Ashley Harrell

This weekend was an absolute whirlwind of events – which happily culminated in the most beautiful wedding last night. Congratulations to Jon and Kat(i)e Schultz! This morning it was an early start for us, as we had to drive out to Oakland Airport to pick up our transportation for the next week. We had reserved a Ford Expedition for the cross-country journey, and our conversation with Hertz Rent-A-Car went something like this:

Hertz: [Looks at us, shrugs shoulders] Sorry, we don’t have it.
Linda and Ashley: WHAT?!
Hertz: [In extremely thick, undefinable accent] Do you want a Ford “H”?
Linda and Ashley: A “H”? What’s a “H”?
Hertz: It’s a Ford. It’s a little smaller than the Explorer.
Linda and Ashley: NO! We need to drive across the country and move an entire apartment!
Hertz: Do you want two small cars?
Linda and Ashley: NO! We need one car! An Expedition or larger.
Hertz: Let me go get my manager. Hubububub… (undefinable chatter)
Linda and Ashley: [Look at each other in a knowing glare of discontent]
Hertz Manager: Hello, I’m Hertz manager. How can I help you?
Linda and Ashley: What’s a Ford “H”?
Hertz Manager: A “H”? Oh… an Edge. It’s an Edge, not a “H.”
Linda and Ashley: You don’t have our Expedition we reserved.
Hertz Manager: Okay, let’s see what we can do. I’ll make a call and try and find something else. In the meantime, why don’t you take a look outside and see if there’s another car that will work.
(Interruption: I must tell you that Hertz Manager is a “quiet talker” and it’s quite hard to understand him.)
Linda and Ashley walk outside and see a black Expedition. Go back in, but our new friend the Hertz Manager tells us he has a Suburban for us – with GPS “at no extra charge.”

Thanks Hertz Manager.

There was more drama, which I won’t bore you with. Basically we got another $100 off because we waited outside for the car to pull up for about 30 minutes with no help from anyone! Got the car back home, packed it up with lots of help from the boys, and now it’s all ready to go to NYC! It’s quite unbelievable we were able to fit everything in – there was a LOT of stuff!

Actually, the one thing I didn’t quite factor in the packing of the Burb, was the suitcase my mom needs to fit in. Silly Ashley.