Day 207 - First Day of Vacation????

It seemed like nothing could go wrong when my day began with this gorgeous sunrise.

Things were looking good when all of a sudden lines starting forming at all Horizon and Alaska gates.  Pretty soon they came on the loudspeaker and announced a major computer system malfunction that would affect all flights, leading to delays.  Ten minutes later, my flight was cancelled and we were told to go to "Customer Service".  People literally started running through the terminal.  Here's where we ended up.

While waiting, I contacted Hertz to see if my sister could pick up the car but my Hotwire deal did not allow for any changes.  The woman assured me that they would hold the reservation for 24 hours so as long as I got there by 1:30 PM tomorrow, I would be fine.  Surely to God, I would make it by then.  After standing in line for 2.5 hours, there were no seats left anywhere until the next day.  I asked for food vouchers and headed down to retrieve my luggage. Meanwhile, my sister had arrived in San Francisco from Canada and I had to call her to say "Hey, guess what. . .you're spending the night at a hotel by the airport."  Once again, I entered another long line.

Before I had moved very far, they announced that you would no longer be able
to get your baggage but assured us it would be sent on to our final destination.

At this point I called the place in Carmel where we were supposed to be staying and cancelled the first night of our reservation.  The woman was very nice.  I then called a hotel close to the airport to make a reservation for the night and headed to the bar to watch some basketball and have lunch.

Nothing says "vacation" like the Hilton Garden Inn located in Renton!

Yeah, that's right, those are papers I'm grading on that desk - pathetic

After a very ordinary dinner in the hotel restaurant, I climbed into bed.  My flight is scheduled to leave at 9 AM tomorrow morning.  After a stop in Portland, I should arrive in San Francisco with 30 minutes to spare before my car rental expires.  My sister's job is to track down my luggage.  Oh, did I mention that tomorrow is my birthday?