Halloween Misadventures II

Last Halloween, I posted about how I got my truck stuck in the mud and lost in Atascosa county, Texas on my way to my first ranch party without knowing what a ranch party was, and ended up spending what definitely went down as the worst Halloween of my life in a tree in 55 degree cold with just a hoodie listening to my 1989 album on my phone for about 3 hours until someone was able to sober up enough a drive me home.

This Halloween, I did something that may be a mix of stupid, idiotic, reckless, impulsive, and desperate.... and it was the best Halloween of my life!!! A couple of blogs ago, I mentioned how my dog, Archie, left this world to be in the next. The weekend that happened, I missed out on Taylor Swift's The 1989 World Tour in Arlington. 11 months of planning quickly turned into a weekend of intense crying, screaming, and family comfort, which I will be eternally grateful for. Flash forward a week later, call it big-fan-desperation, I look up tour dates still within the U.S., and find there was only three days left, the most affordable one being in Tampa, Florida. So it was either forget about the whole thing and live with the fact I won't see this particular tour, or shove out some major cash and catch a flight and ticket to Florida on Halloween night... I am a more dedicated fan than even thought I was. In what had to be the craziest thing I've ever done, I actually did buy a ticket to the Tampa show and a plane ticket. I actually got to see the show, and it was AWESOME! But this isn't called "Misadventure" for nothing. The journey there was hell.

Obstacle Number 1, heavy rain actually flooded some part of the airport, and my flight to Atlanta which would take me to Tampa got delayed. The upside that came out of that, the airline was able to get me on another flight to Tampa once I got to Atlanta, and I even got an upgrade.

Obstacle Number 2, I get to the Tampa airport to pick up the rental car I reserved the week before, BUT... I get to the counter, and they tell me they cannot rent cars out to people under 25. I am 19, and I find that out right as I am trying to get to the stadium! So, I'm out of a vehicle I already paid the fee for, and the object I was going to put my stuff in since they don't allow backpacks in the stadium. Seems like all signs point to abandoning ship, right? Well, I don't quit so easily. I pay for a shuttle service to the stadium, but that's where I hit Obstacle 3.

Obstacle Number 3, 55,000 people are all trying to make it to the same location, so there's bound to be traffic, right? There is. I saw people walking faster to the stadium than the line of cars was moving, so I tell the shuttle driver to pull up somewhere and drop me off. I basically hoof it until I make it to the stadium... with my backpack still with me.

Obstacle Number 4, the stadium has a policy against backpacks, and I don't have my rental car that I was going to stow it away in. Surprisingly, this was my biggest fear that was thankfully the easiest thing to overcome. The security people were totally fine with my backpack. I just showed what was in there and they let me in. I guess it was because people were in costume, it being Halloween, and some people had to carry some bigger bags for things. So finally. I get to enjoy the show.

IT WAS AWESOME IN ALL OF ITS 1989ey GLORY!!!! From Welcome To New York, to Blank Space, to Clean, to Love Story, to Shake It Off, to EVERYTHING!!! SPECIAL GUESTS! LIGHT UP BAND FOR EVERY PERSON THERE! FIREWORK FINALE! AHHHHHH! This was my first stadium concert, and it was beyond belief. So totally worth it, even when Obstacle 5 came up.

Obstacle Number 5, there was no shuttle service back to the airport, no uber drivers able to make it, and I still had no rental car to get back to and drive with. So I rely on Google Maps to having to walk all the way back to the airport. I try multiple routes, and all of them came up with the same end result, fences up around every more easily accessible parts of this huge airport. So I am left to have to walk the long way to the airport, which involves a highway. A few minutes into my walk, while still rethinking my route, I run into two girls who are also trying to get to the airport. So we form a group to try and get to the same place. Figure strength in numbers, and as long as we stick together, nothing bad should happen. Luckily nothing does, but we end up walking for an hour and a half until we are able to flag down a taxi. I literally run right in front of it as its parking at the 7/11 station we were at. $20 each later, we are able to get a ride and I finally make it to the airport right as its about to be 1 in the morning with my flight to back to Atlanta leaving in 5 hours. 2 flights later, here I am.

Was it worth it? Hell yes. Do I give up easy? Does it sound like I do based on everything I did in the last 30 hours? Do I still have work later on today despite all this? Yes. Is this and last Halloween the start of some kind of trend where every Halloween from now on is going to be some kind of misadventure for me? I hope to GOD it doesn't. Next year, I would really just like to have a normal Halloween. Is that too much to ask?

Now since I haven't gotten much sleep in the last 30 hours, I am going to rest up before I need to go to work. Hope you guys had a good Halloween and stayed safe. Till next time.