(only read this is you are relaxed, in a funny mood and have some spare time on your hands)
Who the hell ever heard of Paducah KY ? Obviously Mother Nature and she was hell bent on making sure the country knew EXACTLY where it was.
I must say it was a bit unnerving when I heard , prior to my flight, that Paducah was bracing for Tornado's, added to the news was that Nashville was also having horrible weather. Having not flown in some years, this news was not sitting well, but on the other hand 'nothing was going to stop my Quilt Show week with the girls...NOTHING'.
Up early on Monday morn and headed for the airport in Binghamton, it was dreary, a bit rainy but I was unfazed. Mother nature and I would come to terms :-)
Okay, so as I sat in the terminal (good name by the way) watching the fog roll in it seemed like M.N. (mother nature) might win this round. The fog had also embraced the airport in Philly and it was closed to arrivals. So even when our fog lifted, we still waited.
Hooray!! 9:30 and we are finally boarding. I have been told to try for the 12:30 stand-by, but I was definatly on the 4:30 flight to Nashville. Considering I was suppose to be there by 9:30 am I wasn't all that happy.
Philly wasn't as bad as I had suspected, my gates were all close. I waited at gate F23 for standby and Ron Howard (an american soldier) introduced himself (he was on stand-by also) He helped pass the time and I learned about the mission they were on, equipmet that had arrived before he did and how most of the men lived in Philly and had already gone home to relax. he on the other hand, was bound and determined to move forward and think positive. It hurt me to learn that military personal do not have priority when it comes to stand-by. That those paying for Gold and Silver boarding passes have more priority. I guess paying with your life for this countries freedom falls way below the priorities of the wealthy. I told him if they called me for standby, he could have my seat. That didn't happen so off we went to F 27 to wait for the next plane.
It suddenly occurred to me that this was just wrong. I asked if I could give my ticket to this soldier and take the next flight. I was told it was against FAA rules and regs. so I asked to speak to a supervisor. (I also asked Ron if I was embarrassing him and he informed me that his wife was a fighter too, he was used to it LOL) When I spoke to the Super, he informed me about the Gold and Silver (which I fully understand) however, I said rather loudly "This man is willing to give his life for this country, I think a Gold or Silver would be more then willing to give a seat....how pathetic is this country when we can't recognize the difference between sacrifice and the God almighty dollar" people began to clap...I won that round...Ron was told he was #one on standby. We arrived in Nashville together... weather was great and things were looking up (or so it seemed)
I was so very proud, when Stef, Bob and I had a bite to eat. A soldier and his family also stopped to grab a bite and Bob picked up the check...That's the way things should be and all too often aren't.
Joyce and I had a great nights sleep in Nashville and Jodi and Stef were delivered to our front door. Let the fun begin!!! We had heard about the Tornado warnings still in Paducah and it was raining off and on, but we were undeterred..we were together and that's all that mattered.
Laughing most of the way, the trip to KY was uneventful.We arrived at Kentucky Dam Village to find that they still had not found an extra night. It seems that the reservation I had for a year for 4 days, was suddenly changed to 3 days. They promised to "work on it"...I am a positive thinker and refused to let it ruin my vacation.
Our 3 bdrm ,2 bath cottage was stange. 2 bdrms were down stairs with a bath and one bdrm was up stairs with a bath(main floor) The girls were nice enough to give me the mainfloor room because of my knee's. One of the Bdrms had a wet floor, that didn't sit too well.
The cottage kitchen was not well stocked and the toilets had to be flushed twice...still...we were here and we couldn't wait for the show. As always we spent our first day going to Hancocks of Paducah (a huge fabric place), we also hit Hobby Lobby and had a ball and then bought food. AS we headed home it began to rain but little could be done to dampen our spirits...We were just too damn happy!!! With shoes off Jodie and Stef waded through the water to hand us the groceries..yup it sure was raining :-) WE could hear the tornado sirens in the distance..'should we be concerned?'
