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HELL TRIP 3/10-3/15

 
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Mammothgambler



Joined: 25 Dec 2005
Posts: 619

PostPosted: Mar Sun 18, 2007 1:33 am    Post subject: HELL TRIP 3/10-3/15 Reply with quote

Hi everyone,

Well, this one really turned out to be a doozie...seems like every trip out to the Reno/Tahoe area holds a certain degree of adventure with me...

I started out leaving from Orlando on Saturday, March 10 which also happened to be my birthday. My original intention was to leave the day before and stay at the Peppermill that night, but unfortunately, I had to get finished with the press check at my surf magazine first, 3 hours up the road in Jacksonville, which can usually last anywhere from 12-38 hours (if I'm lucky). As the days grew closer to it, unfortunately all the flights to Reno on Fri. night from Jacksonville were either booked or were $1400, some with massive layovers. So, I decided to wait until the next morning and leave from Orlando. Good call, because the press check didn't end until 3 am that day and my flight left at 6 am. The good thing was that I was able to use my Dividend Miles with US Airways and paid a whole whopping $10 for a next day round trip. Definitely no complaints on that.

My itinerary out there seemed simple enough: Orlando to Phoenix, Phoenix to Reno. However, as soon as I got to Phoenix it was pure madness. US Airways is having alot of problems with their computer system and you wouldn't believe how many people are suffering as a result. What started out as a 2 hour layover turned into a 6 hour layover as the Phoenix to Reno flight was cancelled. One person told me it was mechanical problems, the second person didn't know, and the third person told me that the reservations system is all loused up. I believed the third person - Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix was packed to the hilt with people waiting on replacement cancelled flights. I was talking to one poor lady from Boston en route to Tahoe and she had been traveling for SIX DAYS trying to get there! So, instead of getting to Reno at 3 pm, I didn't arrive until after 8. I was waiting in line at Alamo Rent A Car and it dawned on me that I needed to jump on the internet to transfer some money to my bank account, but low and behold, there are no internet terminals at the Reno/Tahoe airport, only WiFi spots (and I don't have a laptop)! The old man in the visitor's center in the airport was being a real a$$hole and wouldn't let me use his terminal which is normally available to the public ("they belong to the city, and the city is closed on weekends," he said. Whatever!) So, I wound up jumping on the shuttle bus for the Sands and went downtown to a new internet cafe called Electronic Espresso. It is on West 3rd Street I believe and it's a really nice place. When I called for directions, the guy couldn't believe that there were no internet terminals at the airport! When I got there he gave me a free session which was cool. Check it out if you're ever downtown - he's getting a full liquor bar in there soon and only charges $1.75 for 30 minutes of internet usage which beats the hell out of 69 cents per minute they usually charge at most airports. Then it was back to the Sands and back to the airport. By this time, it was close to 10 pm. Mammoth Mountain got a 4 foot storm a couple of weeks back and the place has been going off, so I was really anxious to get there. After a quick stop at the In N Out Burger on Hwy. 395, I was finally on my way (remember, here on the east coast, we don't have In N Out, Del Taco, Jack In The Box, and El Pollo Loco, so that's why I love going to Reno!)

I arrived in Mammoth Lakes around 12:45 am and was greeted by my friends who are bartenders at this really cool bar there. To my surprise, they had the little back room roped off and there was a party going on in honor of my birthday. That was cool! Since I got there so late, we didn't roll out of there until, oh, around 5 am. Knowing bar owners/bartenders has its benefits and we were able to pull it off without any hassles from the cops.

The next 3 days were full of sun and completely awesome conditions. A few inches of new snow on the second day and not a patch of ice anywhere. This may come as a shocker, but I applied for a web manager job while I was there that I had found out about a couple of weeks ago. Triple the pay and about 1/16 of the workload in comparison to what I'm doing now. I'm trying not to jinx it and am hoping for the best, so everyone wish me luck, and don't be surprised if my new location is in Mammoth Lakes soon! It went extremely well and I'll know something soon. On top of having a wicked sunburn with goggle marks all over my face, I accidentally hit a rock on my last run, went over the edge of a cat track, fell about 10 feet, and landed right on a tree stump! Blood everywhere and half an hour later I had to get 16 stitches in my left butt cheek. Oh well, it was worth it and I'd do it all again, it's all part of being a snowboarder. Worse things have happened over the years!

