Touchdown!!!

Touchdown! I wanted to scream "Hallelujah!" as loud as I could when the wheels finally touched the Jordan tarmac. It had been a long long long and patience trying trip. I was exhausted and completely emotional. Getting off the plane was pretty quick and getting down to the immigration was pretty easy. I remembered it all too well from the first trip.
I was third in line and through phase one really quick. Phase two, verification, was a little bit of a wait. There was only one person handling this section. It was about ten minutes before I was able to go up and finish my immigration and be let down to the baggage claim area.
Our luggage was already coming up in baggage claim 5. There was a huge crowd already gathering around the revolving table. So I waited, watching each bag that passed by... My bag was nowhere to be seen...
I went over to the help desk and they stated I had to wait until the carrier stopped before I could claim that my bag was not there. So I waited...
And waited... and guess what. My bag was nowhere to be found. Ugh.
Finally I went and put in the claim that my bag was not here. The agent took my information and looked up my bags.
Surprise... My bags were in PARIS!!! They had never even made it to London. When we got to Atlanta and they switched my flights... they didn't switch my luggage. Luckily "A" and I had packed extra clothes in my carry on so I do have some clothes until my baggage arrives. YAY!  *detect the note of sarcasm? It should be there... Double check...yep. There it is.*
Hopefully my luggage enjoyed its trip to Paris and will be with me sometime today. Fingers crossed and sending up a prayer... I need my hair supplies!

Horrific Experience in London... Part 2

Part two started upon touch down in London.
First let me just say that flying over London was amazing!! I got to see some amazing views from the air. Places that I hope to one day see. (Check out the photos)
When we landed we were let out of the plane... but no ticket agents anywhere to be seen. They just told us to check the boards as we were exiting the craft. So to the board I went. But I didn't see my next flight on there. Ugh. NOT AGAIN! I decided to go ask whomever I could find. I followed the connecting flight passengers down to the terminals station. I asked one of the drivers (because in order to go from terminal to terminal you had to take a bus) where I could find information on my flight. He asked where I was going and I told him Jordan and he directed me to get on the bus for Terminal 5. So to the bus stop I went and waited. AND WAITED.
20 minutes later the bus showed up and took myself and the other travelers on this little adventure through the airport. We arrived at terminal 5, go up the escelator to the main floor and follow the crowd towards the gates. Then I spotted it. THE DEPARTURE BOARD. And there was my flight...AND there was the departure terminal... TERMINAL 1!!! Ugh. So back down to the bus I went. Still having seen no ticket agent for British Airways I made my way back over to terminal 1. Which, by the way, is under construction. When they drop you off at the terminal back entrance, you have a long walk and and confusing signs, then hit the first of the security check points. Here this nice older gentleman wanted to check my ticket. I explained that I didn't have one. He advised me to go through security and then stop at the British Airway desk and get my ticket. YAY! Someone who knew what I needed to do!
Going through their security is pretty much the same as when you fly out of America. Everything off and on the table, liquids and electronics in their own basket. Not a big deal. Except for when you forget too pull your toothpaste out of your carry on. *insert rolling of the eyes and a sigh*
After security you walk right into the the "under construction" wing of the airport. It is DESERTED! There were ticket agent booths but not an agent in sight."Oh bother." *in my best Eeyore voice* So I went exploring. I looked all over the place for signs of BA agents. But nothing. I found a really cute "Royal Mail'' post box. A couple duty free stores and restaurants. Cleaning staff. But no agents. On top of all of that...They don't post what gate you should go to until an hour before the flight. So everyone is in a holding station until that time.
With nothing to do and  4 hours to fill I went to the bathroom and changed my clothes, grabbed some yummy looking deli food from Pret Market and sat down to read. When I had about ten minutes before my gate was to be revealed I went to stand under the screen and wait for the information.
BAM! There it was (5 minutes late, I might add)! We were to head to gate 19. As the weary travelers herded down the terminal to gate 19 I was in the lead... well okay there were like 10 people ahead of me.
We all get to the gate and they start checking us in, reviewing passport and ticket, and making us sit in a new holding until they can check us one more time and push us onto the plane. It is my turn and I let the lady know that I don't have a ticket and that I was told it needed to be printed by the agent. She told me she didn't have time to do it, there was only on ticket checker working, and that I needed to sit and wait. AND WAIT. AND WAIT!!!
After everyone... except for the 2 people that came in late, where checked and boarding almost finished, I was helped. She called down to the luggage counter and then said something about me not checking in. HELLO!!! I DIDN'T HAVE A TICKET!!! And WHY? BECAUSE NO ONE WAS DOING THERE JOB!! The agent then couldn't get the ticket printer to work. *shaking my head* So I had to sit down again. Because she didn't have time to hand write me a ticket, there was another problem child that needed to be taken care of. *note the sarcasm* After everyone was boarded, she finally had time to HAND write my ticket so I could get on the plan. By this time I was frustrated, running on only 2 hours of sleep and I was freezing.
I walk down the plank and onto the plane, put my carry on into the over head bins. Walk back to my seat (a row of three chairs and there are only two of us to occupy said chairs). I take my seat, pull out my pillow, throw on the blanket, and close my eyes. Then the dreaded announcement....
"I am sorry to inform you but we are going to be delayed by 45 minutes on the tarmac. Sit back and relax, we will take off when we are given the clearance...." So that is what I did. I sat back and relaxed and fell asleep. Only to wake as the drink cart was passing and we were in the air. No first drinks for me. Luckily I had some water left in my water bottle.



