Literally Off The Rails

Let me just say that so far, this trip has been the absolute poster child for why I never make plans in advance. BUT, for the first time in my life, I sat down and planned almost every aspect of my month long trip. Where I was going. Where I was staying. The layovers. The pricing. The only thing I half-assed was packing. I did not want to have to haul bags like a pack mule, especially with my limited strength, mobility, and endurance.

How the trip was supposed to go – I board Amtrak in my town. I ride said train to Chicago where I get on another train to cross the northern US border through Minnesota, North Dakota, and then hop off in the mountains of Montana.

Nothing even remotely close to that happened.

Everything has changed so frequently, that it’s been a struggle to keep my social feeds updated in a proper manner. Here’s why.

The day I was to leave on the train, I received word that the entire segment had been canceled due to a service outage. Amtrak advised they had no solution for me. The entire line the train served was canceled. My only option was to get to Cleveland. From there, I could take Amtrak to Chicago. My fiancé said she would drive me to Cleveland, but that was unacceptable to me. This trip is mine to deal with come hell or high water. I also did not want her driving 4 hours back by herself in a car with 200k miles on it.

I decided to rent a car one way to Cleveland. I booked it online. Their policy said they accepted debit cards. I do not carry credit cards so it’s debit or cash only for me. The next day I go to the airport to pick up the car. I am told I cannot have it unless I have a flight itinerary showing a matching city. I was also unable to be added as a secondary driver as their policy still required a credit card for anyone who drove the car.

I found another car company that advertised they accepted debit cards. The problem with them was that I had to book 24 hours in advance and submit to a credit check. Well, I needed the car that day so my laughable credit score didn’t even come into play. A rental car was no longer viable.

Next option. Skip Cleveland and fly into Chicago. Flying would close the time gap created by the first train segment being canceled and the time it took me to find another way up. I eventually booked a flight from an airport an hour away in order to save about half the fare and have more options to pick from. I found a flight that would get me there in time, but had a miserable 8 hour layover. At this level of shitshow, what’s one more thing to contend with? Flight booked. Fiancé agreed to take me to the airport. That was my compromise with allowing her to help instead of continuing to grind myself into the dirt.

The next morning, we woke up at 4am and got out the door by 4:30. By around 5:30 we were at the airport and unloading my bags. My flight boarded at 7:15 so I had plenty of time. The airport is almost never busy. I checked in, got through security and sat in the terminal waiting to board. Good news. All the metal upgrades in my body did not set off any alarms. Small victory.

At 7:15, a voice came over the PA and announced the plane had been tagged for maintenance the night before, but the service had not been performed. It would be a minimal 3 hour delay. While an inconvenience, I still had plenty of time as my train in Chicago did not leave until 3:05pm. Three hour delay plus two hour flight still allowed a three hour window.

About 90 minutes later, the same voice shared the news. The necessary crew had to be flown in from Nashville and once there, would be required to rest before working on the plane. New delay was 8 hours. That was a problem. A rather large, unavoidable one. I stood in line for about half an hour waiting to see what choices I had, if any. All options were reviewed, to include seating me on a different carrier. Nothing that day would get me to Chicago on time. The nice lady behind the counter asked where my final destination was and suggested that maybe they could fly me all the way there. When I told her it was Whitefish, Montana, she advised that because of the connections it would require versus what I had paid for, I would be better served by calling United directly and working with them. She said could call for me, but as a customer, I’d have more sway to cover the full trip to Whitefish. I thanked her, collected my backpack and headed back out to the main concourse to call.

To my delight, the person at the United call center handled my situation and booked a flight for me the next morning all the way to Montana. I would return to the airport first thing in the morning, fly to Chicago, then fly to Kalispell, Montana. I didn’t want to call my girl to drive all the way back, but it was the logical thing to do since I would need to get a room and Uber if I stayed in the area -an unnecessary expense. Being the person she is, she gladly drove the hour back to retrieve me… Just so she could wake up at the ass-crack of dawn the very next morning and do it all again.

The positive outcome from this was that I would get to Montana early the next morning so I would have an extra day there. I logged back into my booking.com itinerary and found a room for one night. The excitement for an additional day outweighed the disappointment of missing the train. What this series of events also did was allow me to add 2 new cities to my trip because of the previous cancelled segments.

Fast forward to 4:30am the next morning and we are headed back to the airport. Back through security. Back to the same gate I sat at for hours the previous day. 30 minutes before the flight was set to board, a heavy rain and lightning storm rolled over the airport. That ominous voice came over the PA to advise everyone that the flight would be delayed due to the severe weather. The same lady I spoke with the previous day assured me that my connecting flight remained safe and we were still a go.

Maybe 45 minutes later, that same lady actually walked to where I was seated and presented the news – Due to the extended delay the storm presented, I would not have time to make it to my connecting flight in Chicago. I was asked if being routed through Denver would be an acceptable substitute. I told her whatever it took to get me to Montana would be approved. At that point, I would’ve accepted a dog sled team. She made the changes then I just waited till the storm front passed. The plane departed and about 2 hours later, we landed in Chicago. Two more hours and I was on my way to Denver. Then 2 hours in Denver and I boarded the plane for the final 2 hours into Kalispell, Montana. I had to Uber from Kalispell to Whitefish. By the time I arrived at the hotel, it was 10:30pm. The extra day I was hoping for was spent just trying to get there. All I got to do was pay a lot of money just for a place to sleep.

It has taken 2 days, 2 canceled Amtrak segments, 2 failed car rental attempts, a flight delay, flight cancelation, flight re-booking, another flight delay, then re-routing to get me here. But at least I’m here…