What’s up everyone?
I have to admit something to you all. You know those poor souls that I had mentioned in my previous post. Well, I happened to be one of those poor souls. Since Erin was going to be out of town for a work training, I was going to be spend the holiday by myself. I was offered, by our friends, to come over if I wanted to. I probably would have done this, but I had been invited by my family to fly out to California to spend Thanksgiving with them. Which sounded like a good idea to me. Especially since I haven’t seen my family in person for quite sometime now. I was a little hesitant at first. I would be fly out Thanksgiving Day and flying back the following Sunday, which is considered the busiest day to fly all year. If you know me or have been following me, you know that I do not do well with large crowds and this was looking to be the busiest it has been in years. I was not looking forward to dealing with all the people, but I figured that it would be worth it in the end to see the fam. So we went to work to set things in motion to get me out there.
Everyone has heard horror stories about traveling over the holidays. I for one want to avoid as much discomfort as possible. I have never flown on a major holiday and especially not out of a large airport like O’Hare. So I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I tried to come up with best course of action that I could. My flight was fairly early in the morning. I figured traffic would not be too big of an issue. In all honesty I did add about a half hour to my pick up time for the airport. You never know what can happen until it does.
The roads were pretty clear, the weather was not an issue, and I made it to the airport with out major incident. The only issue I had was when I made it to the airport. It was lucky that I add that extra time. For something I did not expect or even thought would happen. As I passed through the doors I noticed everybody kind of milling around. This was incredible odd to me. I figured they would lined up going through security. I head off to investigate and to my surprise there were no TSA agents manning the check point. It has never occurred to me that they shutdown security. I always thought that they had shifts and it was manned all the time. Even on my late flight I have always seen someone there, so not sure when they actual close up shop for the night. Dumbfound, I made my way to the back of the line and staked my claim. The poor lady behind me was having a bit of a panic attack for her flight was getting close to boarding. I wasn’t too worried, I still had plenty of time before my plane departed.
Finally they opened up the check point and we all shuffled forward waiting for our turn. Once through security it became a free-for-all as the natives scattered. Rushing here and there trying to make sure they made to where they need to be. As for me, like I said I still had plenty of time. I casually made my way to my gate without a real care. Sometimes you just have to smile to yourself and laugh. For in my casual stroll, I had passed many of those poor souls that were rushing to their gates. I found me a comfy little spot, if there is such a thing at the airport, sat down and waited for the next part of my journey to begin.
My flight to LA went fairly smooth. Very little to no turbulence to speak of and very friendly row mates. We didn’t talk a whole lot, but the conversation we had were pleasant. We did fly over something unexpected and something I haven’t seen in a very long time. The Grand Canyon in all of its glory. In all the times that I’ve flown to LA, we have never done that. When you are in the park, you can tell that its huge, but to actually see it from the sky shows you just how big it actual is and it’s massive. It’s no wonder why it can be seen from space.
Once we made landfall I said my pleasantries to my row mates and made my way to baggage claim. Here I was greeted by warm smiling faces of my parents and two dozen Randy’s Doughnuts. Not to sound too much of a gluten, but I’ve had my share of doughnuts from quite a few places and I have to admit these were some of the best I’ve ever eaten. I was not disappointed. We made our way back to my parents place and await the time for Thanksgiving dinner that my brother and his family was preparing for us.
Finally it was time for dinner. The aroma of the meal filled the house and made our mouths water. We gathered around the table and dished up. It was good to be able to see everyone that I haven’t been able to see in a long time. I did feel a little sad that Erin was not there to enjoy this with us, but she was having some awesome adventure of her own. We talked and played games into the night until we decided that it was time to turn in for the night. Which was a great idea to me. It had been a long day of traveling for me and I could use a good nights rest.
We had a couple of small adventures while I was out there. I won’t go into too much detail, for I’ll be talking about them in the next few posts. My return trip on Sunday was less eventful than my flight out. I would like to say that it was all do to my planning, but lets face it, it was luck not skill that won this day. I guess traveling, whether it over the holidays or any other day, is what you make of it. For me it wasn’t as stressful as it could have been. Others may not have had it as easy. Just remember to take a deep breath. It may not be as smooth as you would like, but it will all workout in the end.
I hope that your Thanksgiving was as good as mine.
As always Thanks for stopping by. Until next time.
Josh
No comments:
Post a Comment