Our youngest child is set to graduate from Navy Recruit Training soon, which means a trip up to the Navy's only Recruit Training Center in Chicago. By car, that is 8 hours 1 way. Sitting in a car for that length of time is very, uhm, uncomfortable. TDH (tall dark and handsome=my husband) and I spent hours online last Sat trying to figure out the best fit. Not only do we have to take into consideration my EDS issues, but we want to spend the maximum amount of time with our baby girl. The Navy gives the graduates 3 days of liberty (usually from 8am to 6pm each day). So, if we drove we would have to leave early afternoon on Sunday to make it back and recover enough for work on Monday, which means missing half a day with her. We looked at taking the train, which would be fun, but the train schedule would put us leaving on Sunday morning at 9. So that was out. Price wise, it was too expensive to rent a car locally. Since we don't live that close to a major airport the "best rates" were $40 and up per day. We could have driven to St. Louis, where we could get a daily rate of $10.95. But then, what is the point? The whole reason we were thinking about a rental was 1- better gas mileage 2- why put the wear and tear on our vehicle when we could put it on theirs? With a 16 hour round trip, that would for sure be an oil change, and regular wear and tear.
After searching many options, we ended up getting plane tickets and a rental car in Chicago. (Where the daily rate at O’Hare was 8.95!) That way we don't have to leave until 4 on Sunday, we'll be back here in plenty of time to drive home and have some recovery time before bed. So now I'm faced with the challenge of figuring out how to fly comfortably. Thankfully, it's a short flight, but airline seats are not the most comfortable and there is no room to move around. I do okay in the car as long as I have wiggle room, for about 3 hours, after that I have to do something. When we drove to FL last Jan to visit our middle daughter, I would move to the back seat while TDH drove, so I could lay with my legs and back stretched out. Since then, my right hip has started sublexing and dislocating regularly, to the point that walking is a chore. So, I have to consider that also, when tackling the airport! It's a 2.5 hour drive to the St. Louis Airport, then getting from the car to the building, then from the entrance to the terminal, then the actual flight, and from the terminal to the rental car desk, from that desk to the rental car.
Wow that seems rather stupid, but it's really necessary. For people who don't have EDS or something like it, they wouldn't give it a second thought. But for me, the whole thing is an event that has to be choreographed like a production number.... sheeesh. I have a wheel chair that’s just a manual one, nothing special, but I don’t want to attempt to log that thing around…. and the doc and mobility expert are still working on getting me approved for a scooter like device, but even if I had it I wouldn’t attempt taking it on a trip like this….. some how I don’t think that a scooter could be classified as a carry on bag!
Any of you EDSers out there have suggestions on how to choreograph this to work out so I’m not dying of pain by the time it’s over, let me know!
1 comment:
I'm fairly certain that if you have tickets you can request a wheel chair (from the airline provider) to use in the airport. That should help you move through terminal. You will still need to walk from your vehicle into the airport desk.
Hopefully something like that is available.
Good luck on the trip.
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