Jovon Everett: I'm Goin' to Kansas City, Kansas City Here I Come

Thursday, August 16th

(Editor's Note: I thought I had already published this entry! I went in tonight to work on my Kansas City Wrap Up entry and discoverd this one still pending. Sorry for the delay!)

Monday morning dawned clear and bright in St. Paul. As good a day to travel as you can imagine. I boarded the bus to the airport at 7:30 AM with eleven of my coworkers and we headed to the airport. Our schedule was to fly from Minneapolis/St Paul to Chicago O'Hare (10-11:18 AM) and then on to Kansas City (12:10 - 1:39). Once we arrived at the airport, the travel day dramas began.

Before I go any farther, I should say that travel day is my least favorite part of life on tour. While I have become a much more adept packer (I unpack in every city - if there's enough drawer space, only my pants will stay in the suitcase.), I still don't like to do it. I have come to believe that air travel, while a wonderful and necessary part of modern life, is one of the most degrading things people in civil society can do to one another. Further aggravating my discomfort with travel day is that we travel in packs. While enjoy the Spamaliy as a whole, we are the people I hope will not sit next to me on the airplane. We shout to one another. We bring animals, yoga mats, shopping bags and all manner of other things on board the plane. We are the people holding up the line at the ticket counter. I try to approach travel days with a sense of calm and stoicism, but others will have to be the judge of how I fair.

Ok, so we arrive at the ticket counter. We're booked, obviously, as a group. When we approach the e-ticket machines, we are unable to be processed as the itinerary shows Tallulah (Francesca's cat) on each of our reservations. We all have to be individually, specially processed. There is not enough staff behind the counter and the line begins to build behind us. Nearly all of us have overweight baggage, more special help. The counter woman is really losing her cool.

The indignities of the security line happen as they always do.

We arrive at the gate. The gate agent announces that our plane will be late "due to mechanical difficulties". They begin trying to work out every one's connection issues. The gate agents suggest to Jeff (our Assistant Company Manager who is traveling with us) that they may be able to hold the plane for the Chicago to Kansas City portion of our journey until we arrive in Chicago. They also move all 12 of us to the front of the plane (so we can make a run for it in O'Hare) and book us to fly stand by on the next Chicago to Kansas City flight - just in case. While we're waiting, the cast begins to arrive at the airport and heads past us to their gate (their 10:45 flight on American is on-time). At 11:15 we board the plane. By 11:30 we're in the air. The pilot announces that construction at the Minneapolis airport added to our delay - they're working on the runway and can only land 28 planes an hour (at Northwest Airlines' major hub!).

At 12:30 we land at O'Hare. The flight to KC has left without us. 12 of us are added to the stand-by list for the 3:30 United flight to KC. The gate agent tells us that the plane is sold out. She suggests we could take the 6:00 AM flight tomorrow. We wait.

Karl and Jeff work the phones with our travel agent. They manage to book the wardrobe crew (who has to begin load-in in KC at 6:00 PM tonight) onto the second leg of the cast flight. They score some seats for a 7:00 PM flight for the musicians (who have to be at a 10 AM rehearsal on Tuesday). The rest of us (Jeff, Francesca, Ben - our Musical Director, Suzanne - hair, Lyn - our Lady of the Lake Understudy who was scheduled to sing the National Anthem at the Royals game that evening, Esther - Lady of the Lake, and myself sit and hope for the best. As the 3:30 flight is boarding, they find room on the plane for Francesca, Ben, Susanne and I. We're in the air!

We arrive in Kansas City around 5 PM. The cast flight landed just ahead of us, so we'll ride their bus to the hotel. We stand around the baggage carousel, hoping for the best. Eventually, one of my bags arrives. I was among the lucky ones - Francesca gets no luggage. The United baggage people have us fill out forms and tell us that there's a 9 PM flight, they're sure our luggage will arrive on that plane. They'll deliver our bags to the hotel tonight.

We're off to the hotel around 5:45. (The publicity people were meant to pick up Lynn and I for the ballgame at 5:45. Sad face.) We arrive and I check in to my room at the Hotel Phillips. It is lovely. Ahhh. I put the Yankees game on the radio and order room service.

At 10 PM, Francesca calls me. United has no record of her lost bags. The folks at the KC airport didn't file the paperwork. They think her bags are in Chicago. They will probably arrive tomorrow. I check on my bag. The website says that they don't know where my bags are, but they're performing a "priority trace". United is sorry for any inconvenience this may be causing me. The suitcase I did receive held my underwear, toiletries and shirts. I have the pants and shoes I've been wearing, no socks and no undershirts. I'll survive. I wash the khakis and hang them up to dry before bed.

I awake at 6:30 and find my pants are still very wet. The A/C in my room can't keep up with the 105 degree weather in Kansas City, meaning that my room is warm and a little humid. I iron my pants for half and hour in an effort to dry them. I'm sort of successful. I'm off to work.

Francesca and I both go straight to our trunks in an effort to find something else to wear (she's still in yesterday's outfit). All morning, the United website tells us that they don't know where our bags are, but they're performing a priority trace. Around noon, someone from United calls Suzanne and lets her know that her bag and eight others will be delivered to the hotel shortly. Happily, both of Francesca's and mine are with Suzanne's. The wardrobe crew's luggage is stuck at the airport. United won't deliver it because Fran, Roy and Wayner took an American flight to KC. American won't deliver it because their flight was on time. Jeff has to go out and pick it up. By one o'clock the last of our stuff arrives at the hotel.

While it was a trying day, I applaud most of the Spamily's grace in handling it. I also applaud Karl and Jeff for finding a way to get all of us to Kansas City on Monday. I really thought that someone would have to spend the night in Chicago. That we all got here was no small feat.

I will however, not grumble the next time there is a posting about travel by bus. (It's a six and a half hour drive from St. Paul to Kansas City. You do the math.)

I'll report on the events of Tuesday and beyond later...

Some photos I stole from Fran's blog from St. Paul: