Autumn In Minnesota

Aside from the whole lost luggage issue on my trip home, I had an amazing time. The trees were in the process of changing colors and it was simply gorgeous.



The weekend was jam packed and on one of our trips out we hit up the apple orchards. I love going to the orchards because it brings back great memories from when I was a kid. We picked up a bunch of apples (yumm!), some apple cider & these pumpkins. Believe it or not, we carved these ourselves! Pretty impressive, huh?

On Saturday night we had a bunch of family members over to play games and I kicked butt playing NERTZ. We had a blast and I think that half of that was due to watching my dad get frustrated when he couldn't win.

A very nice treat was when my mom surprised me with a 1 hour massage. She knows what a fan I am of a good massage and it was just what I needed to really get relaxed.

I also spent a lot of time just enjoying the fall colors. On one of my trips out on the quad I ran across a field that was covered with bright yellow wildflowers. Thankfully, I took the time to stop and just watch in amazement the beauty of a million wildflowers dancing in the breeze.

Here is one last fall photo for you of a little park that is near my grandmothers nursing home. Seriously, how cute is that?!

US Air - How I Hate Thee

Let me count the ways...

I flew into Minneapolis/St. Paul on Friday night but instead of coming with me; my bag went to Kansas City. When I realized that my bag was not coming down the belt I went to file a claim for delayed luggage. After all, a bag that looks like this is not hard to miss:

So I asked for money to buy a toothbrush, etc. but my request was denied. Instead I got this:

I nearly laughed in her face and asked her if she was joking when she laid it on the counter. To my dismay she was not kidding and sent me on my way. I was told that they do not issue money for clothes until the second day of a lost bag. Even then you only get a $25 allowance - do these people realize how unrealistic that is? Trying to suppress my anger, I left confident that I would get my bag the next day.

On Saturday I called the claims 800 number and discovered that the agent who filed my claim has messed up all of my contact information - wrong cell number, home number and address of where I was staying in Minnesota. The agent on the phone and I updated everything and I was asked to call back because they didn't know where the bag was - seriously - it could be anywhere in the U.S.

So on my second call I get a hold of an agent who told me that the bag arrived from Kansas City and that someone ("we don't know who" were the exact words) would deliver my bag by 9pm. No such luck. I called back at 9.30 and was assured that another company picked it up and it was on the way and was guaranteed to arrive by midnight. Again, no bag. I'm pissed and I'm tired of wearing my moms clothes (I had NO time to shop).

On Sunday morning I was able to contact someone at the airport. The agent explains that they had the bag and that it had never gone out for delivery the prior day. At this point I am furious. The company that the agent on the phone told me about DOES NOT EXIST and he flat out LIED to me. What the hell!?! The cherry on top was the fact there was NO record of my previous phone calls from Saturday. Argh...

When it was all said and done I got my bag on Sunday night (just in time for me to fly home basically). Not to mention that when the bag finally arrived it was filthy. It was worse than my previous suitcase that had seen foreign countries and nearly all of the United States. I understand that bags get dirty but this was just ridiculous.

So, US Air will be getting an unpleasant letter from me this week...

I failed to mention that I had used a travel voucher from a previous flight that they screwed up on. They cancelled my flight to LAX and left me stranded in Phoenix for a night.

Way to go US Air/America West - you're currently at 100% error rate. Congratulations!