NBC-10-Philadelphia-kimwolterman

Leavin' on a jet plane

When Jim and I were first married we alternated holidays with our parents on Thanksgiving and Christmas. We did not live in the same state as them, so both trips involved fairly long drives. The weather was often a problem for us. A few years after we had Andy, we decided it was too much to make both of those trips, so we stopped traveling on Thanksgiving. Sometimes whichever set of parents was not going to see us at Christmas came and visited us for Thanksgiving.

Andy and Megan have had the same tradition going since they got married, except they would normally fly home for Thanksgiving since it is a long drive from the Washington, DC area. This year they decided to stay in DC for Thanksgiving, as they will have a longer break at Christmas and will be able to spend several days with both families at that time. Jim and I flew out to see them instead. We have never flown on this holiday before, and so we were part of the 43.5 million people flying for Thanksgiving. Somehow we were given TSA pre-check clearance for the flight, and didn't have to stand in the long security line.

Since Katie is relatively new at her job, she did not have any time off accrued. But her boss said that if anyone wanted to work Thanksgiving day (it is an international company so their customers would not be closed), they could take Friday off instead. So she worked that day and then took a red eye from Los Angeles to DC, arriving around 6:00 a.m. Friday morning.

Washington Memorial

We got in Wednesday around dinner time, so Andy and Megan picked us up and we went out to eat. We decided to celebrate Thanksgiving on Friday when Katie could join us, so on Thursday we went downtown to look around. It was surprisingly busy considering most people should have been at home making their turkey dinners.

Friday was kind of a lazy day. The kids hit some door buster sales, but didn't really find too much. Jim and I took a long walk on a wonderful trail that is right by Andy and Megan's condo. We came upon a dog park that had to be five acres in size. It was amazing to see all the dogs playing with each other. For our Thanksgiving meal, Megan prepared Cornish hens with dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, a lettuce salad, and green bean casserole. For dessert, Katie made sweet potato cupcakes with toasted marshmallow frosting, and Megan made a chocolate mousse pie. Delicious!

Thanksgiving Dinner

On Saturday we went back downtown to the United States Botanic Garden Conservatory. None of us had been there before. Part of the gardens are outside, but most of the displays are inside. As it was quite chilly, we were thankful for that. It was very crowded, but we managed to enjoy the experience anyway. From there I had suggested that we go see the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, which is across from Catholic University. I had seen reviews on TripAdvisor that said it was nicer than the Cathedral Basilica St. Louis, and I just couldn't imagine that being the case. I also commented on the fact that we always seem to seek out churches when we travel abroad and never take the time to see the ones here in the United States. Am I glad we went to see it! It is truly beautiful, and is at least on par with the cathedral here in St. Louis in the interior anyway.

Immaculate Conception Interior

Immaculate Conception

That night we had pizza in the condo, and played Five Crowns which is a card game. Jim and I played it for the first time this summer, so I picked up the game for the trip. We had a lot of fun playing, but I am just going to say that my family is pretty competitive!

Jim and I had a noon flight on Sunday, so after breakfast the kids took us to the airport. It was an easy traveling experience, despite the crowds. Katie's flight was early Monday morning, so the three of them had some time alone together, which was nice. They went to see the new Hunger Games movie, and then played cards that night.

It is hard to believe in a few short weeks Andy and Megan will be driving here for Christmas. We will miss Katie this year as she is unable to get any time off, and that makes me sad. Sounds like we will be having a non-traditional Christmas this year, too.

Today is the first time in 2013 that the 13th day of the month falls on a Friday. (Not the last though, as we'll have another one in December.) Where did the superstition about Friday the 13th begin? I was reading online about the different theories, and none of them strikes me as being too accurate. Nevertheless, many people fear the day. Did you know that a fear of Friday the 13th is called Paraskevidekatriaphobia? I had no idea. Nor can I pronounce it. Who comes up with these words?

Regardless, I am throwing caution to the wind and flying to Germany on Friday the 13th. Maybe the plane will be less crowded because all the Paraskevidekatriaphobes will be staying home. Ha! All I have left to do is change over my purse to my curse and I will be set. Here's to a flight free of screaming children! Auf Wiedersehen!

I am back home from my adventures in Los Angeles. I spent the final few days with Katie picking out a couch and bar stools, setting up a bank account, lining up insurance, and shopping for the necessary items she will need to get by until her stuff can be shipped to her. She was also busy making contacts and lining up interviews. In a lot of ways it does not seem real that she is staying out there permanently. She has traveled so much during the past year that it felt to me like a temporary stop on the road we call life. The song "Wide Open Spaces" came on my iPod while I was with her, and I thought the lyrics were so poignant of my feelings.

I decided to book a flight to head home on Sunday. I went back and forth as I had heard the weather forecast in St. Louis. But I had only reserved my hotel room through Saturday night. I probably could have added another day, but quite frankly after 11 days I was ready to head home to Jim and my own bed. My flight was scheduled to leave at 12:25, so Katie dropped me off at the airport about 10:20. I checked my bag and printed out my boarding pass. My first clue to potential problems should have been that I wasn't charged for the bag. I attributed that to the fact that I booked my flight so late and paid an obscene price for it. The second clue was my boarding time, but I didn't even notice that. I just looked at the boarding pass long enough to ensure that it was Flight 818 to St. Louis. My bad!

About an hour went by before I checked my boarding pass again, and then I freaked out when it said that boarding was to begin at 3:40, with the flight departing at 4:10. Holy crap! I ran to check one of the boards, and sure enough the flight was delayed. After speaking with an American representative I found that due to bad weather in St. Louis on Saturday, many flights had been cancelled and it was balling everything up on Sunday. Bad weather on Sunday added to the problems, especially since the Midwest, Dallas and Chicago were all experiencing delays. Darn it! I should have gone with my gut and booked for Monday.

So I hung out at the airport all day, and mid-afternoon my flight disappeared from the board altogether. The American rep assured me it was because they had no room on the board and bumped our flight to add a different one on. Liar, liar, pants on fire. When I asked later, I was told that the gate had changed. When I went to the new gate, there was no mention of Flight 818 on the screen at the gate. I had to check with other passengers to make sure I was in the right place. Finally they 'fessed up that there was a mechanical problem with our plane, but they thought it could be fixed. The woman next to me said they were told the exact same story on Saturday. She was supposed to fly to St. Louis at 8:15 Saturday morning. They fed the passengers b.s. about delays, then a maintenance problem, then the fact that they thought they had a different plane to put them on, until finally at 9:00 Saturday night they told them they weren't going anywhere and put them on the Sunday 12:25 flight. So when the gate attendant said our plane could not be repaired but they thought they could get another plane for us, we did not hold out a lot of hope.

We finally began our taxi down the runway at around 7:00. We got a free snack on the plane, but only if you were smart enough to ask for it. They weren't offering, that's for sure. We arrived in St. Louis at 12:40 a.m. Poor Jim had to stay up to come and get me, and he had been on a challenging motorcycle trip all weekend. Next time I will listen to my gut.