DH & MIL should not travel together - IL. IN. KY. TN & WA, oh my! - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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DH & MIL should not travel together - IL. IN. KY. TN & WA, oh my!
I finally finished my WDW TR and now can begin this one. DD & I wanted a Disney Cruise but MIL refused. DH family has a reunion every year but he hasn't been in ten years so MIL suggested we all travel to Pigeon Forge TN for his families Reunion. That is what this TR is all about. The cast of characters:
Me, 52 - Mom of 2 daughters, Granny of 2 grandsons, wife, high school History teacher, optimist, avid book reader, like to go places but not airplanes and lived in Alaska 43 years!
DH - 50 - usually laid back kind of guy, lets me do most of trip planning because I like to although will offer his opinions when asked; pessimist, looking forward to seeing his extended family although a little aprehensive about spending so much time with mom in close quarters.
DD - 14, loves swimming, sunburns easily, likes shopping, wanted to see other grandma, (my mom lives in AK), not too excited about this trip.
MIL - 70, outspoken, retired nurse, Loves shopping, president of her condo association, lives alone in North IN. DD is only grandaughter.
Flying to midway, IL.
Saturday June 9th.
DH had to work, DD & I were home packing and hanging out. DH hadn't really been on a vacation out of state in a very long time and was excited. He had been calling all his extended relatives to see how many would be at the reunion. Saturdays are his slowest day and he kept calling me to see what we were up to and if the packing was done; basically driving me crazy. DH wanted to get hats from work for grandsons and also kept calling me about what type his work had and which ones he should get. Finally, he arrived home about 6pm and had a quick bite of dinner. My nephew came over around 7:30 to drive us to the airport, I gave him keys as he was taking care of our two cats while we were gone.
Here's a pic of Patches and Beauty.
DD was killing time by taking pics - here's one.
We were trying to get out the door and keep the cats inside, patches of course escaped and would not let us catch her to get her back in house. What a circus! DN said he would come back to our house after dropping us at airport to see if she'd come in then. So off we went. Got to airport to print boarding passes, now I had already chosen seats together but when we got our boarding passes DH was in row 16 or so and DD and I were in 30 something. So we went to ticket counter to figure out what was going on. Apparently I chose row 13 in picking seats and there is not a row 13 so the airlines stuck us separetly because it was booked with DH since he was flying back early and DD & I later. The ticket agent moved a single person and gave us a row together which was nice but what I couldn't understand was if the airplane did not have a row 13 why was it a choice in the seat reservation system? Go figure.
Our plane was leaving at 11:30pm . I cannot sleep on planes but this was the best price available. I watched episodes of Alias, to occupy myself. DD was watching something else and DH was reading. After about 4.5 hours I started to get antsy, and claustropic so DH let me out to go to Restroom, (just an excuse to move around and be a little less crowded) when I got back to seats, DH had moved to window, DD was in middle and I got the ISLE! They are so sweet, We landed in Denver for a plane change, our flight was late so we had to hustle a lloooooonnnngg ways to the next gate on no sleep. When I get no sleep I also have no brain function. We made the connection on a Air Tran ( I believe it's called) I liked this flight better. The seats were roomier, the attendants were very nice and one kept all the passengers entertained, he was hilarious. There were tvs in the back of each seat so we each got ours on just to have something to do.
We arrived at Midway airport around 8:30AM, found our bags and stepped outside into the hot, humid day. MIL was supposed to be picking us up. We didn't see her yet but thought she was running a little late or circled around so we found a clear spot to set our luggage and DD and I sat on the sidewalk. 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, no MIL. We did not bring our phones because only have a Alaska local carrier and roaming charges are outrageous. Neither DH nor I know MIL phone # by heart and with my brain not working I couldn't remember if I had written it down somewhere. I told DH I would call my mom collect and get MIL's phone number from her. So into the airport looking for phones. When I found them and figured out number to call for collect services, I heard mom answer but when the recording said charges would be $18.00 I hung up! What I didn't know then was that because I was tired when mom heard my voice and the call was cut off she thought she had messed up and lost the call and that we were in Denver (our connecting flight) and something was wrong. So mom called MIL to see if she had heard from us. MIL said if something was wrong we would call back and for mom not to worry since MIL didn't have to leave for the airport until 2pm because we were arriving at 3pm in the afternoon! The saga continues....
