Oops

Hey remember when I said I was going to write a blog documenting my struggles, challenges, and success with staying fit...inside and out? And hey, remember when I didn't post again for 9 months? I mean...I could have had a baby in the meantime! UGH! Well I am going to try again...and it’s going to start easy...with me just writing and posting on my trip west as I move from East Coast to West Coast. I have my friend D and my puppy with me...and we are driving, sightseeing, laughing, talking, walking, running, hiking our way across this country. Staying with friends...bargaining our way into hotels etc. We are just trying to make it to San Diego without completely losing our wallets and/or our patience! Do you think we can do it????




Ok so story numero uno....I struggle with organization; everyone who knows me knows this. What other people find easy, I find hard. I can plan, and make to-do lists out the wazoo...it never works out. So I REALLY, REALLY tried to go against nature and try and get my shit together before this trip. Ask my roommate, I have been packing for a month, sifting through papers, packing boxes, getting trip tix, car checked at the mechanics, doing everything I should and I STILL ended up pretty much having to pull an allnighter to get myself out on the road on time. And if that chaotic sentence doesn't paint a clear enough picture, YES once again I ended up just randomly throwing my belongings in my car and rushing an hour late to pick up D for our journey. No surprise then that the FIRST thing that happens when I pick her up is I lose my own keys in the mess in my car. Yep we spent a whole 20 minutes searching for the keys that had JUST been in my possession 5 minutes prior. UGH! Anyway, we got on the road...made it to our first destination and all was well. Fast forward a short 10 hours, yep I said TEN HOURS later to DC (the same drive in college often took me 6.5-7 hours). We found our hotel and settled into the pet friendly Residence Inn. A hotel I had booked on Priceline a ouple of weeks prior in my big effort to be organized on this trip. I chose this hotel by filtering pet friendly first and foremost and then second location etc. on Priceline’s selection menu. So when we got a sweet rate on Priceline, and learned that our hotel came with free breakfast and dinner plus had a gym and laundry...well D and I were PSYCHED to be at this hotel. We checked in...we got a good night’s sleep, we had a great breakfast and then we left for a day of sightseeing and fun. So imagine my surprise when we got home and were locked out of our room. I went down to the desk and was promptly informed that "pet friendly" meant I was to pay a $200 pet deposit. You saw that right $200!!!!!!!!!! “What” I said “How can that be, Priceline said nothing about that.” They argued that I should have told them about Bailey when I checked in....I argued that I didn't think I had to cause I booked the hotel because it was listed as pet friendly...I didn't feel the need to then announce my dog when I checked in. They said I was elusive and dishonest because I didn't tell them. I said "Quite frankly there is a lot I didn't tell you when I checked in, however as you have an agreement to sell your rooms on Priceline, and you are listed as pet friendly...and make no mention of a fee, nor does it ask for a fee when you book on Priceline...how is it ME that is dishonest?" Well the front desk manager at that point made it clear her shift was over, and I was NOT getting back the $200 they had already charged on my credit card. As I contemplated what $200 meant to me on this trip...and pictured myself eating only the Isagenix bars I packed for the rest of the trip I asked to talk to the manager. Pat, the manager, brought me into his office, heard me out and immediately offered to split the difference. I decided at that point to just concede and head back upstairs for some R and R. But as I left Pat mentioned that Priceline DID list the pet fee on the site. I reiterated to him that in this case I was sure they didn't. I told him my whole story, about how hard I tried to be and often struggled with being organized, and on budget, and responsible....I told him how I was moving and how usually I mess things like this up, but that this time...THIS TIME I knew I was right because it meant so much to me to try and make this trip as easy as possible and how I had already disappointed myself with the last minute packing and the lost keys and the 10 hour drive. Pat stood there a little stunned, but said causally that he would double check with Priceline and give me a call back. Well to their credit about an hour later, Pat called the room and said he just got off the phone with Priceline andddddddddd I was right! He refunded the whole deposit, apologized and then thanked me for bringing this to his attention. Ok so I know this is not the most interesting story...however there is a lesson learned here. I may not have been perfect in my preparation for this trip...I may have been a little disorganized etc. BUT in the end the efforts I did make to plan ahead, to do the right thing to get my ducks in a row...well they paid off. LITERALLY! So Ash, had, Mel and all my other perfectly organized type-A friends...well I am learning! :)