Cruise and Tour Group Specialist

My career in the travel industry began in 1980, yes 40 years ago, when I worked for Tag-A-Long Tours in Moab, Utah.  I began as a receptionist and taking reservations from people wanting to do a White-Water River Adventure.  The job responsibilities evolved into hosting departures on the rivers, making airline and hotel reservations.  This led to my travel advisor career.  At that time every airline reservation was called into the airline with details written on a paper res card, then the ticket was handwritten.

In 1983 I relocated to Orem, Utah, and took a position at another river company/travel agency.  This was beginning into full travel services, airlines, hotels, tours, and cruise lines. Plus my first exposure to BYU group football tours. 

The first football group I accompanied was a BYU Fan Tour when BYU played Hawaii.  Everything we did was manual, there was no Internet and no ticket printers.  We called all the tour operators and cruise lines then hand wrote paper airline tickets.  Who would ever have imagined ticketless travel in those days?

From 1985 until 1999 I worked for a large multi-branch agency in Las Vegas, Nevada as the managing director of their largest branch.  This was an exciting time to be in the travel industry. People were very interested in traveling.  Cruises were popular, chartered planes to Cancun, Mexico from Las Vegas were always full.   You didn’t need a passport to go to Mexico or on a cruise, just a birth certificate and a driver's license.  The times were great, and people had money. 

In the late summer of 1999, I moved to Oklahoma City and started working for Bentley Hedges Travel, then I  married Bentley Hedges.  Here we are today 2020.  I often wonder where the time has gone.  During my nearly 21 years at Bentley Hedges Travel, I have had the opportunity to travel with Bentley all over the world.  Some of my favorite places are Italy and France.  I’ve cruised around the cape and experienced the rough waters in the Strait of Magellan. We keep a bag packed just in case an opportunity is presented to go somewhere.

Little did I know in 1983 that my little stint with BYU Football group charters that I would be assisting Bentley Hedges Travel prepare and execute the University of Oklahoma Foot Ball Tours all over the United States.   This coming from a small-town girl who had never stepped foot in a football stadium.  Now we are the University of Oklahoma season ticket holders and look forward to each new season and what “bowl trip” we might go on.

Will I retire, not until Bentley does.  He claims he can’t even spell the word.  So here I am to help you plan your adventures, cruise, and tours of a lifetime.