Vegas - Part 3

OK - we arrived in New York (minus seeing the Statue of Liberty, but I have absolutely no idea where that is in relation to JFK, my geography is soooo rubbish! LOL!). I was last off, which I expected, and I had to go in one of the airport wheelchairs - which was very uncomfortable. We were wheeled through to Baggage reclaim - and waited, and waited and waited, and I started to panic as neither mine or Janette's luggage seemed to be there! Eventually, Janette's appeared and FINALLY - mine. Nightmare over - not!

We then were taken to Customs, the first fellow we saw looked bored out of his mind, he checked our passports, took our thumb prints, and I think he took an eye thing - well, he certainly pointed in the direction of my face, but I'm not sure!

Went on to go through security. Now, I know that it has to be done, but there are ways and ways of doing it. I was surrounded by three people, one of them with his arms folded, legs astride looking down at me with a stare. I decided not to do any eye contact whatsover (what, me, submissive?!). It was horrible. My shoes were taken off me, and then I was briefly helped, before she left me to my own devices. She swabbed my wheelchair and I slightly panicked as I saw a black dot on it and thought 'oh (sugar), something's come into contact with it!' but it came back OK. It didn't last ages, but it felt like it, and I have never felt so threatened in my life! I really don't think I needed three people watching over me.

The guy who was pushing me kept saying as he was pushing me that British people were very nice - nothing like being subtle about getting a tip!

Anyway, FLED from customs to go to the loo and get something to eat - our first attempt at passing on money - went well, I only had a bag of pretzels and a drink. We then decided to get to our departure lounge, only to find it had changed, so we had to get to another one, not so far away. Weren't quite sure which part of the lounge as it was big, so two of us went to find out whether we were in the right place. And then waited......................

Janette and I went near the front as we needed the 'helpers' to see us so we could get on first, I was expecting a slope like before, but it was a bit different!

Lots of people milled around, and then eventually some people came to board us - or so we thought. There seemed to be a lot of confusion, and so there was - the plane was overbooked.
We watched as confusion reigned, people would go away, come back, go away again, with the minimum of explanation. Eventually an announcement went up that the plane was overbooked and that $400 would be offered if people would change flights. We kept well out of it!

Eventually this vehicle arrived at the gate, a bus thing that could attach itself to the plane. We were allowed on and waited whilst it filled up. We saw some of the people we'd come with get on, but not others. We later found out that they had not got paperwork, apparently, so they couldn't be allowed on the plane. However, I've since heard that, miraculously, as soon as the gate closed, the paperwork was 'found'. They had to wait for another flight, to Atlanta (which I'm sure is very nice, LOL!), and then wait for a connection to Vegas - and missed about a day of their holiday.

Anyway, eventually this 'thing' moved to the aircraft, it was absolutely crammed full of people, but I was let on first. Got on, got to my seat, and was told I could sit in the window seat as it would be easier for the people next to me. I wish!

This woman eventually came along, told me I was in her seat, I tried to tell her that the flight crew had put me there, she told me I was a mean person for sitting in someone else's seat, and to MOVE! So, I did, or at least I tried. She then changed her mind, told me to go back, and sat down next to me. The next few hours were a nightmare - everytime I moved, or coughed (which I did quite a lot because of the air), she glared at me. She sat next to another woman and talked to her all the time in some Asian language, occasionally glaring at me. I spent most of the time looking out of the window, trying not to cry. I hated it. The only thing I liked about that flight was the lightning storm over Arizona, and the fact that the flight attendant came along, asked us what we'd like to drink and then handed me a coke, which I took, and then spilt hers all over her coat!

She kicked up such a fuss, wanted it dry cleaned there and then - hmm, at 35,000 feet, I don't think so! She then was pacified with a dry cleaning voucher, but it didn't need dry cleaning, it was just a cheap coat. She then spent the rest of the flight trying to wipe the seat down, and I actually didn't realise until I got out of the plane that some of it had gone down me as well, but - it dried. As soon as the plane came to a halt, she stood up and left. My parting shot - see you, wouldn't want to be you!

We were helped through the airport, I was tickled to see the slot machines in arrivals - nothing like starting as soon as you get there, LOL! We had to wait for our luggage again - the carousel seemed to be a bit jittery. Met Sheridan - really lovely to see her again, we were two hours late, so she'd been waiting a long time! The shuttle wasn't working so we had to get a cab, we got a Handi-cab - brilliant, I wheeled up the back up a ramp (with Sheridan's help, not the cab driver!), and slotted myself in, and the luggage went in the front and back. We asked to get to the hotel the quickest way and he got us there quickly. We really noticed the heat as we came out of the airport - phew! Well, had to get used to it........