The Sisterhood of the Travelling...Luggage

This summer, a childhood dream for both my daughter and I came true when we booked a trip to Disneyworld. We thought we had everything planned...we were wrong! Upon repacking our belongings, stuff was being hurled thru the air. This was a desperate attempt to relieve some of the stress when we found out how much our luggage would cost to fly with us! My daughter was trying to be helpful, but as the tension mounted, I was flinging items out of my bags before the taxi came. Right before we left, it was discovered an aerosol had been releasing into my luggage, but thankfully contained to the zippered bag. Nonetheless, I simply wanted to be done with it all and get on the plane. We checked in three hours early...I had only two hours sleep and I had not eaten breakfast. Our luggage cost $60.00, which seemed ridiculous, but we had no choice. The airline we flew with will remain anonymous as I am still waiting to hear an update from them. Let's just say I should have known things were about to get worse when my daughter paid $9.00 to watch The Goonies! We had a layover in Texas, which was experiencing a massive heat wave. Upon transferring planes, we were informed the air conditioning on the plane had stopped working. When offered our complimentary beverage, we received a 1/4 glass of juice. I wanted to blurt out, "My diet does allow me more you know," but I refrained. The only highlight came when my daughter and I flipped thru the free Travel Magazine to see all of the gadgets that never made it to "As Seen On TV."  We arrived later than expected at 11pm. I had an awful feeling that our luggage never made it. I was correct. Upon speaking with the rudest customer service (the woman breathed fire), we were told our baggage would follow us to the Hotel. I had to bite my tongue not to reply: "Really? And how will that be? On the back of a Florida gator?" Thinking it could not get any worse, suddenly the both of us realized we had just missed the last bus to our hotel and now had to pay $50.00 for transportation. Arriving exhausted, I checked us into the Hilton in Walt Disney World. We met another fellow Canadian who also was missing all of his luggage and his medications. Luckily, for this man, he did receive his baggage. Retreating up to our room, we did not realize our luggage was travelling more than we were. We wore the same clothes, as Day 1 turned into Day 2 and finally Day 3, without our belongings! Both my daughter and I tried to remain in good spirits, but when you have absolutely nothing to wear, not even your toothbrush or a change of clothes, disappointment begins to set in! We could not go anywhere as we waited for the arrival of our bags. Staring down at the pools, hot tubs and outside lounge, we felt much like Tom Hanks trapped at the Airport. We started to get creative with our outfits and swapped shirts, jackets etc to make it appear as if we did not look disheveled, tired, and grumpy. Without my make-up and hair products though, I resembled a daunting image of Mrs. Doubtfire crossed with Carrot Top. Finally, on Day 3, we received a call that our luggage had travelled from Vancouver, British Columbia to Houston, Texas, then onto to Los Angeles, back to Houston and finally Orlando, Florida. When we received our luggage, it was as if Christtmas came early! I embraced my makeup or as I like to refer it to: my face in a bag (-: A clean pair of undies embodied freedom, while my daughter was thrilled to get her comfy clothes she had missed dearly. I learned a valuable lesson then for future travels; pack your carry on with all of the essentials and pack your underneath luggage as if your will never see it again! In fact, an empty suitcase with only a note inside should suffice. The note should read: "If you have found this baggage, please return it to Middle Earth, where all of the other lost bags seem to end up!"