After all that, it was back to the airport for more madness. My itinerary back was once again simple enough: Reno to Las Vegas, Las Vegas to Orlando. Guess what? US Airways cancelled the flight from Reno to Las Vegas. I was told the next one wouldn't go out until 6 am the next morning. US Airways sucks! So, I jumped on the phone and called The Peppermill but was unfortunately notified that they were booked for the rest of the week (and this was when I called VIP! They must really be busy!) So, I tried the Sands Regency next. Fortunately, they had a few rooms left and I was able to use a Winter offer that I had gotten from them a few months back. I got a room in the Empress Tower for $29. The Sands hasn't really changed much since Terrible's bought it. I noticed they have a couple of new restaurants since my last visit, Fuzio and The Sombrero. Tony Roma's is gone. Their comedy club is now called The Funny Bone. They have an updated Beach Bonus Club players card program with a new look, and I found out that soon they will have it arranged where you can redeem points gathered at any Terrible's property (including Rail City and that RV park in addition to the properties in Las Vegas, Henderson, etc.) so I think that alot of people will be happy about that. I hit up Arby's for a few roast beef sandwiches, went to my room and passed out. Didn't gamble a cent my whole time in Reno...strange!

Next morning, I was up at 4 am to go back to the airport. Since the shuttle at the Sands wasn't operating yet, I had to take a cab. The cab driver was very annoying, telling his life story about how bad the world was, not something you want to put up with at 4 am, especially with 16 stitches in your butt! When I got to the airport, I couldn't believe how slammed it was for being 4:30 am. Someone told me that TSA passed another law a few weeks ago basically saying they can do anything they want, which could also be why the airports are such hell right now. The security checkpoint was a joke. We all had to wait about 20 minutes in the security checkpoint line for this Indian man to pull all of his stuff out of his luggage because he couldn't find his passport. I was literally the last one on the plane, but I made it!

Since I had been re-routed due to the cancellation, I had to go through Phoenix again. When I arrived, guess what? I found out that Phoenix to Philadelphia and Philadelphia to Orlando were also cancelled for the day! They had several sold-out and overbooked flights, so they couldn't do anything for me until the next evening. By this time, I'm ready to kill them all. But there was another problem arising...over the past few days, I had a total of 3 rental car transactions which meant that about $600 in authorization holds were still waiting to be released to my bank account. So, for the next 17 hours, I was camped out next to an ATM machine with $1 in my pocket, swiping my card every 1/2 hour until some funds finally came in. Along the way, I learned that Arizona has Indian Casinos everywhere! I was contemplating trying out Fort McDowell, the closest one to the airport, but I decided against it. At that point, I didn't think I was ever going to get home.

Since Phoenix is a very expensive place, it took a while to find a motel, but I was able to finally find something right in the middle of the ghetto a couple of miles away from the airport for under $50. Next morning at 4 am, it was back to the airport. To this very minute, I'm STILL sitting next to that ATM machine swiping my card! The flight to Philadelphia was very slow. When I got there, I was notified of yet ANOTHER cancellation from Philadelphia to Orlando. Ridiculous! 5 hours later, I was on the next available flight to Orlando. Could it get any worse? Yeah...I got stuck in front of this family of 5 who were going to Disney World. Mom and Dad didn't know how to control their three young children who were kicking seats the whole entire time, pulling people's hair, screaming at the top of their lungs at every little thing that moved, spitting at people, you get the idea. The captain couldn't even get through to them, they literally had the run of the whole plane it seemed! When the plane finally touched down in Orlando, as bad is this sounds, I passed those kids, leaned over into their aisle and said, "Hey kids, guess what? MICKEY MOUSE JUST CALLED ME AND HE HATES YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Half the plane started clapping and hooting loudly.

OK so I'm finally back home, almost. Alamo, Avis, Budget and Hertz, basically the whole Orlando International Airport, was completely sold out of rental cars! Even those with reservations were getting denied. So, I had to settle for the worst...a $150 cab ride back home to Indialantic! I finally got in at 4 am Friday morning, passed out for a few hours, and went to work. I just woke up a few hours ago and checked the board so I decided to go ahead and put in "My Hell Trip Report."

So that's it! Sorry for the length, this was supposed to be a short one (I think my medication finally started kicking in!) A total of 5 cancelled flights over what's normally a simple round trip. No wins, no losses, no gambling. 16 stitches in the butt. $400 bucks blown on motels and cab rides. Almost 48 hours just to get home. That was about it for this trip! Everyone, don't fly unless you need to! And avoid US Airways at all costs for the time being...there is something definitely wrong with their computers and I am in the process of sending in all my receipts as I've been told they are compensating me and giving me all of my Dividend Miles back. I was able to get some more photos in Mammoth, so I'll post those along with my video clips from my last trip soon. John, sorry we didn't get a chance to meet up once again, and Alison, sorry I didn't get to take any pics at the Pep for you. If all goes well with that job in Mammoth, I'll be back soon, maybe with a U-Haul even!

