally, we all got on the bus and were taken to lax, after a delay of more than an hour. nikki and i are still very early for our flight, especially since it's delayed (of course it is), but we're happy to be here and with only one more mode of transportation to deal with before arriving at home.
so, we got to la union and wander over to the rental car area, only to find that enterprise (our rental car company) doesn't actually have a counter there, despite their assurance that they do. what they have is a counter a few miles away, and they pick you up when you arrive. we were very annoyed, but we called them and they tell us they'll have someone in 5 minutes. 20 minutes later, no one. we called them again, and they said, "oh, it'll be another 20-30 minutes, we're short-staffed." they had our contact info, but hadn't bothered to tell us that. great. so, we canceled our reservation with them, since at that point, we'd have time to see the getty for about 30 minutes and it wasn't worth it. instead, we decided to take the fly-away, a bus that goes directly from la union station to lax. we didn't have to go to the airport right then, but with nothing better to do, it seemed like a good plan.
we got on the bus with no hassle, and it took off. of course, there was lots of traffic, but we had plenty of time, so no worries. i was napping in my seat when the bus turned off. it didn't seem soon enough for us to have arrived, and when i opened my eyes, it was clear that we hadn't actually arrived. rather, the bus broke down in one of the 2 carpool lanes in the middle of the freeway. in friday afternoon rush hour traffic. with about 40 or so of us onboard. in 95 degree heat. we sat for about 40 minutes, having flipped open the emergency hatches to get some air into the bus. people were freaking out about missing their flights and we were just unhappy to be stuck in the heat. another bus (the next fly-away) caught up to us and stopped right in front of us with the intent of having us go onto it, but we couldn't get out, since traffic was streaming past us on the right. finally, the chp came and blocked off a lane for traffic to allow us to transfer. the poor people on the other bus were not so pleased with having to wait for us, but there wasn't much anyone could do. finally, we all got on the bus and were taken to lax, after a delay of more than an hour. nikki and i are still very early for our flight, especially since it's delayed (of course it is), but we're happy to be here and with only one more mode of transportation to deal with before arriving at home.
