Happy Momma Day

So last weekend, my sister and I attempted to be good daughters and surprise our mom for Mother's Day. We started making plans a few months ago and everything seemed to be going smoothly. We should have known better.

Our plane tickets were coming courtesy of Frontier Airlines. They have a deal set up with the restaurant I work at that allows me to get standby tickets for pretty cheap.

I've used these tickets in the past and haven't had any serious problems...except for that one time I went to Mexico and almost didn't come home...and then ended up in the hospital. But that is an entirely different blog. Considering the wonderful internets were saying that our flight had plenty of seats available, we weren't too worried about our standby status. Unfortunately by the time we got to the airport, our 7 pm flight was sold out and we were bumped to a flight at 6 oclock the next morning. For some reason, we thought it would be better to forget our flight to St Louis and go to Kansas City instead. We switched our rental car reservation to our new destination and headed to Kansas. The plane ride was...interesting. I don't know which part was actually the worst. I'd say its a three way tie between the drunk pilot, the ridiculous man in front of us yelling about alien investors funding 9-11, or the off duty pilot sitting behind me repeatedly telling his wife that the plane shouldn't be making those noises unless its about to crash.

When we finally landed in the wonderful Kansas City, we were informed that not only did our rental car reservation vanish, but so did all of the available cars. We had to switch to a new company, pay about double our quoted rate, but we finally got a car. After getting lost in Kansas City, a quick stop at Walmart to buy Mother's Day flowers, and a midnight trip to Wendy's, we were finally began our 4 hour trip to the rents' house. At about 1 in the morning, I started getting really tired and worried that I might have to pull over for a nap. About the time I told my plan to Casey, the universes aligned and did what they felt necessary to wake me up. Perhaps it was the full moon. Perhaps it was the thick forest. Perhaps it was the fact that Missouri is a scary ass place full of critters with a death wish....whatever it was, I quickly woke up when I realized there were thousands of animals waiting to be hit by our car. In the 4 hours it took to drive home, we passed at least 50 deer, dozens of opossums, about 6 skunks, 3 armadillos, and a few rabid dogs.

Somehow, we managed to stay awake, not hit any creatures on the road, and made it to the house just after 5 in the morning. Casey and I grabbed the balloons and flowers, smacked a couple bows on our heads, and creeped up the driveway.

Mom came out on the porch and screamed, cried, screamed some more, cried a lot more, and was generally pretty damn happy. Dad came out and there were a few congratulatory high fives for pulling off a completely secret trip without Mom having even a clue.

We spent Saturday just hanging out with our parents, went to the Ozarks for dinner, played some cards (which Casey and I dominate at of course) and enjoyed our short trip. Unfortunately, Sundays flights were even more booked than Fridays. We were pretty much guaranteed to never get back to Denver if we relied on our standby tickets. Mom and Dad ended up buying us tickets through United to get us home Sunday afternoon. In the end, our cheap plan to get to Missouri and back, ended up costing our parents around $600. For some unknown reason, they seemed to think Casey and I visiting for one day was worth that much. I think they are crazy. The trip home wasn't as eventful as the trip there. We drove back to Kansas City midday Sunday so there weren't as many animals darting in front of our car. Oh except for this horse.

He hung out in the middle of the road for a while until a man with overalls and no teeth came out yelling something about mangy horse glue. The horse listened to our advice and ran away as fast as possible.

We got to the airport two hours early as advised by every travel advisor in the world. Unfortunately these advisers have never been to Kansas City International Airport. I work at Denver International Airport, so perhaps I'm a bit spoiled when it comes to expectations when traveling. I am used to, well, people at the airport...security at the airport...running water at the airport. Ok, maybe Kansas has running water but...

Denver International:

Kansas City International:

We definitely didn't need two hours. Five minutes was plenty to get to our gate.

The airport may not have many passengers, but they do have a gift shop.

I didn't buy anything.

I have a feeling this man would have liked that shirt though. Twilight anyone?

We made it home, safe and sound. Mom loves us, and more importantly knows that we love her. And I have no desire to ever visit Kansas City again. Happy Mother's Day Mom. Sorry, Dad, Father's Day won't be this exciting. I may buy you a golf club though.