Tuesday, May 25, 2021
Portland Oregon en route to Los Angeles en route to Amsterdam
CATCH 72
My apologies to Joesph Heller, although my Catch 72 and his Catch 22 have a few commonalities. Both involve airplanes. Both involve flying over bodies of water. Both involve constantly changing government rules, regulations and restrictions.
To save money, we searched the Internet to find the cheapest flight to Athens. We concocted the plan to fly to Los Angeles to catch a one stop flight to Athens, passing through Amsterdam. At $635 compared to $1400, it looked like a great deal . . . And it was. However, we neglected to understand the restrictions in place in the Netherlands regarding COVID. After we had booked the flights (PDX -> LAX, LAX -> AMS, AMS -. ATH) we discovered the Netherlands requires a negative COVID test to enter. No problem. But, they want the test taken 72 hours before landing. We booked our flight for a Wednesday landing (late Tuesday night Toledo time), meaning our test needed to be administered on Sunday. Kaiser, our healthcare provider is not open on Sunday. They suggested a Saturday afternoon test, but that would be too early by about 8 hours. We would land in Amsterdam 80 hours after our test. Switch to Rite-Aid for a Sunday morning test, no problem. Our test was at 11:00am. 60 hours before our landing. No problem . . . Except the test takes up to 72 hours to get results and maybe longer if they are slammed with test requests. Catch 72. The earliest we could get a test was 60 hours before landing. The test takes 72 hours to get results. Without the results upon landing in Amsterdam we are not allowed to get our connecting flight to Athens and must wait at the airport until the results come through. Catch 72. As of this writing we are 44 hours post test and still no results. We may vacation in Amsterdam for an extended period of time before we move on to Athens. Travel in the age of COVID.
Bill and Pat Caldwell offered to drive us to Portland Monday afternoon and deposit us in the Best Western Pony Soldier Inn, our jump off point. We thoroughly enjoyed the peace and quiet of our empty hotel room. We spent the afternoon reading, about Athens, the news, Facebook posts, the Corfu Trail, etc. Both of us were amazed at how exhausted we felt and relished the chance to lie on the beds, uninterrupted and semi-comatose.
Taking Flight
We were up at 4:00am this morning. We fell asleep at 8:30 last night, giving us 7+ hours of sleep. We felt rested. After a breakfast of oatmeal and apples in a cup and some Kind Apple Cinnamon cereal, a shower and a quick inventory of our stuff, we caught the taxi the hotel had ordered for us and headed to PDX.
Has something happened to cause the TSA agents to change from mean to kind? Everyone we dealt with was conversational, friendly and helpful.
We had an hour to hang around waiting for our flight to board. When they started calling up the boarding groups (A,B,C,D,E) we realized how empty our flight would be. Only one person boarded for each group A-C, D had about 10 people and E (the cheap seats at the back of the plane-meaning us) had about 15 people. Lots of room on this flight.
I nerded out on the takeoff and climb to altitude, tracking our progress with a GPS app.
Since hiking the PCT, flying over California has become an emotional trip down memory lane. I can see every foot of the trail, all the landmark geographic features, the lakes I swam in, the rivers I crossed, the mountains the trail skirts around. It brings back memories of the ecstasy I feel when out on the trail and the people I shared it with, including Derek from Ireland, EMT from Bellevue, Huck Finn, Top Notch and others. I have to get back on the trail next summer-any trail-as long as it is long both in distance and time.
LAX
Remember how this post started, all that talk of Catch 72? Well, we nearly got bitten by it.
We landed about 9:50, deplaned and walked for 40 minutes to get to our departure gate (221) through a labyrinth of passages under the airport. The hallways were wide and well lit with interesting historical and geographical information artfully placed on the walls to distract us from the reality of walking the length of the airport in tunnels under taxi ways.
We were quite surprised to see NO ONE at the gate. Granted, we were three hours early, but I have never seen a concourse so empty (see photo).
