Woke up early. Eager to go. After over a year of planning, today is the day. My mind has made the shift from calculating preplanner to savvy improviser. That's why I get so obsessive on the planning side -- to minimize the improvisation required later. I accept that some will be necessary, but I'm oddly at peace.
I know I've planned this trip as well as anyone could. I'm a smart and capable adult. We'll just deal with anything unexpected that comes up as it comes up. I think being a parent thought me that. There is so much you can't control -- when you've done all you can ahead of time, it's time to switch gears, be present, and see what happens. Good thing, because before we even got to the airport, we needed to dig deep and find more flexibility.
There's a place for planning, but once that's past, it is time to show up and see what happens.
Our shuttle gets here in four hours.
8:05 - Los Gatos
It's raining. What's up with that? Glad I'm getting on a plane today! The weather's GOT to be better somewhere else!
Woke the kids up. I insisted that they all take showers. They complained, but I explained that their next opportunity for that would not be for a long time. Besides, I have to sit next to them.
10:00am - Los Gatos
The bags are lined up at the door and we're ready to go!
10:40am - Los Gatos
The shuttle arrived and we're off! So, I check the flight status on my phone while we're riding.
Bad news....
Our flight to LAX is delayed just enough to miss our connection to LHR. So, I called the AAdvantage desk and started the chat.
More bad news...
No way to hook up the connections to still get to Copenhagen to arrive the same day we originally planned. After 45 minutes on the phone with an agent, I get us connections to leave tomorrow. I asked about a hotel voucher because the last thing we want to do is get on a shuttle back to Los Gatos and then pay the shuttle fee again to come back tomorrow.
12:30pm - SFO
While negotiating for a hotel voucher with the ticket agent, we realize that our rerouted connection through ORD is likely to be missed, too. So, after some pecking and typing, we get booked on a BA flight tomorrow direct from SFO-LHR. It doesn't leave until 4:55pm, but we'll end up getting to CPH the same time. That's the good part. The bad news is that hotel vouchers are scraping the bottom of the barrel. Motel 6 or La Quinta are offered. We pass. I pull out my handy Hyatt app and put my platinum status to work. By 2:30pm we're checked into the Hyatt Regency SFO and we'll get a late checkout tomorrow. It's an unremarkable room, but we're not hustling in a shuttle and we're not sitting in an airport.
So, it's a good thing I've resolved to be flexible. I'm off to the pool and the wine bar to watch the kids and chat with Laura.
Location:Various
