Our 4th Of July Weekend
Well the vacation turned out to be a bit of a nightmare. We took a turn around tour bus that picked us up late Friday night, dropped us off Saturday morning at Disneyland. Spending all day at Disneyland would be a load of fun. Then, the bus does the return trip Saturday night and your back in town early Sunday morning. A perfect quick weekend getaway. Too bad it didn’t turn out that way. Bus driver from hell, sick as a dog, forgotten camera, bus breakdown, 4 hour delay equaled vacation from hell.
It started off at 9:45pm with being charged the wrong amount when we got to the bus. They wanted to charge us $75 for our 1 yr old who wouldn’t even be taking up a seat on the bus. Once we settled the price issue (we were not paying for a lap child) and loaded everything (who knew you needed so much for a overnight trip with a 1 year old?), we were off to start what we thought would be a wonderful trip. The bus had to make one stop to pick up the remaining passengers and we would be off to Disneyland. We stopped and loaded all of the passengers and headed off. Bus driver didn’t do a head count so he had no idea how many of us there were total. All of a sudden as we turn a corner, he gets a call about a left behind passenger group. We turn around to go back to the last pickup and get the missing people. Still no head count. Doesn’t he know he can lose people if he doesn’t know how many are on the bus? Little T (1) plays for a while as we get onto the freeway and get settled into the bus ride. We leave town around 11:30pm and are expecting a rest stop break in a few hours outside the next major city. My mom has Little T the whole ride to allow me (8 months pregnant) to have some extra room to ‘sleep’ on the bus. I have his formula and water so I still wake up to make bottles so she doesn’t have to balance a baby and make a bottle. Dad sits across from my mom and helps as well. The bus driver begins the horrible driving that becomes our trip. He swerved and ran over the little ‘wake up’ reminders on the side of the road so many times we lost count. A few times we swore his head bobbed like he was sleeping at the wheel. A few hours into the trip and looking forward to the upcoming stop for a stretch and some munchies, I fell asleep but told my mom and dh to make sure they woke me whenever we stopped. Being 8 months pregnant, I use the bathroom a lot and really didn’t look forward to using the on board tiny potty. After a nice nap, I awoke and was quite upset that no one woke me for the rest stop. My mom and dh said we hadn’t stopped anywhere, not even to fill up on gas. Almost half way through the drive (8 hr one way) and we hadn’t stopped yet. I know the bus cannot make the entire trip without filling up at least once. Most of the time of these trips, we make 2 stops on the way up (lots of over excited children who cannot sleep) and only 1 stop on the way back (same children are passed out from the excitement of the trip). About a half hour or so after I awake, the driver slows and takes an exit ramp and we make our first stop at a Flying J. It is now 4 am and my bladder is overflowing from the pressure of the baby sitting on my bladder. Little T is still asleep and my mom doesn’t have to use the restroom so she stays on the bus while dh and I make a potty and snack break. After loading all passengers on the bus the driver normally does a head count to make sure everyone is back and no one is missing. Again, the driver skips the head count and starts off. I am so glad I am not traveling alone on this trip. I could have been left behind (again). Another stretch of a few hours of horrible driving, swerving, falling out of our seats, bracing for impact as the driver tailgates tons of smaller vehicles, and trying to ‘sleep’ and we arrive at McDonalds for breakfast. My mom can’t even wait for the driver to finish ‘lecturing’ about the upcoming few steps to get into Disneyland because she is no sick to her stomach. She exits the bus as I take Little T and dh listens for instructions. We gather a couple items for Little T (diapers, wipes, new outfit, etc) and exit the bus. We have about an hour for breakfast and resting before we get to Disneyland. First things to be done before breakfast are diapering and changing clothes for Little T, putting on shorts for myself (I wore sweats in case I got cold on the bus) and a quick potty break for dh and I. After 15 minutes or so, dh, Little T and I are done but my mom is still in the bathroom. She appears after another few moments and looks ghostly. She explains that she is feeling sick to her stomach and isn’t going to eat anything for breakfast but would like something to drink. We go up to order as she runs back to the bathroom with more sick feelings. She comes out looking a little better. She changed clothes, brushed her teeth and takes Little T while dh and I eat. We go back out to the bus and wait for the driver to return with our tickets so we can board and head over to the gates of Disneyland. After what seems like an eternity, the driver returns, hands out tickets and boards passengers onto the bus. No head count so I hope we didn’t lose anyone again. We pull out onto the road and then pull into a public bus stop. I wonder what we’re doing at a public bus stop? Normally, the bus drives you right up to the trams which you board and they take you to the gates of Disneyland. A public bus stop seems like and unlikely spot to drop off passengers to catch a tram. The driver gets up and tells everyone to get off and pretty much in those words. How rude! My mom, dh and I are so confused about this location that we forget to grab the stuff we needed for the day. At least I remembered the diaper bags (I brought an extra one with lots of extra diapers, clothes, wipes, and toys). We forgot to grab either of the two cameras we brought with us, jackets for the chill of the night, and changes of clothes for the trip home. We are forced to walk to the gates. Although not far for the morning but will seem like an eternity getting out. My mom and I have bad knees which act up at a moments notice. We get through the bag checks and head for the gates. We walk through and