COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — Gary Edwards hopes to be home tonight. But he’s not counting on it.
“It’s taking longer than I thought,” he said from Orlando, Fla., laughing Thursday during a phone call with The Press.
Edwards’ adventures, like the 1987 film, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” began with a canceled plane flight, this one in New York City on Christmas Eve.
Since, it’s been a comedy of errors, with plenty of moments Edwards might laugh about later, but not as the events unfolded, as reported by our news partners, the Coeur d'Alene Press.
There were taxi troubles, bus breakdowns, unruly Uber drivers, sleepless nights in bus depots and rude receptionists.
“All this time I’m carrying my luggage around,” Edwards said.
The 81-year-old recounted his quest to find his way back to North Idaho.
He had traveled to Charlotte, N.C., for the Dec. 20 premiere of a Christmas cantata he composed with Sandra Lewis-Pringle called "Night of A Miracle.”
Then, he went to New York City for the Dec. 22 opening night of “Stealing Mona Lisa,” a show at Theater for the New City, for which he wrote the music.
To that point, it was a great trip. The performances were well received, Edwards was meeting music industry contacts and feeling good.
Then came the night before Christmas.
Like so many others throughout the U.S. over the holiday weekend, his travel plans were derailed at the airport.
His flight home from New York City was canceled, due to weather.
His Airbnb had expired, leaving him without a place to stay, so he headed to the train station.
How about a ticket to Texas, where he has a relative?
No.
What about Las Vegas, where his son lives?
No.
All right then, Orlando? His friend, a fellow musician and co-writer on their “Wataino” CD, Orlando Sanchez, lives there.
Yes, that works. By bus.
Edwards called Sanchez, “Can I stay with you a couple days until the weather gets better and I can get a flight home?”
"C'mon down," Sanchez said.
Easier said than done.
Edwards couldn’t get a Greyhound bus until the next day, so he had to stay put.
“It’s going to be expensive,” Edwards told his wife in a phone call.
After a search, he found a motel near Times Square for $240.
The bus ride the next morning got him as far as Richmond, Va., where he spent the night at the depot. It was so late when they arrived he feared if he left, he might miss the morning connection.
He sat, walked and waited.
A trashed restroom and a drunken man made things interesting.
“It was a long night,” he said.
The next bus ride took him to Atlanta, where they missed the connection to Orlando.
“I decided to get a hotel just even for a few hours rest,” Edwards said.
He called Travelocity and was 40th in line to get served. He booked and paid for a room at a hotel. Then he called five taxi companies and couldn’t get through. He finally found a taxi by the station and went to the hotel, and climbed what he described as "slippery, icy steps."
“The receptionist was very rude, which seems to be the business fashion these days,” Edwards said. “I couldn’t hear well because I hadn’t had a chance to charge the batteries for my hearing aids. I couldn’t see very well because I momentarily misplaced my glasses. Then, after I checked in she told me the hotel had no water because their pipes had broken. I asked for at least a discount but she said no. It was too late to get another hotel."
Edwards woke up at 4:15 am. He tried to get a taxi, again without success.
“It was too far to walk to the bus station and I was getting desperate, so I asked the hotel security guard if I could pay him for a ride," Edwards said.
For $20, the guard agreed.
Everything went smoothly but the bus blew a tire, which took three hours to fix.
“Another car called the cops to try to get compensation for damage caused by our bus tire but the cop told him just to contact his insurance company,” Edwards said.
During the bus ride, he became the unofficial interpreter for the Spanish speakers on his bus.
“I made a lot of interesting new friends,” Edwards said.
Three days later, after a trip that should have taken about 30 hours, Edwards arrived in Orlando.
"I was pretty beat," he said.
Still, Edwards' journey had plenty of upsides.
He met several people interested in his music and he believes those contacts could lead to more opportunities in the industry.
And he's spending time with Sanchez, who told him that Disney World likes their Wataino CD and his band is going to start playing their music there soon.
"Lots of irons in the fire," Edwards said.
He has a first-class ticket to Salt Lake City, then switches to economy class for the rest of the flight to Spokane.
“My wife said she can pick me up,” he said.
That’s assuming he shows up.
The Coeur d'Alene Press is a KREM 2 news partner. For more from our partners, click here.
