Yahoo Phoenix!!

Well, well, well............Look who's back!!??  I apologize for being such a delinquent.  I know I said I would keep up on the blog, but life took over and blogging each day just didn't seem to fit into my routine.  I will make an honest effort going forward to keep everyone up to date on our life.  That being said........

WE ARE IN PHOENIX!!!

We arrived on the 24th - Thanksgiving Day. My parents are looking after the girls, so we are able to actually enjoy our trip, rather than worry about them. We started our day up at 3:45am. Not exactly the most fun in the world, but hey......we were on our way to Phoenix!! My parents drove us to the airport and we arrived a little later than we should have due to everyone wanting coffee from Tim Horton's first. We arrive at 5:15 for our 6:00 am flight. We had already web checked in but had 1 suitcase to check that was filled with our clothes and 3 other suitcases to bring all of our shopping home. We get to the counter and one of the two women was a complete bitch. She starts going on about how we are late and should be arriving 2 hours before, blah, blah. Meanwhile people are lining up behind us to check in for our flight. It's Kelowna airport at 5:00 am. Give me a break!! Anyways, our suitcase was 4 pounds over. So rather than pay a $30 overage fee, we just moved a bunch of stuff into our carry on. All was well and we were off to security. We boarded the plane right away and the flight to Seattle was a quick one.

We landed in Seattle and had just over a 3 hour layover. Customs was INSANE!! A plane from Japan had just landed and the lineups were full! It took just under an hour to make it through. For those of you who don't know, this trip for us was cheap. We used our points and the flight alone cost us $93 total. When we booked, I asked about using some free board room passes we had. I was assured that all I had to do was go to the Alaska Airlines board room and provide them with our confirmation number and last name and we would have no problems getting in. After navigating our way through the Sea-Tac airport tunnels and finding the board room, we went in. The woman at the counter was VERY pretentious. I told her our confirmation number and how the woman I talked to said that was all we needed. Well this bitch proceeds to tell me how it works and that the board room is exclusive, blah, freaking blah. Bottom line is she was a complete bitch and we didn't get in. I am going to have to call Alaska Airlines and yell at them when we get back. Them and Alamo......but that's an entirely different story that we will get to shortly.............

From there we went and wandered around the food court area looking for something to eat. We settled on sitting down in the Anthony's restaurant. All Trent wanted was a bowl of clam chowder, but it was only 8:00am and they didn't serve lunch yet. Instead we had breakfast and drinks. Nothing like a mimosa in the morning.....mmmmm yum. We finished up eating, wandered around a bit more and it was time to board!!
 

The flight from Seattle to Phoenix is 2.5 hrs. For me.....that equates to about 8. I DO NOT travel well. It's not a fear of flying or anything else. I just seem to get sick. My OCD kicks in and all I can think about is germs and what if I have to pee on the plane or worse yet #2!! It seems as soon as I set foot on a plane, I have to go to the bathroom. I kept my water consumption to a minimum and I was OK!!! The flight flew by and the next thing you knew.....we arrived in Phoenix! We took the shuttle to the Alamo rental counter. Now here is where the fun begins........

We got a cheap deal on Priceline for our car. $12 a day or something for a mid-size. We end up with a Hyundai Elantra. From the moment I spotted this car I knew it was bad luck. The seats looked dirty, it smelled a bit and it just didn't feel right. I asked what else there was and unless we wanted to pay another $100 for an upgrade, that was all we got. So.....we take the car. Our plan was to stop at Trader Joe's which was near our condo and get some groceries, then head off to the condo. I entered Trader Joe's into our GPS (TomTom), and we were off. Not being familiar with Phoenix, we thought it was completely normal that we had to drive through the ghetto to get to the area we were headed. We passed this big yellow tire shop on the corner of a busy intersection. It was TOTAL ghetto. Something out of a movie, where there is the Mexican cartel or gangsters hanging around with Latino music playing, huge silver rims all around out front, the resident Pitbull and lots of hydraulic cars. As we passed, I wished I had my camera at the ready to take a picture because it was SO ghetto. There were hookers and homeless looking addicts wandering around and hanging out at the Jack in the Box across the street.

TomTom commentator) says, "You have reached your destination" We look around and there is no Trader Joe's. All we see is a big black security guard and a warehouse. Now remember, we are in the skids...... We were pretty sure that TomTom lead us astray. So, we plug in the address of our condo and Susan English gets us to turn around and go back towards the ghetto tire shop. As we travelled along Buckeye Rd. to 35th Ave we were instructed to take a left at the tire shop. I will never forget Rhines Nuevos & Usados New & Used Wheels or Buckeye and 35th. This is where out adventure began..........

