I set my alarm to get up in time to shower, get breakfast in the lobby at 7:00, and then head to the Burbank airport to hopefully sort out our return flight.  Amanda was already up and decided to accompany me.  The drive to the airport was only 10 minutes from our hotel and on a Saturday morning there wasn’t much traffic.  We got to the airport only to find no one at the JetBlue counter.  I inquired of another airline attendant and was informed that there usually isn’t someone there until 2 hours before a flight, but that I could call airport operations (yes, using the white courtesy phone) and ask them to page someone in case they might be somewhere else in the building.  I did so, but no one came, so we returned to the hotel.  I made a last stab at JetBlue by trying their online chat.  Still no change, but I was told that we could make a “same day” change to our reservation.  I said “same day” doesn’t do us much good if our flight leaves at 12:55am as we will already be at the airport and behind security by midnight!  “Unless,” I said, “‘same day’ means ‘within 24 hours’.”  She said that is what it means, and so I will set my alarm for 1:00am tonight and try one last time to get our flight changed.  

We headed down to Long Beach to meet up with Kevin and Ethan, Amanda’s step-brother.  We had lunch at Lucille’s followed by some browsing at the nearby Barnes & Noble.  After that we left Kevin and Ethan and continued on to Huntington Beach where we joined my cousin Alan Rowlson for drinks and conversation.  Alan is my first cousin once removed—a member of my parents’ generation.  We left Alan and headed to the home of Jane and John.  Jane is Alan’s ex-wife and mother to Jason, my second cousin.  We enjoyed their company along with Jason and his wife, Linda, and their children, Rex and Lucy.  Jane, a Peru, NY native, made us Michigans!

We then headed back to Glendale—a trip that took far longer than it should because, well, this is L.A.!  I said it the first time I was ever here and it’s still true: If New York is the city that never sleeps, L.A. is the city that never gets where it’s going.  Amanda joined her Dad to go see a movie while I stayed in our hotel room to relax, feeling a little drained.  As I type this it is after 1:00am and I am waiting in the online chat with JetBlue to see if we can get our flight rescheduled.

UPDATE: We’ll, the alternate flight we wanted is now sold out.  The only other option is flying from a different airport (ONT) overnight Monday into Tuesday and enduring an 8-hour layover at JFK.  That and arranging to drop the rental car off at a different location than where we picked it up.

Vacations are great.  Traveling sucks.