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Had a Pleasant Trip

August 9th, 2010 at 05:30 pm

Probably one of our more pleasant travel experiences.

When I went through air security in Sacramento, I forgot to take all my liquids out of my bag, but no one cared.

Denver seemed much more fierce, so as I piled my shoes, jackets, liquids, laptop, and helped the kids with their shoes and jackets, I just thought, "This is RIDICULOUS!" I think we had like 10 bins, and I felt sorry for anyone traveling with infants and formula and diapers and all that jazz. Strollers, carseats, etc.

It's 100 times easier to travel, now that we have past that age.

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Of course, that said, being a little flustered cost us $50. Ouch!

We parked in the economy lot at the airport, which was awesome by the way. The shuttle was pulling up just as we parked, and frankly, we were cutting it a bit close. It took us longer to park than we imagined, and we were totally fine. Just wondered how long we'd have to wait for the shuttle and how long the security lines were. Our flight left in an hour.

So, when we saw the shuttle, we RAN out of the car and boarded the bus. IT wasn't until about an hour later as we were boarding the plane, did we see all these parents with carseats. Dh and I looked at each other. We had forgotten LM's booster seat. Doh! We didn't even realize, in our haste.

Dh felt the logical conclusion was to rent one. I did not think this was a logical conclusion at all. For one, I rented an infant seat once, and I swear they had the thing from the 1970s. My aunt saved the day and let us borrow her more modern/clean carseat. I am not a neat freak by any means, but that thing was disgusting!

So, thinking to that, I told dh, "Well, I didn't rent one in the first place because it was expensive, and probably disgusting to boot."

He was still pretty insistent, when we got to the car rental place. Meanwhile, we had nothing but time, and our GPS to go find a Target or whatever. I said, "Use your judgement. We can buy one for $20, probably."

HE was also telling me he was going to ask the car rental people what the carseat laws were. Rolleyes I regretted not looking them up. I was going to, but dh had insisted we just take it along, so I didn't look anything up. Like I believe whatever they say - they want to charge an arm and a leg for you to rent one.

SO, they tell him $13/day, and he rents the seat. When he tells me this, I am NOT happy at all. 3 days x $13 - $39. I'd rather buy a seat and donate it at the end of the trip. Selling it would be quite possible too.

Dh tells me it's 2 days, and I point out we are paying for 3 days. UGH!

IT gets better. When we drop off the car, they charge us $50. We are peeved, but have to get going. We had enough time to sit and go through it and fight it and whatever, but felt kind of rushed all the same, as the billion people were dropping off their rental cars.

SO, we got to the airport and were eating, and I start looking over the receipt. We had already prepaid and I wasn't thrilled to be charged another $50. I finally found what it was. $39 carseat (told you so, dh) + 25% taxes/fees on it. So came out to about $49. I shot dh the evil eye, but that's the last I will bring it up. What's done is done! He usually has much better judgement. Rolleyes

The irony was the guy at the car rental place told us the kids had to be in booster seats to age 8, and I just rolled my eyes. When we got to the hotel I looked it up, and sure enough, that law had taken into affect just a few days before we arrived! Figures. Not that it mattered much. Old law/new law/our own comfort, we would have gotten LM a carseat, regardless. He just turned 5, and their old law, and our law, is to age 6.

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Anyway, the trip was very nice, so more on that later.

I am relieved today is rather calm. A day to recover.

Though one of my more pleasant traveling experiences, I REALLY missed my bed. Oh, my aching back. I slept like a baby last night, at home.

3 Responses to “Had a Pleasant Trip”

  1. Looking Forward Says:
    1281372652

    Welcome back! I had forgotten your trip was already upon us. Time flies!

  2. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    1281375586

    I didn't even know they made carseats / booster seats big enough for 8 year olds.

  3. MonkeyMama Says:
    1281390532

    Joan - the point is the height. I think a phonebook would suffice. Big Grin It's just a plastic seat to sit on. They easily go up to 100 pounds/over 4.5 feet tall.

    Of course, to be clear, the rule is kids under 8. I don't think I said that right.






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