We chose a comfy seat by the big windows, ate our lunch of apples, cheese and sandwiches I had packed yesterday, and patiently cruised on our phones, waiting for our flight to board at 1:15.
About 12:50 I heard our name called over the public address system requesting we come to the counter. Upon arrival, they asked to see our passport and the negative COVID test results.Uh-oh. Sally was in the bathroom at the time. I explained the Catch 72 senario in four part harmony with circles and arrows on the back of each passport and they stopped me right there and said, “KID, have you got a negative COVID test?” I said no, but showed them the email proving I had had the the test and was waiting for the results. Sally arrived about this time. The attendant, a man of about 45 was kind and patient and said I should call the lab and see when it would be done. I called Rite-Aid and was told there was no number to call, but was given an email address to use to request a status update. I fired off a quick email, then reconsidered and called Rite-Aid again to demand a phone number. He said he didn’t have one and the lab didn’t give it out or they would be inundated with calls. Sounded logical. I reported my findings to the attendant. It was now 1:00pm and they were making preparations to board passengers. He told me it would be up to his supervisor to decide if we could board. She arrived and said to pursue proof until 1;20, then return to the desk and they would decide our fate. At 1:10 I got a form email from PNWHealth with phone number on it. I called immediately. As the seconds ticked by the voice at the other end of the line said she was sure it would be completed by tomorrow and that if I really wanted to find out to call the lab, not PNWHealth. She did not have a number. 1:15. I searched the web for Biolab Research and found an office in New Jersey or Chicago-it is all a blur now. Didn’t see anything from Washington. I called, hoping to be transferred or given a proper number. The receptionist told me I had reached the right number and that she could help me. A country wide operation! She searched her database for our names and could not find us. I reminded her we had the test in Centrailia Washington and she was on the east coast or mid west or something but she insisted I had the right place to inquire about it. The fact that she had no record of our test told her it had not been entered in the system and was probably waiting to be added. Not a comforting idea. I quizzed her repeatedly about the whole issue and came away satisfied that she knew her stuff, but dismayed that they hadn’t even looked at our test yet.
It was now 1:22 and time to face the desk. Sally had already walked over. I followed, ready to relay our findings. The clerk began to ask what we had found when the supervisor, out of the blue, said we were okay to board. huh? I guess our proof of vaccination and elderly countenances found her pity bone and she cleared us for take off. After a few minutes of confusion with our electronic boarding passes, they issued us paper ones and we were walking down the jetway.
While on the plane, waiting to pull away from the terminal I continued to call and write pleading emails to the lab to expedite our tests so they would be complete when we got to Amsterdam in 10 hours.
While on the plane Sally struck up a conversation with a lady (Sally? Really?) and found out a man on the plane did not even try for a COVID test. He is traveling on to Nigeria after Amsterdam. Curiouser and Curiouser. Catch 72. We are living it.
Amsterdam
The flight seemed short. How can that be, it lasted 10 hours. Smooths and uneventful. After about 4 hours I found a row of four center seats unoccupied, lifted all the arm rests and made a full bed. I spent most of the flight there, prone and dozing off and on. We landed in Amsterdam at 9:00am (Midnight Toledo time). Sally didn’t sleep a wink and watched three movies. We began to wonder what would happen at the gate.
We deplaned and walked up the jet way. A line had formed as it entered the terminal. We saw three airport officials checking passports and COVID vaccination forms. Uh-oh!
Sally surveyed their demeanors and picked the kindest looking man to engage, a man in his 60’s with kind eyes. I quickly brought up the email that verified we had been tested, even though the results were not in. He checked our passports and then asked for our vaccination proof. Then he asked for our negative PCR results. We quickly explained that we had tested Sunday morning, but that our tests were not back yet. He surveyed my email stating we had gotten the test, asked if we were traveling on today. We said yes, in just a few hours. He thought a moment, closed our passports, handed them back and welcomed us to the Netherlands, with a smile. Really? We’re in? We love the Dutch. Kindest people on the planet. Woo hoo, on to Athens.
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