Convention 2006

[AGDee]

Originally posted by AGDLynn
Yea!!! I am going to practice lugging my luggage.

Did you see the bruises on my arms from my luggage in Chicago? I took the train and when I bought my train tickets, the info page said that if you were checking luggage, you should arrive 30 minutes early. So, I had a garment bag with dresses and shoes, a big pullman with diet pepsi, notebooks and files, a carry on with makeup/toiletries/jewelry and another carry on with things for the train (magazines, books, snacks, etc) and my medications.

When I went up to the counter to check my luggage, the man there looked at me like I was crazy and said "We don't check luggage for the train from Detroit to Chicago". I started to panic because just getting that stuff from my car to the station was too much. I dragged it all back to my car, dumped the files, handbooks and diet pepsi. Dumped some of the books, reduced the number of shoes I was taking and got it all into one garment bag and one carry on, leaving the rest in my trunk!

That garment bag had to have been 70 pounds! I had to drag it up the steps to the train platform, up the steps of the train, down the aisle til I found a seat and then had to find somewhere to put it! I was in so much pain! At the Chicago station, thank goodness, there were luggage carts and I rented one right away. In the meantime though, one of the zippers on my garment bag had popped open and I lost some of my medication I had bruises from the luggage on both arms and one leg (cuz it kept banging against me). When I got to Chicago, I called my sister-daughter (who was taking the train with a large group of Alpha Gams the next day) and told her to warn everybody! I felt for the poor woman who was carrying the Heritage Fair board!

Not a pleasant experience. Definitely flying to California, definitely checking luggage, definitely only taking things with WHEELS!

ETA: I left everything that was easily replaceable at the hotel when I left because I knew I couldn't carry it all, plus convention souveneirs, tote bag, etc. I even decided there was a pair of shoes I didn't really need anymore!

Dee