Trapped in Palm Springs!

You would think that being stuck in Palm Springs for an extra day would be a good thing. But, I beg to differ. It started when we arrived at the airport 2 days ago to find out that the flight had been moved up 2 hours. This fact had not been communicated to us, which was definitely a huge oversight on Westjet's part. We'd missed the plane, and with no more planes leaving that day, we were stuck in Palm Springs for at least one more night. Happens all the time, right?

Did we instantly run back outside and into the glorious 25 degree sunshine of California? Did we lie back and put up our feet under the swaying palm trees and blue skies? OF COURSE NOT! Despite the fact that a workable solution was created after 15 minutes, my parents argued with the poor Westjet ticket agents for over an hour more, trying to convince them that they were in the right. My sister and I sat on the sidelines and tried to keep out of it, but it's hard to watch your parents uselessly arguing over something they can't change. It's hard to watch your dad's already high blood pressure creep up higher and higher until he's red in the face and hyperventilating. I haven't felt that tense for a long time.

Eventually everyone calmed down enough for us to get outta there, but lemme tell you, this last extra day of the trip was no picnic. My mom was angry, my dad felt cheated, and my sister and I were trapped with them in a fleabag motel complete with paper thin walls and the sounds of people having sex on squeaky mattresses. My brother had wisely booked a separate flight earlier in the week, and was likely sitting in a pub surrounded by friends, laughing and drinking beer. I felt like renting a car, driving to the closest major city, and begging them to put me on a flight. San Diego? LA? San Fran? Anywhere but Palm Springs.

We arrived at the airport the next day (New Year's Day) and were told that our flight was delayed by 4 hours. Mechanical problems. In all, it took us over 13 hours to travel the three and a half hours back to Calgary. I have never been so happy to be in Calgary in my life. And I will be doubly happy to be back to MY life in Toronto in one week!