And remember: MICKEY MOUSE JUST CALLED ME AND HE HATES YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (just kidding...)

floridagambler
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john
Site Admin


Joined: 17 Dec 2005
Posts: 1181

PostPosted: Mar Sun 18, 2007 4:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

FG, Mickey never did like me. Something to do with a mousetrap incident a few years back.
Sorry to hear about all the hassles and stiches, but (pun intended) good to hear about the fine conditions in Tahoe. I was wondering when you were going to call - waited by the phone for days (kidding!).
Good luck on your webmaster job. Who is offering it? I might give it a shot myself. Sly
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alison



Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 1150

PostPosted: Mar Mon 19, 2007 8:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow! Trip from Hell is definetely an appropriate title for it. I am so sorry to hear about all your flight issues. And the stitches in yout butt. OUCH!You need a break! I certainly hope the next trip will be better for you. You definetely deserve it.
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stan_allen



Joined: 19 Dec 2005
Posts: 1129

PostPosted: Mar Mon 19, 2007 9:38 am    Post subject: B&B, R&R, R&B Reply with quote

FloridaGambler, your trip reports are invariably fascinating, but they never sound particularly restful.
Sometime, you should try a vacation where you get to actually relax!
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Ryder



Joined: 05 Feb 2006
Posts: 222

PostPosted: Mar Mon 19, 2007 7:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good Luck on the web manager position at Mammoth.

We all get free lift tickets if you get the job! Correct?

Sorry to hear about your trip from hell, but I must admit I enjoyed reading your trials and tribulations through it all
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Mammothgambler



Joined: 25 Dec 2005
Posts: 619

PostPosted: Mar Mon 19, 2007 9:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks everybody,

John, the position is with Mammoth Mountain Ski & Snowboard Resort. Mammoth is owned by this huge company called Intrawest that ironically also owns Whistler Blackcomb, Squaw Valley, about 20 other mountain resorts, in addition to beach property here in Florida, Mexico, Hawaii, etc. Really into the real estate thing too. The location is prime, 3 hours from Reno, 3 hours from Tahoe, 5 hours from Vegas, and about 2-3 hours from the ocean. If you apply, please tell 'em that the surfer dude in Florida that applied last week really needs a hookup! (I've been without an assistant for about 18 months in some way shape or form, my brain is shot...even though it is a surfing magazine, my ulcers are starting to come back...)

Stan, yeah, I've had some wild ones haven't I? "Relaxation" really isn't part of my vocabulary (unless I'm surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, bunjee jumping, gambling and/or bar-hopping). But ONLY in Reno and Tahoe does this strange stuff happen. Maybe it's a sign? I'd never stop going back though, too many adventures...

Ryder, yeah, free lift tickets, food, golf, mountain bikes, lodging, and free liquor and beer too (my friends there own a bar!)

Anyway the best part of it all that I forgot to mention was: I finally found out where Shooter's is! I passed it coming back from the internet cafe. It's right next to McDonalds a few blocks down from the Silver Legacy isn't it? Now I know where I'm going next time...

OK I just uploaded some pictures of the GOOD part of the trip. I was able to hit everything...the terrain out there is so unreal...

check it out,

www.easternsurf.com/site6/index.html

and also here's my 20 seconds of fame in the terrain park (way before the stitches...) It's about 8 megabytes so give it some time to load. Sorry about the country music that was blaring on the loudspeakers...

www.easternsurf.com/snowboard.html

floridagambler
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john
Site Admin


Joined: 17 Dec 2005
Posts: 1181

PostPosted: Mar Tue 20, 2007 5:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey FG, I called Mammoth Mountain Resort, talked to them for about an hour, sent them URLs of some of my sites and got the job! I start the first of next month, so I'm moving up there and closing visitreno.com.

Sure, that's a lie. The last thing I want at this point in my life is a job. Had one before and didn't like it. Besides, snow and I don't get along very well.

Good luck in getting the job, you'd probably enjoy living there.
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JohnTS71



Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 51

PostPosted: Apr Fri 13, 2007 4:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

nice TR
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