We were in the left hand turning lane waiting for a green BMW coming towards us. Next thing we know, something green is coming towards us, Trent steps on the gas and I yell HOLY FUCK!!!! Looking back in retrospect it should have been more like MOTHER FUCKER!!! According to the police report, here is what happened. Now keep in mind the speed limit through this intersection is 60 mph. NOT 60 kms........... The green BMW coming towards us was just passing us in the intersection when a big green truck FLEW through the red light, plowed into the side of the BMW which in turn PLOWED into the side us. Trent saw the truck hit the BMW and THANK GOD he hit the gas!! The entire drivers side back door of our car was CRUNCHED in. It's scary to see how close it came to hitting the driver's side door!!

Trent thankful of where the damage was!

The Rhines Neuvos & Usados was the only place where we could pull off the road! Even with an accident in the intersection, those crazy fuckers were flying around us and honking! We finally made it over to the tire shop and got out to survey the damage.









We were in shock but had no major injuries. We went into survival mode. A nice Navajo couple stopped and provided us with their information as they had witnessed the accident. My immediate reaction was to call the rental car company. Who gets into an accident in a rental car!? SERIOUSLY!! So I get on the phone to them and Trent goes across Buckeye to the Jack in the Box to check out what's going on. At this point I glance over to ensure his safety and see about 10 Mexicans jumping out of the back of the pickup truck that hit the BMW!! As I am on the phone with Alamo, I kind of get my barrings and realize the scenario around me. Here I am, a lonely white girl, surrounded by Mexicans in the ghetto! One guy has a wonky eye, nobody speaks English and I am wearing a ring with a HUGE fake stone in it that people have had to ask me if its real!! Not to mention I have $1,000 in cash in my wallet and a laptop and plethora of electronics in my suitcase in the back of the car!! Oh and keep in mind......this about 10 minutes after we picked up the rental car.


So to make a long story short, the driver of the green truck that FLEW through the red light fled the scene. She didn't have a license. The owner of the truck that was there, he didn't have a license. The cousin of the owner of the truck had the insurance papers but not a license. Meanwhile Trent said that a bunch of homeless men hanging out beside the Jack in the Box were looting beer out of the truck! While a hooker was telling Trent her account of the accident, I was enjoying the company of the Mexican drug cartel!!




Keeping an eye on me and the car......

I must ask from all that read this to not expose me to the drug cartel. If they know their pictures are on the Internet, they may track me down. Those fuckers are powerful!
 

We end up finally getting a tow truck arranged through Alamo, get the accident report from the cop that FINALLY showed up. Now keep in mind Trent was over with the other vehicles for almost an hour while I hung out with my peeps.


That's Trent in the green shirt and some hooker







RhinesNeuvos & Usado closed shop around us and left for the day. At least we had the pitbull to protect us through the gates............

As darkness came over us, the tow truck driver arrived with his girlfriend in tow. Alamo said to hitch a ride back to the rental car place with the driver. We all squished into the cab of the tow truck. I am glad they were about our age and fun rather than stinky or creepy, because the next 2 hours of driving around with them wouldn't have been fun. Now keep in mind that we were not even 10 minutes from the rental car place. But....he couldn't figure out where to drop off the car. Long story short, we finally figured it out after 2 hours and there was supposed to be a car waiting for us. There was no car and there was nobody at the lot. After the tow truck driver finally tracked down someone in the lunch room at the rental car repair lot, we dropped the car, got our luggage and found a shitty 2010 Honda Civic waiting for us. Call me crazy, but I just wasn't comfortable driving around in a shit box. I should give mad props to the Hyundai though. Even though the passenger side airbag didn't deploy the damage was mainly sustained on the outside of the car. It kept us safe and we could have been really injured rather than just a sore neck, back and shoulder.
 

We headed back to the rental car garage, dealt with an idiot of an asshole, requested a manager, I had a break down and cried, Shaniqua told us to call back Friday to get an upgrade because they had nothing else available but a Ford Focus. We took the Focus, Shaniqua hasn't answered her phone, so it looks like we will be keeping it for the week. It's not so bad. We kind of like it but I would feel safer on these roads in an SUV. Oh well.........we are alive!!!
 

We FINALLY got to our condo at about 7:30 or 8:00. We dropped our stuff off and went on the hunt for food. Since it was Thanksgiving, nothing was open. We ended up at a CVS Pharmacy with a case of Corona, wine, chips and Cheetos. Happy Fucking Thanksgiving!




Thankful for Cheetos and Corona!!

On the plus side - our condo is AWESOME!! We love it. Such a better alternative to staying in a hotel! It's clean, nice and in a great area!
 

We drank, ate and went to bed by 9:30. We set the alarm for 2:00 am and got up to go Black Friday shopping!!
 

Since it's 10:00 am and the outlets have opened, I REALLY need to go get ready so we can be off. I will update you on our Black Friday shopping and hockey game later today or tomorrow. We are going to see David Spade tonight and have some drinks! Can't wait!
 

Wish us happy deals shopping! Love to all!!!