Pre-Key, Part I

I hope to make this quick, as I have someplace to go and still need to pack, but tomorrow is the beginning of the first leg of the long journey. Lily and I (yes, I said Lily – More on that later), will be heading south and be going to the Keys for a week.

So many issues getting to this point. Initially, I planned on leaving earlier, but committed to doing something for someone and waited because of that. I then had someone say they were going with me and so I waited for Valentine’s to pass so they could go. That passed and then my dog sitter mentioned they wanted Lily crated, so I needed a travel crate. Got the crate, travel companion bailed (in some fashion), and pet sitter was told by her husband they shouldn’t watch Lily.

That leaves us with this last week. The first crate showed on Tuesday but was too small. Ordered and new crate and it showed on Friday. Got the room that I thought would take a dog via Expedia and it turns out they only tell you the hotels that are pet-friendly, not if the room is or not. Yesterday (Saturday before the trip), called the hotel, based on an email from Expedia saying to make sure all things are in order. Left a message with the hotel in the morning. As it is currently Sunday, when I’m typing this, I still have not heard from them. Mid-afternoon yesterday, I called them again and spoke to someone in reservations (initially, I left the message with the front desk). They said that the room I reserved was not pet-friendly and said if I wanted to cancel I needed to go through Expedia. Called them and they canceled the room. Said because of the time-frame, there would be a cancellation fee of one night. At least that’s what I think the lady was saying, she spoke very broken English. She also was not really able to tell me how I know if a room I am planning on reserving is pet-friendly, only if the hotel is. Went on BringFido.com right after getting off the phone with Expedia and found a room for less, closer to the center of Key West and a super pet-friendly staff. Wrote them a few times to make sure that I was dealing with the correct people for what I needed and not only was I, but they gave me great tips. I’ll tell more about it after the initial leg of the trip, just in case.

So, not only was the credit from Expedia in my spam folder, but it was short by a day. I hope my credit card will assist with this.

Off to start packing. I have a full day and a foster dog to still deal with.