Okay, so I need to rant and rage for a minute. I have been wanting to go out and see my family forever. It's been over a year now. My children haven't seen their other grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. in that long. Plus most of my really good friends live out in Idaho/Utah area. I tried to go for my brother's wedding that I only got 3 weeks notice for but that did not work out at all. So now I have a friend's wedding and Thanksgiving all within a week. A perfect time. I found pretty good price on tickets out of Tampa. Problem is Tampa is 5 hours away. But I have an older couple I know that stays there during the winter so they would let us stay with them. But then I started checking everything out and the money started adding up.
First, my nice older couple is going to be out of town on a fun trip themselves at that time so now we have to find a hotel for the night before we fly out and the night we fly back in. Plus we wanted to stay an extra day when we got back and take the kids to Sea World for the military pass we have so that would be another day in a hotel too.
Second, all the lovely airlines (except SouthWest which doesn't operate in these airports I guess since I couldn't find any of their flights) now charge for checked baggage. The airlines I found charge $15 for the first item per traveler. That doesn't seem so bad. But 3*$15 for the trip there and back adds up to almost another $100. So can we fly lighter? Well, let's see I have a 3 year old and a one year old. We need to bring car seats. We may be able to bring one on the plane since we have to buy the 3 year old a seat anyway but we would still have to check one.
We thought about getting She a RiderSafety Vest which takes the place of a carseat. My friend has one for her son and it is great. We want to get one anyway but that is about $100. We will probably still get one in the near future even if we decide not to come.
Third, we wanted to get a rental car for the few days we would stay in Salt Lake and then turn it in before we go up to Idaho. We could forgo the rental car and have my parents pick us up but then we wouldn't get to spend anytime in Salt Lake to visit friends and family there and might not be able to attend my friend's wedding/reception like I wanted.
Fourth, gas!!! Yes, gas prices are coming down so I can't estimate how much it would cost to drive to Tampa, then for the rental car in Salt Lake, and then our drive back to our home from Tampa.
Fifth, parking. 2 weeks for $9 a day adds up quite quickly.
Right now our original excellent price airplane tickets have doubled with all the other things we would have to get/spend money on. It would be cheaper to drive and camp along the way if we had the time. Will we be going? I'm still checking on somethings but my hope of Friday has dwindled to a lousy doubtful.
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2 comments:
Oh, I'm so sorry. I hope things work out so that you can come. I'm not sure what we are doing, but if you are able to come, I hope I get to see ya.:)
Hey if you need a place to stay in SL I am not to far!!!! Hope it all works out for you!
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