A wee bit o' travel torture

[weaktwos]

I am safely in San Antonio. Phew.

I managed to sleep for one hour last night by the time I got tired enough to snooze. I woke up at 3am, bathed, and sped off to the airport. It was a zoo, of course. It seemed like there were mass student trips to Europe kicking off this morning. Bastards.

I make it through that, and arrive to the boarding gate. My travel compatriot and I were teased by suggestions of travel vouchers for a delayed flight. Our concern was not making our connecting flight. It shouldn't have been our concerned. Once we got to Phoenix, our connecting flight was cancelled. We weren't going to leave phoenix until noon, as opposed to the anticipated 9:09am departure. Lesson learned: take the damn voucher.

We ended up waiting for a little more than 3 hours, as the pilot for the noon departure was late, and plane malfunctions caused us to change terminals twice. Krikey. At least we got a good walk out of it.

After getting up at 3am, we finally made it to San Antonio by 5pm.

One hour of sleep doesn't seem to pose a problem for me today. But I'm about to pass out at any minute, I'm sure.

Trinity and I met up with our cohorts from other cities and had a good steak dinner. Dinner was followed by a nice walk, which included fun banter, and a few rounds of Abba songs. The other ladies got a little too pickled, so I ended up doing the driving.

Now for bed...I get up in 6 hours.

Comments

[clemidia.livejournal.com]

Glad you're OK, Sweetums. If this doesn't have Northwest written all over it, I don't know what does...Wait! Was your luggage destroyed, too? Or, lost? Or, fed to gators?

Never got to give you directions to the haunted RR. Ask for the Missions, then zero in on the area of San Juan Mission, I believe. (Most cab drivers know the area.) The RR is in the vicinity of Villamain Road, where it crosses the (very dark) railroad crossing. It is bordered by an airport and in the area of several (old) cemeteries. One of the cemeteries is also haunted, too.

Take a flashlight and some baby powder. When you locate the crossing, sprinkle powder on the back of your car to check for handprints, etc. after the "spirits" push your car over the tracks. Don't put your brake on as it happens or a thunderous pounding will occur and the window will shatter. Park the car in neutral, on or off--it doesn't matter--and make sure you're several feet from the tracks. You will begin to gather momentum and then find yourself going over the tracks. Also, watch out for the spectral black dog.

Do NOT go alone; however, late at night in the creepy darkness is an adventure on its own. Just to the one side of the tracks is a newer subdivision where the streets have unique names--things like Carol Linda Sue, etc. (They sound like Cabbage Patch Kids' names...) It is rumored these have been named for the dead kids killed in the bus crash whose spirits haunt the RR crossing.

Also, check out the Ghost Walk as well while you're there, if you can. It meets at night in front of the Alamo and you walk the area while the guy tells about various ghosts and murders. Call: 436-5417 for info; groups of ten or more get special rates. All guides are professional ghost investigators with Alamo City Paranormal and members of the International Ghost Hunters Society.

If you have time to day-trip, another nice area is the city of Gruene (pronounced Greene) which is a delicious lunch (eat at the Gristmill), historic sites and what-not shopping. They have a pretty cool raft trip you can take down the Guadalupe River, I believe. (You handle your own raft--each seats about 4 to 6.) Picture-taking is great here; one of the features is the oldest U.S. dance hall--it was used in the movie called Michael, I think, with John Travolta where he played the archangel.

Have fun--let me know if you need any more info; I saved my maps, etc.