We're goin' back to Cali.

It's been three years since all of us have hit up the West Coast.  We decided it was high time we make the trek.  But this was not going to be just a simple flight out and back, oh no.  We decided to make things as complicated as possible.  Let me try to lay it out for you:

1. Chattertons drive to California.
2. Chattertons bring Grandma back with them.
3. Brooke flies to California with Grandma for a week of one-on-one time.
4. I fly out to California with the other three kids.
5. Glenn flies out to California a week later.
6. All six of us fly back to Cleveland together.  By this time, its August.

Can you figure out how many separate plane reservations that amounts to?  FOUR.  (Just trust me on this one.) One of which involves booking a child by herself.  Just a bit nerve-wracking, I must say.

And of course, things have changed just a little since the last time I booked 6 tickets. First there's the price.  A "good" price on a ticket is about $100 more than it used to be.  The good deals are all online, and if I want to book with an actual person who can do all four reservations for me at once thereby guaranteeing that my 9-year-old daughter is indeed on the same flight as her grandmother, I have to pay an extra $25.  I already have to pay that much for every bag I check (something else that is new), so of course I try for the online booking.

I get two computers going so that I can be as efficient as possible.  I am loading the info into one computer for me and the 3 kids, for Brooke into the other.  My reservation goes through fine.  Orbitz is "unable to process" Brooke's.  I call the airline directly, as Orbitz suggests, who tells me to go to the airline's website and type in a different flight number.  Okay, yay, that works, but the price comes up as $800.  Yeah, that is not going to work for me.  Neither is the $500 that the agent sees on his screen.  I would really like to stick with the "low" price offered on Orbitz, so the agent transfers me to someone else.  As I am on hold, there is enough time for me to refresh the search, re-enter the information, and it all goes through. 

Big sigh of relief.

The other two reservations went through without a hitch, Mom has found discount tickets to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (favorite field trip destination of my youth), and our summer plans are set.

California, here we come!