Day 1: Travel to Tulsa
I awoke this morning at 7:30 am and realized that today was the day Rozz and I would start our first tour of the documentary film that took us three years to make. “Rock, Rage & Self Defense: An Oral History of Seattle’s Home Alive” would travel to 11 different cities and communities. Our first stop is the Bare Bones International Music and Film Festival in Muskogee, Oklahoma. I roll over and look at my phone. There is an e-mail update from United titled “Cancellation and Rebooking.” Uh-oh. I open the e-mail, still half asleep, and the copy explains that my second flight from Newark to Tulsa has been cancelled. I have now been rescheduled to arrive in Tulsa on…SUNDAY! WHAT?!?! PANIC ENSUES I hear the shower running, but still scream through the bathroom door to my Mom, the seasoned traveler. She pokes her head out, CALL THE UNITED EMERGENCY NUMBER! I run to my “travel drawer” and pull out the number, call it, and am connected to a woman at United. I explain the situation. “I need to leave today to get to Tulsa! The film screens tomorrow!” I hear silence for about five minutes and then she comes back. “There are absolutely no flights leaving from Baltimore to Tulsa on any possible connections for United, American, and Delta.” *%(^($*$#&@ How is that possible?! I beckon back to Mom who is still getting ready for work. “MOM! NO FLIGHTS FROM BALTIMORE TO TULSA ON ANY AIRLINE.” She responds, “WHAT ABOUT ROUTING YOU THROUGH CHICAGO OR DENVER?!” “NOTHING!” “ASK ABOUT DULLES?!” Dulles is the one airport in the entirety of the continental U.S. that every traveling human being loathes, but I knew what I had to do. “What about Dulles?” I ask the United lady. “One second” On hold with awful elevator music. She comes back on the phone, there is one flight from Dulles to Tulsa at 5 pm. “Book it!” Silence again and she comes back and says that it is confirmed. Hallelujah! Now I have to call Dad and ask if he can take me 2 hours earlier and, oh yeah he has to take me to..... Uh Dulles. I knew he would not be up because he is night owl and rarely wakes at these wee hours of the morning. But I call the house phone five times until he answered. I explain the situation. Luckily, my Dad is a saint and said he’d meet me at 1 pm at my house. I finish all the last minute packing very quickly because I just lost two hours of my day and then walk to the café to do some work. Things at work got very busy, very quickly and Ms. Irena was kind enough to drive me home. As we are leaving my phone rings and it is Dad. *WEEERO WEEERO WEEERO* goes the loud house alarm. He has arrived at the house half an hour early, let himself in, and set off the house alarm. He couldn’t hear me as screaming the code to him over the phone and the cops came and now we are getting fined. Well since Ms. Irena is a Buddhist she taught me a calming chant and we chanted together on the way home to help calm me down with all the craziness that was going on today! It did make me feel better. Thank you Ms. Irena!
So then Dad and I talk and we kind of laugh about it….but we knew Mom was not going to be happy (Leesha…insert inside joke here).
I get a text from Rozz that says: Your flight was cancelled and I stepped in fresh dog sh*t…our luck can only go up!! To Oklahoma we venture!! Anyway then we get on the road to Uh Dulles, and it only took an hour which was amazing timing. I had a nice attendant help me with checking my luggage, but then it took me an hour and a half to get through security and to my gate. Why do you ask? BECAUSE IT IS UH DULLES! I get to my gate, buy a fancy gadget that can battery charge two devices at once, get an iced chai latte, and have a nice conversation with fellow travelers. I am starting to feel calmer and enjoying myself and then… CUE SCREAMING BABY! We get on the plane, but it is one of those small ones that is only three seats in a row: two on one side and one on the other. I’m slightly claustrophobic. I sat next to a nice gentleman, but he had very different beliefs than I did and we have a civil debate for about the entire plane ride. We hit turbulence for about 45 minutes, the plane did, not the conversation, and when I went to open my water bottle it exploded all over me like a water fountain! All we needed was some disco lights and techno music and it would have been worthy of the Barcelona Fountain show. I was completely drenched! I just starting laughing hysterically and my flight mate jumped up and went to get me some napkins. We landed safely, and I was now arriving 4 hours earlier than Rozz because of the flight changes. I turn on my phone and see that her flight has been delayed. I am now waiting in the little Tulsa airport for 5 hours. I’m glad I’m safely here and that I have an amazing and educated travel support system, otherwise this would have been a lot bigger mess than it already was. Cowgirl up because this is going to be a crazy, amazing, hilarious, awesome journey! This already feels like a sitcom. Stay tuned for more entertaining stories from the road. Now there is a couple hardcore making out next to me. GET A ROOM! P.S. Please let Rozz make her connection she only has 15 minutes to make it!