Continuing my traveling roadshow, earlier this week, I was off to Rochester, NY, which, on the surface doesn't seem like a big deal. Hop on a plane, and 1.5 hours later I'd be in Rochester in upstate NY. Stay over one night, do my work and fly on home the next evening.
Simple right?
Not in my world.
For some reason, it cost an awful lot to fly out of Newark to Rochester, as in 3 times the price I could get flying out of JFK. So, I booked my flights in and out of JFK. JetBlue going out at 1 PM on Monday, and Delta coming home at 6 PM the next day.
Simple right?
Not in my world.
I wake up Monday morning to a lovely e-mail warning me that my JetBlue flight has been canceled. Ok, not a big deal, I can always find one of the many other flights. So I get my refund and book a new flight on Delta, which leaves at 3. This is cool as I can spend more time at home before I have to go. As it is that day, it was monsooning most of the day before and that morning, so I figure later is better.
Simple right?
Not in my world.
I get to JFK, and, in a rarity, have only a duffel carry-on since it's a quick hop of a trip. I'm sitting there, playing Yahtzee on my phone, where I learn my flight has been delayed. No biggie, I'm used to that as well. I continue playing Yahtzee for about an hour, when I get a call from my co-worker, who's ironically on the same flight as me, warning me that the 3 o'clock has been canceled.
Ok, not so simple now, but still plenty of time to reschedule onto one of the many other flights. My cow0rker is bumped to the 8PM flight. I speak to an agent and find out I'm been bumped to an 8:55 AM flight, THE NEXT DAY, or I could go on standby (not an option in my book). An issue, since I have a major meeting at 10AM that morning that cannot be moved or canceled. I check to see what other flights go there, and the only other one is JetBlue. So I call them and they tell me while their 8PM flight is booked, they do have a 10:20 PM flight with open seats.
So, the logical thing here would be to take the 10:20 flight.
But then I start thinking:
What if that one is canceled too? Then I'll be in a very bad spot. So I think of the other airports, and realize they will all be delayed too, plus it will cost an awful lot to get on one of those flights, plus I'd have to drive there and all that too....
Wait, drive there...That's a very long trip (360 miles), BUT it would guarantee I would get there on time. Plus, it was around 3:15 now, I'd still have to wait at least 7 hours at JFK. OR, I could drive there in around 6-7 hours, in the (relative) comfort of my tiny Hyundai Accent, and not just BE SITTING THERE with no control.
There are times in your live where you decide if destiny controls you, or vice versa. I learned that I'm one who likes to control my destiny, so I decide to drive it.
Great! How the heck do I get there? I did take a casual glance at google maps the day before, so I know roughly where I had to go.
Moving fast, I hop back in my car (AND I had a good spot too!), and start making my way. After a little confusion, I get myself on the Van Wyck, and call my other half and tell her what I'm doing. After she tells me I'm crazy (well, she is right), she texts me the directions to Rochester.
I make my way onto the Grand Central, ironically passing LaGuardia Airport, over the Triborough Bridge (who actually calls it the RFK Bridge?), up the Harlem River drive, over the George Washington Bridge, onto 80 West. That doesn't take as much time as it should so close to rush hour, so I get a little lucky.
Then, it's a long drive on 80 out towards Pennsylvania. By the way, did I mention I had no GPS? That was in the other car. I didn't have a lot of stuff with me, since I wasn't planning on driving 360 miles that day.
I make one stop at the NJ/PA border so I can get some cheap gas. I also pick up a quick Pizza Hut dinner, soda, etc, then continue along. I take I-80 to 380, up to Scranton (the town the show The Office takes place in), and onto 81 North. By now, it's dark, so it feels like a longer drive than it really is.
Although, there isn't much traffic at least, and I pass the time driving, listening to music, charging my cell phone, and using the same phone to call my friends and the other half.
The drive up 81 takes a while (120 miles), and then I hang a left on I90 towards Rochester. Not an exciting drive at night. About, a half hour out of Rochester, I hear from my coworker, who is JUST BOARDING HIS PLANE! His flight, not shockingly, was running a tad late.
I continue on 90 to 490, where I make another stop to fill up the tank so I have a full tank leaving the next day. I make it to Rochester around 9:45, where my final stop is the Hyatt there. Exhausted, I check in, order some room service and fall asleep.
Up the next day, I do my work, and while talking to my coworker, learn he got in around midnight. So, it was literally quicker to drive to Rochester that day than take a plane.
We finish up around 1, and I'm on the road back to NJ by 1:30. The trip back is much nicer since in daylight, you can see the pretty mountains. I don't stop at all until I'm in Pennsylvania, where I fill up the gas tank and buy me a box of fresh popcorn. I even attend a conference call while driving to pass the time. My next stop is at home, where I arrive at 6:45. Not bad at all I say.
I will tell you this, after all that, my expense report is going to be a mess, and have a heck of a time getting approved, but ultimately, it was worth. I made it there on time, did my job, and it was almost fun. Plus, I found out that late JetBlue flight at 10 PM did not get out of JFK until almost 1AM that next morning, which means I would have gotten to the hotel by 3:30 AM or so.
Driving was definitely the better choice...
By the way, here's my trip in map form:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=22+York+St,+Old+Bridge,+NJ+08857&daddr=JFK+Airport+to:Essex+St+to:Hyatt+Regency+Rochester,+NY+to:40.802895,-74.279251+to:22+York+St,+Old+Bridge,+NJ+08857&hl=en&geocode=FXZpaAIdM82R-ylV8QWjaM7DiTEZVyvEmSWFxA%3BFTwvbAIdJyqa-yllVw8rV2bCiTHwEZ9IE7JP7A%3BFYwBcAIdGqqV-w%3BFbiDkgId4Mpf-yF6zFuwNDq6nimV3pgxVbTWiTE9EI7-PNmSjQ%3B%3BFXZpaAIdM82R-ylV8QWjaM7DiTEZVyvEmSWFxA&mra=dpe&mrcr=2&mrsp=4&sz=11&via=2,4&sll=40.739454,-74.325256&sspn=0.376669,1.044388&ie=UTF8&ll=40.700422,-74.499664&spn=0.753778,2.088776&z=10
