Travel stories, anyone?

[Meadbh]

22nd Annual Travel Hall of Infamy Awards

Come on now, Forum members, I'll bet y'all had some hilarious/frustrating/silly travel experiences last year!

Meadbh

[Peaceful_Warrior]

Oh I have tons of great travel stories... but no truly entertaining ones from last year though I did see U2 in Tokyo, and went to Prague.

In 2001 when I was in London, it was raining and a drunk British woman walked up to me and said, "What the f*ck is that? No seriously. What the F*CK IS THAT?" Turns out she was referring to my umbrella which was obviously not up to British quality given the rains there and I'm from California.

Shortly thereafter, this woman steals my umbrella, puts me in a headlock, and then spins me around in circles in the middle of the street while it's raining! Eventually, she released the headlock, gave me back my "umbrella" and then went on her way.

The best part is, my friend I was with actually got a photograph of that! It's scanned in and saved somewhere on a backup disk. Now only if it had happened last year, right?

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

The We Stand On Guard For Thee Award

To Canadian guards at U.S. border points. After receiving word that an armed murder suspect was heading their way, skittish guards at four of B.C.'s busiest crossings walked off the job. Canadian-bound traffic ground to a halt and the world's longest undefended border was left truly undefended.

I missed my plane because of this little incident. Had to fly the next day.

For some time now, the Canadian border guards have been insisting that they should be armed, too, like their American cousins in the next booths. Armed Canadians?? I am trying to imagine the little 90 lb South Asian girl with a 38 special. (Sorry, but I think they would still walk off the job.)

[sgeeeee]

I don't have any stories to match these this year despite the fact that I did do quite a bit of traveling. Here's a list of places where we spent at least a week during this past year:

Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota
Angeles National Forest, California
Santa Fe National Forest, NM
Comanche National Forest, Colorado Grasslands
Long Beach, California
Shawnee National Forest, Illinois (2 times)
San Antonio, TX
Munich, Germany
Demming, NM (Duck Races)
Lincoln National Forest, NM
China Lakes NWC, California
Montreal, Canada
Anaheim California

oh . . . and I also spent a little bit of time at home in Mesa, AZ.

[Nords]

Originally Posted by Meadbh

Come on now, Forum members, I'll bet y'all had some hilarious/frustrating/silly travel experiences last year!

Sea story time!!

Well, there we were at periscope depth on a dark & stormy night...

Oh, last year. Eh, never mind. Our vacation around Washington, DC & Gettysburg was good, hot, sweaty, but boring family fun.

Awards like this are why we tend to be more interested in watching the video than in having the significant life experience...

[kcowan]

PV - 2 months
San Diego - 1 month
Ontario - cottages (2) and friends in Toronto/Sarnia - 1 month
Coeur d'Alene - 1 week
Oliver Wine Festival - 1 week

Hoping to do Tuscany next fall...

Stories? PV airport overwhelmed by success with substantial new developments north of the city in Najarit. 3 hours lineup to depart.

SD airport a treat by comparison. Toronto airport overwhelmed by 40% increase in checked baggage for increased carry-on security. Had my bag unloaded on unnanounced carousel - only a sharp eye prevented leaving without it.

[HFWR]

First of December, had a flight to Detroit on SWA. Up at 3AM to check web for weather releated delays/closings. No hint on airline site, or on weather channel site. Leave Love Field, fly to STL, circle airport tow or three times, end up in KC...

Turns out STL was closed the PREVIOUS day...

After three hours in a line in KC, catch a flight to Baltimore, wander around airport for two hours, then on to Detroit...

I was lucky; many were stranded that day. Of course, the airline's alibi was it's "weather-releated". Funny, they didn't know the airport in STL was closed??

Bit luckier during Xmas flight to San Diego. Connection in Denver, in the midst of a blizzard. We departed two hours late, at 10:30AM, apparently the last flight out before the airport was closed...

I'm flying south for the winter from now on!!