Have you ever had a vacation that you were so excited for but then got cancelled? My GrandPal Jim sure has. On Jim's vacation to Antarctica, he got a little - no, a lot - unlucky.
At the time this story was written, Jim was 88 years old and lived in an apartment at Chartwell Montgomery Village Retirement Residence. He had travelled to many places around the world!
When Jim and his wife, Isabelle, first set out to Antarctica they flew to Atlanta and then from there to Santiago, where they met their daughter Mary. They stayed with Mary for three days. They intended to fly to Ushuaia on the fourth day but got a telephone call.
Ring, ring, ring. "I've got it," Jim said as he picked up the phone.
"Hello? Who is this? Why are you calling me?"
"I am George, calling from the boat company that is taking you to Antarctica. I'm calling to tell you that your trip has been cancelled because this week's ship was damaged by an iceberg. We will give you your money back and half off the next trip if you want to come back next year."
Jim was disappointed when he heard this but was willing to come back. Isabelle was extremely upset.
One year later, Jim and Isabelle decided to try again. They went from Toronto to Washington D.C. As everyone stepped off the plane, Jim started to look for his flight to Buenos Aires. But it was not there.
This time there was no phone call to tell them their flight was cancelled. Jim and Isabelle kept searching to find it. After a while, they decided to ask the customer service.
"Where is our flight? We can't find it," asked Jim.
"Well, the flight from Washington to Buenos Aires has already departed because of the big snowstorm outside."
"What? There is no way that is possible. We are so early. Are you sure?" said a frustrated Jim.
"Yes, I'm sure."
They ended up waiting in a hotel for three or four days until the next available flight. Finally, they had a flight from Washington to Buenos Aires.
Once they got off the plane they had to take another flight and then got onto the boat. Finally, they made it to Antarctica. They had so much joy in their hearts. They saw so many beautiful penguins ranging from about knee height to almost as tall as Jim's shoulders! They also had 2,000-year-old ice in their drinks!
In this insane, crazy, awesome, fun story Jim had mixed emotions while telling my group the story. Everything went wrong except that nobody got hurt.