I do have to say that flying over Greece at sunset was beautiful.

And British Airways (as does Delta) really know how to feed a person. Their dinner was really yummy.

Horrific Experience in London...

I had originally wrote this post in anger but I am so glad that my phone froze and wouldn't let me post it. :)

It is so sad to say that I had a bad experience at Heathrow Airport in London because I had such hi hopes for this city. I have dreamed of flying into to London all my life. I have always wanted to visit. I was sad that I was flying there by myself because I had already promised to "A" that we would fly there together. And here it was that I was being diverted.
After a long flight from Denver to Atlanta I find that my 10:04 flight to Paris had been canceled (it was never made it to the boards). And that the next available flights to Paris would make me miss my 2:40 trip to Amman. So I had no choice.
Upon arrival in Atlanta and noticing that there was a mix up on my flights, I headed to customer service where I found a long line of travelers that were upset about the cancellation of the Paris flight. When it was my turn to talk to an agent there was a huge line behind me. I had already switched out my slip on shoes due to all the running I was doing left blisters on the back of both of my heels, and I added light capri pants under my skirt because I was cold. I had even pulled my hair up in a bun. Ugh. I looked amazing. :) Anyways, the ticket agent started talking to me and and told me that they were reverting me to Heathrow and that they were sending the word down to luggage handling to send my bags to London.
After she handed me back my itinerary and my ticket for the next flight, I was told that I would need to find a British Airways Agent when I touched down in Heathrow to get my next ticket. Then I was told that my flight was boarding and that I needed to get to the gate but not to hurry because I would get on this flight. EXCUSE ME! NOT TO HURRY BUT THEY WERE BOARDING! And I had to take the train back to the previous terminal. What the heck. Seriously.
Well I hurried as fast as I could to get to the terminal to board. When I got there they were boarding Zone 2 (my zone), I had just made it. I boarding the plan, looking a little worse for wear and took my seat. Luckily Delta took care of me and I got my row (2 seats) all to myself. So I relaxed and had a great flight. [Well, great except for the terrible turbulence coming into Heathrow at that time of day.] So aside from that the trip was great.
It wasn't until I touched down that the horror ensued.

To be continued....

Exchanging money... the bad way

To all those traveling abroad or getting ready too. When exchanging money either get it done in the US or in your destination country.

DO NOT try to exchange money in one country for a different country.

Example: USD in England for JOD. They have to use the exchange rate for GBP then convert that to JOD. I lost about 35 or more USD doing it this way. :(

Half way there...

It has been a little rough this half of the journey. But I am trying to "roll with the punches", "go with the flow". It's not like I can do anything to change what is happening so this is my only choice.
Here's the scoop:
Starting the night before the flight my carrier started sending me texts and emails about my flights changing and cancelations and rebookings. "M" told me that they would take care of everything at the airport and I would get there no matter so I stopped worrying.
Then I got to the airport and after checking in, was told that I needed to check in with the gate agent. The gate agent printed me my itinerary and I thought nothing of it.
Upon arriving in Atlanta I found out that there was no 10:05pm flight to Paris. There never was a flight. The flight number I was given was for a 12:40am flight which meant I would then miss my connection to my final destination.  Ugh.
So I stood in line for 45 minutes waiting to figure things out then was rebooked on a different carrier, different route. Now onto London I go. Then I will have a layover and head to my final destination of Jordan. Only issue is that I won't be coming in until almost midnight . That is 3 hours later then originally scheduled to arrive. Boooooo.
On the upside: I got the seats to myself so I got to relax, although no sleep was had. *sad face*

Off I go on my adventure

So today I head on my Jordan 2.0 trip. 6 weeks in Jordan with my love. It should be exciting. It should be peaceful. 
Heading to the airport now.
Traffic in Denver is backed up like crazy. But it's ok.
"A" picked me up early so that we could grab a bite to eat so we have time. She's not worried that this almost stand still traffic will make us late.
I am such a worrier. "Blah".
I will keep posting on the blog while I am gone. Keep checking back for updates.

New Book Update

Well... "This Girls Journey" is coming along very nicely. I have been able to write almost everyday these past couple weeks. I am proud to say that I am at 23k words!!! How exciting is that!?
My goal is to finish this book by September and have it sent out to Beta Readers. Then to have it edited and put up on Amazon by end of October.

I am finding that this story is just writing itself in areas. Some I am struggling emotionally with but it is supposed to be that way. I want these characters to be true to themselves and to draw on the emotions of the reader. I hope that it is working out that way. I am becoming very attached to the main character and her life story. The struggles that she goes through and the feelings that she is dealing with are relatable. It's hard not to get invested in her life.

If you haven't heard about this project, go back to my last blog post. :) 

I hope to post more on what I am working on soon.
TaTa for now.