Traveling With My Guitar - Part 2

spinland
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Dec 31, 2016 10:12 am
Status: Offline

Sat Aug 01, 2009 2:50 pm

Hi Gang,

Today is Saturday and I am embarking on the 2nd half of the adventure. Right now I am sitting in the Sioux Falls airport, having moved to an earlier flight on a different airlines, Northwest.

The first difference in a small town airport is how friendly and helpful everybody is. I just booked the flight this morning and figured I try the same approach. I asked the agent who was helping us at the kiosk if I could carry the guitar on board. He said, "I certainly would."

Now, this is a short flight with not many passengers on its way to Minneapolis where we connect with a packed flight to San Francisco. We don't even have assigned seats on that flight yet.

In any case, so far so good. I will try to check in from Minneapolis but I think it's a quick turnover. i just hope I can sweet talk somebody into finding room in the cabin.

Stay tuned...

Neil


haoli25
Posts: 0
Joined: Thu Mar 12, 2009 7:06 am
Status: Offline

Sat Aug 01, 2009 3:20 pm

I will keep my fingers crossed for you, the family, and the Claxton to all make it
back to SF in the same condition when you left.


AndyT
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 2:06 am
Status: Offline

Sat Aug 01, 2009 5:31 pm

My prayers for you Neil.


AndyT
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 2:06 am
Status: Offline

Sat Aug 01, 2009 11:42 pm

It is now about 9:00 PM and I am back at home with a really anti-climactic story, which means good news.

I mentioned that for as empty as the short flight to Minneapolis was, the flight to SF was overbooked and we didn't have seats yet. The agent in Sioux Falls thought he could get us exit row seats but it turned out he couldn't. He said we would be at the mercy of the agents in Minneapolis. He did say there were plenty of seats in first class but the upgrade was a lot of money.

Lizzie pointed out that her sister had been on a first class flight once and that if I really loved her I would spring for it... Funny kid.

We arrived at the gate only to be told that they weren't ready to assign us seats but they would call us when they could. Lizzie decided to head off to Starbucks for some tea and a snack. A few minutes later, as I was catching up with one of my TG cohorts about recent developments, they called me up and handed me new boarding passes. Without looking at them I asked again about exit row seats and that I had a big carry on. I probably mentioned that the guitar is in a Calton case, which is big and heavy, as well as a padded bag from the Colorado Case Company. The bag is mostly to protect the nice case from being scratched- something that I still occasionally scratch my head over.

The agent must have seen me walk away from the counter earlier because she said, "I know, I moved you two into first class, where there will be plenty of room."

I was a little stunned with this great stroke of fortune. Not only would the guitar be fine, but Lizzie might think I loved her as much as her siblings! Needless to say she was thrilled. I never did get around to telling her that the upgrade was probably just a karmic coincidence and I don't think we ever need to go there. As it is, I should be able to parlay this into a few months of good behavior... Dream on dad.

So as uneventful as it turned out, I certainly feel a great sense of relief being home with the guitar. I wonder what the ratio of good stories to horror stories in the traveling with a guitar series might be. Somehow I think the horror stories always get a lot of press and the good ones don't. As a matter of fact, I saw 2 or 3 other guitars on board and I certainly would like to commend and thank Northwest Airlines for a job well done.

Until the next adventure-

Stay tuned and in touch,

Neil


Chasplaya
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Sep 20, 2008 8:41 pm
Status: Offline

Sun Aug 02, 2009 1:27 am

Good story Neil and now in keeping with the theme whens the song and tube video coming out!


haoli25
Posts: 0
Joined: Thu Mar 12, 2009 7:06 am
Status: Offline

Sun Aug 02, 2009 6:59 am

Good one Chas! :laugh:


BigBear
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 11:02 am
Status: Offline

Sun Aug 02, 2009 11:40 am

But Neil, for all that consternation did you find any time to actually practice? :lol:


BigBear
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 11:02 am
Status: Offline

Sun Aug 02, 2009 1:47 pm

As a matter of fact, I did. Even shot a video for you guys on the "modern song by a female artist." Might be up today or tomorrow.

I also got a chance to start reviewing songs for a concert I will be doing in November with Keola Beamer. More details on that later.

Neil


Post Reply Previous topicNext topic