Because of the "shows" close proximity to the Ohio River, the venue had been changed. Part of the show was the same as the year before, but then other vendors had been moved to vacant stores. To say it was spread out would be an understatement. I was thankful the ride was not as long as last years, the weather , the wind, were all just a little something added to the stress. The layout of the main part of Paducah is pretty simple and it would be difficult to get lost unless you got off the beaten path, so getting around wasn't all that difficult and we were able to hit the vendors...OFTEN!! It rained on and off and a few storms blew through, but nothing dampend our spirits...not even a smelly bedroom (which we later found out was due to the water).
It bothered me that we were paying full price for a cottage that was far less then it should have been. Finally, when a roach was found (something we had NEVER seen for as long as we had been going to Paducah) that was totally unacceptable. I called and asked to speak to the Park manager, Scott. I explained what had happened with our reservation, how the cabin had fallen short of our standards and told him I felt compensation was in order. To my surprise he agreeded with me. He said he would work to make it all right . I got a call on my cell that afternoon that we would be moving to Barkly Lake for the last night (not perfect solution but okay).When we got home there was a huge platter of cookies and strawberries and a basket full of all kinds of goodies, (Mugs, candy, keychains, pens etc.) with a sign "Compliments of the Staff of KDV".
The next morning as we prepared to pack and leave for Barkley Lake I called to ask if I could leave some things in their refrig..It was then that Monica apologized for what seemed like an even bigger problem then they realized...I told her we just didn't want to drive all the way to the lake and then all the way back to the show. 5 min. later she called to tell me "we are keeping you right here"..we were moved to the cottages we LOVE and were so happy we jumped around like a bunch of school girls.
In the process of moving acroos the hwy to our new home, the latch popped open and one of the bags fell out...wine glasses broke and my prescription pills had gotten run over and looked like road kill. Jodie and I salvaged the road kill and LOAO (she had left her same meds home so we were sharing)
We got to spend time working on projects on our screened in porch and we had a relaxing breakfast out in the sunshine. Even Mother Nature seemed happy...It may have been one of our more eventful trips, but it was "all good". Not only did Scott give us 1/2 off our last night, but also gave me a gift certificate for a free night next year. I definatly kept his promise to make it RIGHT.
The night before "take off" Joyce and I returned the car and got boarding passes for the next day...I repacked my luggage more neatly and we were good to go. It stormed and I got deathly sick...but by morning (5am for me) I felt a little better. The cab had not been called as promised, but it got there quick.I had plenty of time...got to the window and was asked for "picture ID", looked for license...un packed luggage...GONE!! Now on the verge of hysteria because I'm being told I can not fly without my license..I show all the other paperwork I have..I hit them with logic (how did I fly here if I didn't show ID in the first place) they push me throught to security. Thank God the TSA guy was a sweetheart...I showed him other ID I had and he allowed me to pass over to the security check. off with the shoes and though the xray go me and my bags...PROBLEM! I am told I have a weapon and they must unpack my bag. I hear my name being called to gate 10, but I can't leave until they find the "weapon"..The search is on and I'm curious...weapon???Head security guy walks over as the woman pulls out this "dagger" ( a letter opener with a crown on top. A gift from Stef) I hear my name and "last call". I tell them they can keep it, just let me go...but they allow me to have it back and qickly help me pack my bag....not quite fast enough. I arrive at my gate just on time to see my plane pull away from the gate :-(
I am told I will arrive in Binghamton at 9:30 that evening...it is now 7:15 a.m.. I begin to weep..It is raining, I am alone and face hours of waiting. NO!!! I can't think like that, it's not me...I walk up to the desk "Please check every flight, there HAS to be room"...he checks, checks again nope... I will get on a 2pm flight and then a 7:40 flight to Binghamton. Please I say, check one more time, perhaps there is a cancellation... I'm sure he was placationg me at that point...but sure enough he found a cacellation on the 9:40 flight our of Nashville and a 4:40 flight out of Philly...I'd be home by 6 pm...not exactly the 1 pm I had hoped for but it was better then 9:30..
So the trip that tried very hard to become the trip from HELL, ended as it began, with things working out. The rains stopped and I flew home in sunny skies...a bit tired and worn, but looking forward to next year and meeting the girls in Paduach :-)
So what does any of this have to do with WLS ? Not a damn thing other then the fact that Attitude is everything!!!
