Thursday, September 16, 2004
We're Off!
I got up around 7:30am in order to have enough time to get ready and do some last minute packing before Steph arrived at my house at 11. At five to the hour she was to arrive, she hadn't shown up yet which I thought was rather strange since she is usually a bit early. I decided maybe I should give her a call just to make sure everything was ok. As it turned out, she got caught up with a couple of problems before leaving town and was running rather late - EEK! Since we were flying out of Des Moines, I figured even if she didn't get to my house until noon (the flight was to depart at 1:30), we would probably still be ok for time but you never know since there are occasions when this airport can be rather busy. She told me that she was hauling ass down the interstate trying to make up time and when I heard that, I knew come hell or high water, we would be getting on that bird bound for Chicago to make the NYC connector flight. LOL
Steph arrived about a quarter of noon. After tossing my baggage in the car, we were on our way to the airport. Luckily, it wasn't too busy and they have since installed electronic ticketing systems after I was there last which ended up being to our advantage. Many of the people there still had paper tickets and didn't know how to go about using the automated system. Thankfully, I knew what I was doing due to having used this method several times before when on business trips and we were able to jump to the front of the check in line. In less that ten minutes, we were checked in and our checked baggage was on its way through security.
The flights (one hour to Chicago and then approximately two from Chicago to NYC) we non eventful for the most part. We did get delayed slightly and there was some turbulence but nothing more than you would expect from any flight. On the flight to Chicago, we sat by a woman who was visiting Des Moines and managed to trip on a concrete block, and couldn't believe she managed to break her leg as a result. On the flight from Chicago to NYC, we sat by a little girl who looked to be maybe ten years of age. She told us that she comes out to visit family fairly regularly and loves the city.
At about 7:30pm EDT, we touched down at LaGuardia Airport in NYC. Because Steph had basically gone half the day without her nicotine fix, we were walking as fast as our legs would carry us toward the door. Of course it wasn't fast enough judging by a sight I got glimpse of as I took a look off to my left just to see what was there. A food stand - looked rather good as I hadn't really eaten anything since breakfast. What I saw parked next to the food stand managed to put me off wanting food for the next hour. There was a rather large young woman wearing low-rise jeans who was bent over showing her purple g-string and buttcrack. I don't care how big or small someone is, that is just a sight NO ONE should ever display in public. I feared that I was going to have to seek therapy to help deal with the image that was burned to my brain at that moment .
When we made it down to the baggage claim area, Steph went out to smoke and I stayed inside on the off chance our luggage came through. As it turned out, the belt didn't start up until Steph had returned which was probably for the best because that was one of us could stay by the carry ons and the other could grab the checked luggage.
Once we picked up the rest of our stuff, we went over by the door and were trying to decide if we should get a cab, take the bus, or call the hotel and see if they had a shuttle that could pick us up. At that moment, a guy walked up to us and asked in some foreign accent (possibly Italian), "You need cab?". We responded by saying, "Well, yes, maybe." We thought we might just take the bus so Steph asked the guy how long it would be until the next one came along. He told us 45 minutes. Whether that was true or not we didn't know but I knew I didn't want to possibly be stuck waiting there that long. The guy said he would charge $35 to take us to our destination and since we knew to expect to pay that much for a cab, I told Steph we should just take it. The guy lead us outside but rather than stopping where the cabs were, he lead us across the way to the parking ramp. I looked back at Steph and said, "Where the hell is this guy taking us?". It was at that point I was beginning to wonder if this was some sort of sham knowing what I do about some of the cabbies in places like London. Once we got to where the guy wanted us to wait, he went back into the airport to get a couple more people - again, that really had me wondering. When he returned with another couple, he told us to wait where we were and he would go get the car. Steph and I just stood there talking to the other couple speculating about what was going on and having a laugh.
When the guy brought the car around, it was a limo to our surprise. Whoohoo! Obviously someone forgot to tell this guy that there is a big difference between a cab and a limo. LOL Steph and I got a giggle out of it and certainly weren't going to turn it down for a regular cab. The driver loaded our stuff into the trunk and Steph got in. Before I got in, the guy then changed his story from $35 to take us to $35/each - figures! At that point, I just didn't care as I wanted to get to the hotel and I would cover the extra if Steph couldn't. Once I was in, the guy then asked for about the fifth time where we were going (guess he was having trouble understanding English). Once again Steph said W 81st Street. I don't know what the deal was but he ended up getting another car for the other couple and then pulled us around closer to the door at the airport to go get someone else. The only thing I could figure was the couple was headed in the opposite direction or something. He came back with a family of five! The limo was only meant to hold four in the back so it was a little tight but Steph and I along with the other family were good sports about it and had a laugh over the matter on the way to our destination. I did know I would be taking up the rate with the driver as soon as we got to our destination though since we ended up getting the old switcheroo pulled on us.
When we arrived at the hotel (about 40 minutes later), Steph and I piled out of the limo and the driver got our luggage out of the trunk. I handed the guy $40 - $35 for the trip plus a $5 tip which I thought was more than generous given the travel situation. I was just waiting for him to start asking for more money but he never did. Cool! Steph and I got what we thought was a bargain (which it was compared to what I have seen paid for limo service when on business trips) and an unexpected 'stylish' arrival to our hotel to boot.
Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
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