Deb and I had a week in Canada that was extremely exciting with every day crammed full of memorable activities, beautiful sights and fun happenings... Our days started early and ended late with little time for rest, as the daylight hours were long and there was much to see. (It was already daylight at 5 AM and at 10:30 PM it was still light enough we could take a picture from the hotel window with our cell phone.) But the week of fun and laughter was coming to an end much quicker than we liked.
Saturday morning Deb and I awoke early to have time to load the car, drive from Lake Louise to Canmore, wash the car, and fill it up with gas before unloading our luggage at the airport and returning the car to the rental service.
Unlike the U.S. side the United Airlines in Calgary didn't have Deb check the wheel chair with her luggage. They pushed her to the plane before putting a claim number on her chair and loading it, then they said an attendant would have it ready for her when we landed in Houston.
After approximately a 4 hour flight we landed in Houston and the chair was no where to be found. The workers searched the baggage area of the plane, then searched a second time while discussing what should be done as Deb slowly walked up the long tunnel after she exited the plane.
When Deb and I got to the loading gate a worker on a cart hurriedly rushed us through the airport to reach the gate for our connecting flight, all the while he was yelling, "Beep! Beep!" "Beep! Beep!" as we swerved in and out among the people going in every direction. He then dropped us in a spot and instructed us to wait for a girl to meet us with an airport wheel chair.
After a short wait a girl rushed us up an elevator and to the train, then after a short ride on the train she rushed us to another cart and the man started the "Beep! Beep!" , "Beep! Beep!" again as we rushed to our departure gate and arrived just in time to load with no time to eat or go to the restroom.
Everything was great on the flight from Houston to Memphis and we expected to get there and have someone meet us with Deb's wheelchair. But guess again, it had still not been found, and things had gotten worse.
As we rushed toward baggage to pick up our luggage I saw a moving walkway running and thought it would move us along a little faster, which it did, until we reached the end, where there was a slight rise... (That was the laugh of the year.)
As Deb and the airport wheel chair hit the hump at the end of the walkway they came to a dead stop, but the belt was still moving, and my feet were still on it. It was throwing my feet under her chair. and I was nearly thrown under it too. The only way to prevent it from happening was to run backwards speedily while holding on to the chair.
It wasn't easy to stay on my feet while swiftly running backwards on the walkway and carrying a heavy backpack. (Deb was no help as she sat there giggling.) We were thankful that a security guard saw our dilemma and rushed to our rescue.
We hurried on to the baggage area after escaping a near-tragic incident on the conveyor belt to pick up our luggage. When we couldn't find it, two women from the claims office tried to find it with no luck either, so they gave us a number to call to file the claim, and we left the airport with a United Airlines wheelchair for Deb to use until hers was found.
Deb and I filed a claim about our lost luggage and wheelchair Saturday night and were informed that the luggage was still in Houston but the wheel chair was likely still in Calgary, as it had not been delivered. Then we called again to check the status Sunday morning and were told that we didn't file a claim and needed to do so, which we did.
Thankfully around 3 or 3:30 on Sunday afternoon we went back to the airport to see whether our luggage had come in. We were thrilled that it and Deb's wheel chair had arrived.
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