It’s getting closer. We are almost a month away. For some of us, it is less than a month away that we will be leaving to make our way out there.
I realize that things unfortunately are getting a bit “iffy” due to the pipeline and the price of gas increasing. I get the idea from past discussions that some of you have RV’s and old trucks that probably guzzle gas.
Hopefully, most of us can still make it. Realistically, things can change so fast. We do not know what we will be hit with next.
So meeting at a restaurant for a lingering meal seems like the best option.
If the state of the world takes a dramatic turn for the better in the next couple of weeks and someone wants attend to this and make last minute plans, I can tell you that I have at many times in my life made last minute travel plans and used Hotwire, Priceline, Travelocity, etc. to book package deals to places (mostly back East) consisting of airfare, hotel, and rental car. It turns out, the prices were perhaps only a hundred bucks or so higher at times than if I had driven my own car and stayed at a hotel.
I never had a bad experience with the flights, car rental, or hotel. The closest I came to a bad experience was having a car rental place full of incompetents not be able to process me out of the airport for over an hour after the flight landed. But all the other people who rented the car by booking directly on the rental agency’s website had the same problem.
One the other hands, there were a couple times I was given a free upgrade because the car I had booked was not available.
The thing to consider is once you book a deal this way it is a done deal. You can’t undo it. Once you click “Accept,” you have reached the point of no return.
I’m still in. I’m assuming that the gas situation down here is temporary and will be resolved within 2 weeks.
The only sticky point I have right now revolves around my back and sciatica. I have never dealt with sciatica before, so it’s a new, painful experience. But I’m getting PT and things seem to be improving, if slowly. I think it will not be a problem by then, but I wanted to throw that out there in case I had to cancel as the dates get nearer.
Is there a place we can all converse? - here is fine for me, but as we get closer, there may be some messaging and such that people want to do prior to, and during the weekend.
Hi CheshireTheCat - I wanted to point this out now as we get closer to the date of the meet-up - I’m dealing with some extreme lower back issues and sciatica, something that I’ve never knowingly experienced before. Anyway, it’s been affecting my sleep to a great extent. Typically, I’m only able to string together 2-3 hours of uninterrupted sleep at a time, and will take naps several times during the day.
Long story short, I’m getting PT for the issues, and there is some progress but it is quite slow. If I don’t have my sleep somewhat sorted out by about Wednesday of this week, I am afraid that I’m going to have to cancel my trip. I don’t really see. myself driving such a distance without getting adequate sleep. I’m already prone to nod off at any time during the day due to sleep deprivation. It would be very risky to be driving 8+ hours a day without getting past that.
I know it’s fairly short notice, and I am really, really interested in this trip, but I don’t want to be a hazard to myself and others on the road, and I don’t want to be a major hindrance to others if I’m dealing with a high level pain day.
I’m going to do a little praying here.