__________________
Alaskan Mom aka Bonnie
Last edited by Alaskan Mom; 01-23-2016 at 05:44 PM..
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I went back out to DH and DD and explained what happened so I wasn't sure what to do next. We didn't know why MIL wasn't there or that she thought we were arriving at 3PM (the time we were leaving the following Sunday). DD & I went to find some food because our energy reserves were very low. We found a little snack stand with prices but did manage to get a couple of bagels and 2 pieces of fruit to share, a coffee for DH and juice for DD. After we ate, DH realized he knew his godparents phone # since it was the same since he had been in high school and they were friends with MIL. He called them but got the recorder, they were at church. In the meantime I realized I did have MIL # and called but she too was at church and didn't answer.
Waiting until DH though godparents would be home and called again. This time they were home and said they would call MIL. DH waited 5 minutes and called them back and they said she was relaxing at home waiting to go to airport and pick us up at 3pm; but would leave right away. Of course it only takes an hour to get from her house to midway. With nothing better to do and being so tired I laid down on this uncomforable metal bench and tried to at least rest. It lasted only 20 minutes but better than nothing. DD tried the same thing and actually passed out for about 15 minutes. After waiting 3 hours outside the airport, MIL arrived. Yeah! She was very sorry, I was just glad she arrived. Then she told us her air conditioning at home was broke and the the air conditioning in her jeep wasn't working well either. Oh boy, when it it pours.
Sorry all, I was trying to post another installment and having trouble keeping cursor on page and then when I preview or go to post only a few sentences show up. I will keep working on it.
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Yikes! Considering I live 45 min from Midway, I could have picked you up! No air, in IL, not good. What a rough start! I can't wait to read more because Pigeon Forge is one place we talked about going.
Oh, what a difficult start, and it doesn't look like it'll get much better. No a/c??
The broken a/c was a real challenge.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Wow, that's a rough start.
True
Quote:
Originally Posted by B.M.
Wow, I would've been miserable at the airport waiting around like that..... And the thought of no a/c
It wasn't much fun, especially on no sleep.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dutchdisneyfamily
Yikes! Considering I live 45 min from Midway, I could have picked you up! No air, in IL, not good. What a rough start! I can't wait to read more because Pigeon Forge is one place we talked about going.
I wished I knew you lived so close. As soon as I figure out why I can't type on PP at home I will get another installment done.
After no sleep and our wait at the airport, our energy reserves were very low so DD and I & returned to the airport to see if anywhere (this side of security) had some food. We found a small place with some prices but did pick up 2 bagels & 2 pieces of fruit for us to share plus coffee for DH and juice for DD. I had water, which was all I really wanted - although would have been much better with ice cubes.
DD returned and we split us our find, after eating we felt a little better.
Maybe it was the food powering our brain cells but DH realized he knew his godparents phone # since they had has the same phone # since he was in high school and not only knew MIL but would know her phone #. While he went off to call godparents I realized I did have MIL phone # and even remembered where it was! DH returned only to tell us that they weren't home (at church). We realized that MIL would be at church also so nothing to do but wait.
I laid down on a metal bench trying to catch a cat nap; the only problem was the bench was extremely uncomfortable and had to get up after about 15 minutes. DD had tried the same thing and actually passed out for about 20 minutes. DH returned to phone bank to try reaching godparents; when he returned to us, they had called MIL after receiving DH's message from 1st call. Apparently MIL was relaxing in easy chair after church waiting until 2pm come pick us up. She had the time mixed up with when we were leaving the following Sunday. This was welcome news, although it would take her a hour to reach us, so she didn't arrive until noon.
MIL arrived in her bright yellow jeep, at least it was easy to spot, we tossed our luggage in the back and quickly piled in as she apologized about the mix-up. I told her not to worry about it as she was here now so all ok. MIL's next piece of news filled me with dread...her a/c at house was broken and the jeep's wasn't working well either. If you can't hear me, I'm groaning. Too much heat and especially humidity tends to make many of us Alaskans grumpy and we were supposed to drive from Northern IN. to Pigeon Forge TN and back in this jeep.
