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Trip Report
Duration: October 23 - October 29
Day 1
Well, I made the decision to leave on Friday night, but by the time Jim gets home from work, he is already exhausted from rush hour traffic. I
begrudgingly agree to leave early Saturday morning, so I head off to bed at 8 PM while Jim and the girls pack the car. I wake up at 2:15, grab a quick
shower, and we are on the road at 3 AM. This is the first trip in my memory that we do not encounter ANY traffic - no rush hour jams anywhere, no
construction delays anywhere - it is absolute bliss.
We make quite a few stops, since I am pregnant and have to pee all the time, and it's a good opportunity for the kids to stretch their legs. We still
make fairly good time driving from NJ, and we are at the Palm Coast exit about 7 PM. We decide to stop for dinner so the girls can go right to bed
when we arrive at the hotel, and we end up at Caribbean Beach Resort at 10:15 PM.
Brighid and I go to check in, and I think the lobby is so nice and welcoming, with the ceiling fans and the brightly dressed CMs. Obviously,
there is no line to check in, and we walk right up and meet Joe, our checker - inner.
When we checked in at Pop Century in April, the CM asked if we had a room, floor or building preference. This time, Joe does not, so I assume it is
all on the reservation. When I made the original reservation, I requested a first floor, non-smoking room, unless they had an elevator, in which case,
second floor was fine as well. We are in the Aruba building, and after a quick and painless check in, we are off for our room. Now, remember, it is
night time, and while the landscaping is lush and beautiful, it makes it hard to see building numbers. There are signs on the road to point you to
the buildings, but once we got in the right parking lot, we weren't sure where to go. Additionally, I assumed we were given our requested first
floor room, so we are wandering around the first floors of three buildings. My husband is partially blind, and Brighid has forgotten her glasses, so I
finally send them both back to the car, and I discover that we are on the second floor. I do one more walk around the building, and do not see an
elevator, so I figure we will unpack and phone the front desk to find the elevator.
Eilis has fallen asleep in the car, and because Jim doesn't see well - especially at night - I have to carry her up the steps. Oh my, does this
child need a diet - and I need some exercise. I am winded by the time I get her to the room, and Jim is already telling me we should not have made the
trip, as it's taking a toll on me already. I am not listening to him, because there is a funky smell in my room. I am nauseated by it, but my
daughter and husband are telling me it's in my head - they smell nothing. Brighid and Jim go downstairs to get the luggage, and this is slow going, as
Jim can't see the steps, so he is holding the luggage with one hand, while Brighid holds his other hand to guide him up the steps. This prompts me to
phone and ask for the elevator. I get a lovely (sarcastic) helpful (sarcastic) pleasant (sarcastic) CM on the phone. When I ask her where the
elevator is in my building she snaps at me, "Why do you need to know where the elevator is?" I explain that I requested a first floor room unless
there was an elevator, so since I have been given a second floor room, obviously, there must be an elevator. She tells me there is no elevator,
but she does offer to switch my room to the first floor. Well, by this time, half the luggage is already up the stairs, Eilis has already fallen
back to sleep in the bed, and I do not feel like lugging the suitcases back down stairs. I tell her we will make due.
It is at this point that my husband says that I am not crazy and there does appear to be a strong odor in the room. I phone the front desk again, now
that I have validation that I am not insane, and I ask if they can send me some air freshener or something to clear the smell in the room. I get the
identical twin sister of the oh so not helpful CM I had before who tells me that of course my room stinks, it's a smoking room. I tell her it can't
possibly be, as I requested non-smoking. She offers to change my room - tomorrow. In the mean time, she does send housekeeping up to the room with
a can of air freshener and an air filter for the room. We have to phone the front desk in the morning to let them know if we want to move.
We finally fall into bed about midnight. I make the decision that we will not be moving, because it is too much work, and I unpacked everything. Oh
So Nice to have the fridge. Not only did it more than accommodate my insulin, we managed to fit about 26 cans of soda in there, along with some
cheese sticks, grapes, and pears.
Our plan for tomorrow - We don't have one!!
Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
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