Scribble World Travel Blog

Saving money on the way to the Airport

Step 1: find pet sitter

Step 2: get bus schedule

Step 3: Find ride to bus stop

So far so good. I dropped Chris off in front of Starbucks with all our luggage and drove the van back to our place, then jogged back, arriving in plenty of time to catch our ride. Chris had placed an ad on Craigslist to get to the Tucson Jewish Community Center, where we could catch a bus to the airport and save some money on airport parking. 

Our ride arrived just on time, a U.A. Business student, who for $10 was nice enough to wake up early to give us a lift.  We made it in plenty of time and are waiting at the bus stop now.  Chris is pacing, trying to keep the bugs away.  He thinks it is working. I read somewhere that bugs are attracted to beer. I wonder if that’s true.  I also hear they are attracted to sweat, fruity smells, and people with high cholesterol-of which feet that smell like cheese is a symptom.

Lots of people are out walking. It is comfortably warm, but not yet hot.  Chris keeps talking.  6:49 A.M.

9:26 A.M. Ok-back to waiting some more.  We were the only ones when we first got on the bus. It’s a good thing since we had all our luggage. Pretty soon, the bus was full and some people had to stand.  We got to the airport around 8 and it was only $1/person to take the bus. 

The lines were short, probably because it’s Sunday, so we had time for a leisurely breakfast at Arizona Sports Grill East.  I’m waiting for Chris to finish his paragraph in The Singularity Is Near.  He’s on page 144 of 496-over 600 pages counting all the notes. I wonder how far he’ll get on this 26 day vacation. I would have picked a lighter book.  I brought Turning Life Into Fiction, but I really don’t feel like reading-my eyes are too tired.  It’s so tempting to pull out my pillow and have a siesta.  “Siesta”-that reminds me of Jose, a guy I used to work with.  Jose was always trying to teach me Spanish, “mucho trabajo poco deniro,” he liked to say, always with a smile-(overworked and underpaid).  We’re sitting at Southwest gate A4.  9:37 A.M.

10:22 P.M.  We’re in the LA (LAX) airport now waiting by our gate #41 for our flight to Sydney, which has been delayed supposedly because they are running a test to see what happens if the computers go down and they have to check people in manually.  it took us an hour to check our luggage and receive our hand written boarding passes-and the line behind us was extensive.

Earlier, we took the Hilton Four Points Shuttle to the room Mom & Bruce reserved near the airport.  They checked in at 8 AM and out at 7:30 PM the same day, but had to pay for 2 full days since they didn’t want to wait for the normal check in time, usually after noon.  But at least they got to catch up on some sleep-they had a red eye flight from Anchorage, Alaska to L.A. 

We had lunch at their hotel, the minestroni was fabulous.  Back at the airport, we’ve all finished our Starbucks drinks. I bought 2 bottles of water and was surprised they charge tax on it in addition to the aleady inflated airport prices. 64 cents tax on two bottles of water.  Money won’t go far at these tourist rates.  I look forward to getting to Australia and going to a grocery store. 

So a couple weeks before our trip, my Mom sent us an assignment-to write a bio that we would share with each other on the plane, “not to exceed 20 pages,” she said.  It was rather amusing, therefore, to learn she had not done her own assignment!  Bruce said he completed his-18 pages-I’ll believe it when I see it, wonder what it’s about. I commented mine wasn’t very long-only 3 pages and he said, “Well you’re young,”-as in- haven’t done much yet. Hah! Pooh! Bah humbug to that, but I managed to keep a straight face.  36 completed journals as of last count -I’ve done/thought more than enough to fill a mere 20 pages.  Hopefully my bio will demonstate that while being concise.  Time to board.  The next time we touch ground will be in Sydney, Australia.  10:37 P.M.