Oh well, what could I do?
We arrived at MILs upstairs condo about 1pm, I wanted to stop at store to pick up groceries but MIL didn't want to then. We hauled up suitcases to her place, set them out of way, then got some sandwiches, chips and fruit for lunch. It was hot and sticky in her condo, she had box fans going but all that did was blow the hot air around!
I took a shower, changed clothes, set up a dvd for DD as she didn't want to nap which is what I did. Only problem was that went I woke up, stomach was a little upset and I was extremely groggy. Checked on DD, and she wasn't feeling very well, I got her some water and grapes. DH was snoozing and MIL reading. I began sorting and repacking for trip to TN as DD and I would share and only take one suitcase. DH told MIL my favorite dinner was tacos, so she decided to make tacos for dinner which was very nice and I really appreciated the gesture.
She had dinner ready at 4:30pm
I had only eating lunch 3 hours before, it was very hot, I had had little sleep and was not feeling very good. I tried to be very nice and explained that I did love tacos, but I needed at least an hour or two before I ate or I would be sick. Her reply was "whatever" which made me feel bad. DH ate with her and then rather than leaving the food for me she cleared the table.
I finished packing and then checked on DD who was starting to get hungry. I wanted to go to store for groceries and things she liked so went back out to living room to ask about taking me to the store and MIL and DH had their shoes on and said they'd be back. MIL was taking DH to see his godparents, and they left. Well so much for the store.
Up next; What is for dinner and when are they coming back?
__________________
Alaskan Mom aka Bonnie
Last edited by Alaskan Mom; 10-29-2012 at 06:00 PM..
About This Page: 
and lived in Alaska 43 years!
; basically driving me crazy.
DH wanted to get hats from work for grandsons and also kept calling me about what type his work had and which ones he should get. Finally, he arrived home about 6pm and had a quick bite of dinner. My nephew came over around 7:30 to drive us to the airport, I gave him keys as he was taking care of our two cats while we were gone.
- here's one.
DN said he would come back to our house after dropping us at airport to see if she'd come in then. So off we went. Got to airport to print boarding passes, now I had already chosen seats together but when we got our boarding passes DH was in row 16 or so and DD and I were in 30 something.
So we went to ticket counter to figure out what was going on. Apparently I chose row 13 in picking seats and there is not a row 13 so the airlines stuck us separetly because it was booked with DH since he was flying back early and DD & I later. The ticket agent moved a single person and gave us a row together which was nice
. I cannot sleep on planes but this was the best price available. I watched episodes of Alias, to occupy myself. DD was watching something else and DH was reading. After about 4.5 hours I started to get antsy, and claustropic so DH let me out to go to Restroom, (just an excuse to move around and be a little less crowded) when I got back to seats, DH had moved to window, DD was in middle and I got the ISLE! They are so sweet, We landed in Denver for a plane change, our flight was late so we had to hustle a lloooooonnnngg ways to the next gate on no sleep. When I get no sleep I also have no brain function.
We made the connection on a Air Tran ( I believe it's called) I liked this flight better. The seats were roomier, the attendants were very nice and one kept all the passengers entertained, he was hilarious.
There were tvs in the back of each seat so we each got ours on just to have something to do. 
Neither DH nor I know MIL phone # by heart and with my brain not working I couldn't remember if I had written it down somewhere. I told DH I would call my mom collect and get MIL's phone number from her. So into the airport looking for phones. When I found them and figured out number to call for collect services, I heard mom answer but when the recording said charges would be $18.00 I hung up!
What I didn't know then was that because I was tired when mom heard my voice and the call was cut off she thought she had messed up and lost the call and that we were in Denver (our connecting flight) and something was wrong. So mom called MIL to see if she had heard from us. MIL said if something was wrong we would call back and for mom not to worry since MIL didn't have to leave for the airport until 2pm because we were arriving at 3pm in the afternoon!
Alaskan Mom aka Bonnie
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but DH realized he knew his godparents phone # since they had has the same phone # since he was in high school and not only knew MIL but would know her phone #. While he went off to call godparents I realized I did have MIL phone # and even remembered where it was!
DH returned only to tell us that they weren't home (at church). We realized that MIL would be at church also so nothing to do but wait. 
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