Paul's Diary

return to home

Day One: Anywhere But Milwaukee

If anything we are going to learn flexibility and resilience on this trip. The plane was delayed out of Milwaukee. We just caught a connection in Denver, with some quick talking and white lies from me, and ended up in San Fran. The original plane was delayed getting from Chicago to Milwaukee due to weather problems in Chicago.

While this is not meant to be a Blog, I do want to say how poor the service from United was. Milwaukee was understaffed, the people on the phone were just rude, the communications to the passengers were terrible. Weather delays are always a risk and you take your chances but to be treated poorly by multiple people is just not acceptable. To top it off when we got to Sa n Fran airport I asked a gate agent if the plane to Sydney had in fact left (it had) and could se help us with confirming our seats for the next day's fight. She said we needed to talk to the customer service agents at the front desk. So off we went to find out that the desk service closed at 11pm. The bloody lady knew that she just didn't want to have to deal with us as it was at the end of her shift. The person who helped us the best was an employee for another airline - United Express - he actually cared.

We found a room at the airport Red Roof Inn. We got into bed about 3:30am Milwaukee time - 1:30am San Fran time.

Day Two: An Unplanned Adventure

We slept till about 9am, watched the last of the USA -Ghana World Cup match, had breakfast in the hotel and headed downtown. We left our carry-on bags at the hotel so we only needed to take one backpack for the day. We did have a fresh change of clothes which was lucky. However, I only had my dress shoes, so I did look like a dag. Even the homeless had more fashion sense than I did!

We caught the BART train downtown. It was a free day for public transport. We finally got some luck. And saved about $80 on the train, electric tram and cable car. We caught the historic electric tram to Fisherman's wharf. First course order was to buy a boat tour to either Alcatraz or the Harbor. It looked like Alcatraz tickets were still available, but just as Tif got to the front of the line they sold out for the day. A close second was to find a pub to watch the Australia-Croatia World Cup soccer match.

We ended up at Hooters to watch the second half. It was a nail biter. All we needed was a draw to go through to Round 2. It was 1-1 at the half and then our goalie made a meal of a save and Croatia was in front. After many attempts Harry Kewel put away the equalizer. It was a great game. If we had made the flight to Sydney we would have missed it.

It was now time for the cruise. It did the cruise back in 1987 and they are still using the same audio tape. It is a majestic bay and to see the Golden Gate bridge and Alcatraz up close was excellent.  A quick walk around Pier 39 and we headed to the Cable Car stop. We waited for about 90 minutes to get on. Luckily, we were the first ones in the queue for the next car so we had the pick of the seats. It really is a great ride and a lot of fun to hang off the side of a trolley. An old lady jumped on and then off our moving car - not a good idea - but she lives to try the same feat another day.

After some courage Heather also stood up next to me and was the first person standing as the car move down some pretty steep hills. It was then back to the airport and into the United system again.

My EA had called to confirm our tickets and seating arrangements. When we arrive only one person was working to check-in with 10 people in line. Plus, now we didn't have seats and we had 4 middle seats spread over the entire plane. But at least we had seats. A quick run back to the hotel to get our bags and we were ready for the big trip. We eventually got 4 seats closer together and it could have been much worse.

For an unplanned day it was a good way to start the trip. It was a bonus to see San Fran. It really is one of America's great cities. Most kids in Milwaukee would love to go to San Fran for the day -  and for us it was an inconvenience!

Day Three: Once  Doctor, Always a Doctor

Four hours into the flight the dreaded announcement came: "Is there a Medical Doctor on board". Tif was asleep so I waited awhile. It sounded like someone else volunteered but I asked the steward if they still needed someone. They did. So Tif was called into action. For a while she thought we may have to stop in Hawaii, but it was not life threatening. She had to complete all the paperwork, but United had to make the final call. I took it as a sign that she really is meant to be a Doctor.

It really is hard to get good sleep on a plane. But the kids slept well and I think Tif did as well. I think I got enough naps to feel OK tomorrow...but gee my neck is sore.

Day Four: Will We Ever Make Sydney!

Two hours out of Sydney they made an announcement that the Sydney Airport was closed due to fog and that we would be diverted to Brisbane. So we touched down in Brisbane, refueled, and waited on the tarmac for an hour. What did I say about resilience! We are now about 25 minutes out of Sydney and we may make it after all. The kids have been great and really gone with the flow.