hit the bathroom first thing. We sit down on the benches and review the map of the park and start to make plans for the day. Nothing really sounds like fun after what we now refer to as our “10 hour roller coaster ride.” We head out for our adventure quite drained and exhausted. My mom spends at least half the day sitting or laying on a bench napping while dh, Little T and I hit some of the rides and shows. My mom spends a lot more time in the bathroom than I have ever seen her do before. At one of the gift shops, my mom asks if they have anything for a queasy tummy. She spends a small fortune for a few handfuls of pepto-bismol tablets. She begins taking them and starts to return to her normal self. We decide to skip a few rides and head to a sit down show for some more resting. We search for a show that will keep a 1 year olds attention. We find a Buzz Lightyear show that is geared to kids and is about an hour long. We head over a little early and watch all the kids running and playing. Little T is so interested that he doesn’t want to sit in anyone’s lap but also doesn’t want to run with the kids. He stands between my mom and I and watches the kids eagerly. He begins to get fussy so off to the bathroom I run for a quick diaper change. That quick change took 15 minutes because he was so full of liquid from breakfast that I had to strip him and sponge bathe him to actually get him cleaned up. Thankfully, the show started a little late and he missed nothing. Lunch time had arrived so after the show we sat and debated over where to eat while my mom took another nap. We decide to try a Mexican and BBQ restaurant and gather up all the stuff and head over to eat. My mom can’t find anything that looks mild so she grabs some ice cream in hopes to relieve her tummy troubles. Little T falls asleep and we eat a decent meal without interruption. My mom still hasn’t eaten much but also hasn’t kept anything down she has eaten. We wander around for a while just looking and watching people run around. My mom was looking bad so we left the stroller and bags with her sitting on a bench to rest while dh and I took Little T to Toon Town. We couldn’t bear the walk over so we hopped on the train and carried Little T around Toon Town for a while. He again watched all the kids and laughed at the ones on the roller coaster as they ‘screamed’ past him. He played in the ‘toon’ cars, ran around the shop grabbing at toys he liked, tossing toys he didn’t like and watching the other kids play with their new toys. We gathered him up and headed back to the train to take the remainder trip back. When we got back to the my mom on the bench, she looked and felt much better. She was ready for food and the night’s festivities. It was now about dinner time and nothing in Disneyland sounded good for dinner so we headed to the gates and got stamped so we could reenter after a meal out. We crossed over to IHOP and order food for all. They had an offer for kids eating free so even though normally we don’t order Little T a full meal, we did this time. Everyone started eating and all of a sudden a contraction stopped my meal. It was one of the big ones. I thought “No. I can’t go into labor now. I don’t even have my doctor nearby.” I tried to smile and eat through the pain. I couldn’t ruin the rest of the night for a single contraction. It subsided and I thought nothing of it. Must have been false labor since it was only one and I have been having one here and there for the last month and a half. We prepare to leave when another comes on and I excuse myself to the bathroom for a potty break and to sit out the contraction. I’ve had a couple times where 2 -3 contractions happened and then they stopped all together. My mom comes in to clean up and change Little T. She asks what’s wrong and doesn’t take my “I’m fine,” for an answer. I tell her about the contractions and she gets upset that I didn’t say something earlier so they could time them. I promise to tell them if I have anymore and that was the end of it. We gathered up a few leftovers that could make the trip back for Little T to munch on and paid the bill. We headed next door to a small store that had Mickey and Disney stuff to see if the prices were less than the shops inside. My contractions started again which had not happened in the last few months. Once the fourth one started, I fessed up and we began timing them. We picked up a couple souvenirs, some froot loops for Little T snacks, some 7up to help our tummy’s and started the head back towards Disneyland. The contractions were closer and getting stronger so we stopped at the bus stop where we were to be picked up at. It was about 10pm and the bus was going to be there around 11pm and I was sick to my stomach and hurting from the contractions. Little T was cranky, my mom wasn’t up to par and dh was tired. We opted to sit and wait until the bus came instead of heading back inside. All we would be missing was the last show which we had all seen before. I cried, walked, and spent the next hour in a lot of pain. We timed the contractions but they were still fairly far apart and not very steady. They were false labor in all the meaning but I was still hurting. People from our bus started strolling around 10:30pm which is very odd. Normally the bus is waiting for passengers because they get lost getting out with huge crowds and get turned around. By 11pm everyone but the bus was at the public bus stop. The bus and driver didn’t show up until close to midnight. Being 8 months pregnant, I had to use the bathroom and IHOP a lot and even begged for some crackers to soothe my upset tummy. I didn’t even keep my dinner down from the pain and stress of the ride. As soon as I headed across the street once again for a bathroom break, the bus pulled in. My mom sat with Little T, stroller, and all the bags while dh accompanied me over to IHOP in case I needed help if contractions started. My mom loaded all of the stuff while carrying a 25 lb 1 year old without the slightest help from the driver. He just sat and watched her struggle through 4 trips on and off the bus. We were the last ones to board and once we boarded the driver finally did a head count. I don’t know what he compared it too but he counted people at least. My contractions had subsided, the crackers calmed my tummy and Little T was ready to sleep. I made him his bottle for bed and he was out only a few moments later. We all fell asleep as we started our “10 hour roller coaster ride” back home. After about 4 hours, we awoke in time for the rest stop and fill up for the bus. Little T was still asleep and my mom didn’t need to get out so off dh and I went for a potty break. We opted for no snacks since they upset our tummy on the way there and we didn’t want to repeat that feeling for 4th of July. We loaded back on the bus and after a missed head count, the bus pulled off and got back onto the highway. My tummy was a little queasy so I drank some water and ate a couple crackers to soothe my tummy. I made another bottle for Little T for his middle of the night snack and then laid my head back to prepare for the ‘sleep’ back home. I closed my eyes and “BOOM!” The driver says “S**t!” and pulls over to the side of the road. He exits the bus and we begin to talk about it being a blowout and how it should be OK to drive in for repair. The driver gets back on and in a very urgent voice demands that everyone get off the bus now. He tells everyone to grab necessities and exit immediately. It sounds serious and I grab the diaper bag and water so I at least have food and diapers for Little T. It’s about 4am and very dark outside as we sit on the side of the road. The bus had a tire blowout which punctured something in the gas line and we are leaking gas everywhere. The driver’s cell phone wasn’t working so I dug mine out and called the owner at home for the driver. He informed her of the problem and began the process of getting us a new bus. After a while, police from the local jurisdiction came out to assess the situation. It was now about 5:30am and the sun was coming up and getting hot. 3 police cars and 1 police SUV transported all the passengers to the next truck stop that had food and a place for us to be out of the sun until a new bus could come get us. McDonalds was next door so most of us went there for food and shade. My mom, dh and I grabbed a corner area to “cage” Little T in and give him some running room. After a couple hours, Little T fell back asleep and we laid him down on a booth bench. I looked up the number for the office who we booked the trip through and made a call to the owner. She was relieved to her from someone. Apparently, she had been trying to get a hold of the driver and had left many messages which he was not returning. She didn’t know we had been moved to another location. I covered the last few hours events with her and she said she was working on getting a bus and mechanic out to us asap. Another hour goes by and I call for an update to find out the bus has been sent and should arrive in less than 2 hours. We get something to eat from McDonalds and just talk about how horrible this has turned out. I keep contacting and getting updates on the bus arrival time so we don’t have to sit in the heat with Little T. When the owner says the bus is about 15 minutes away, we gather our stuff and head over to the truck stop and grab a couple waters for the trip back. The others from the bus are sitting along a long wall and half are sleeping or talking amongst themselves. We inform them that we spoke with the owner and she said the bus was about 15 minutes away. People start gathering stuff, waking kids up, doing potty trips and buying food and snacks for the trip home. It is now almost 8am and the mechanic arrives and asks us for additional details on where the bus is and about how far away it is. We all give details to help him find the bus and ask about our remaining belongings on the bus. The mechanic tells us to inform the driver that we need to be taken to the bus to remove all belongings. The bus pulls in about 10 minutes later and we all board. The new driver offers to do a head count but isn’t sure how many we should have so he asks if anyone is missing. No replies. He walks into the truck stop and McDonalds to announce we are leaving in case anyone was missing. We head back to the broken down bus to gather belongings. This bus ride is so much smoother than the other bus. No jerks, no falling out of our seats, and no hitting the “wake up” bumps. We pass the bus on the other side of the road and look for an exit to make the switch to the correct side to get our stuff. We turn around and get to the bus. Everyone exits and begins to move stuff over from one bus to the other. The new driver makes a sweep of the old bus to ensure nothing is left behind. he returns left behind items to their owner and our driver gets into the driver seat. We expect the ride home to be much smoother since the ride between the two buses was smooth. Not happening this time. We decide it must be our driver and not the bus because the moment he starts driving, we have the roller coaster feeling again. Little T gets tired and cranky so I make a bottle and he drinks it and falls asleep. We attempt to do the same while holding ourselves in our seats. Eventually, we arrive home around 2pm and make the first drop of passengers and head over to the second drop off. As we gather stuff to exit the bus, I grab Little T and as much as I can hold and exit to get the stroller. The driver has the stroller in hand but i am unable to open it with full hands and Little T. He just stands there starring at me while I struggle to set things down to open it. Finally, I get it open and load stuff into the bottom of the stroller. My mom exits next with arms full of stuff. I have my back to her while I entertain Little T. She drops her small travel pillow while exiting and the driver just stares at her and doesn’t offer to help. She puts stuff into the stroller and then bends down to grab the pillow. Dh exits last with all remaining items of ours and we walk over to my mom’s car. We load the car very tired and frustrated with the whole trip. We discuss making a complaint and decide to have my mom complain for all of us since she has been traveling with this company since I was a child.
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