Trifter

Did I tell you the story about my trip to California for Thanksgiving?  Well, if I didn’t then come on in and stay a time.  Coffee?  Sure, I have that and a nice bottle of wine chilling.  Dip a strawberry into the freshly melted chocolate while you’re at it.  Enjoy some popcorn, pretzels, and sentimental Christmas music.  Soak up some comfy heat from the fireplace.  The logs are crackling so peacefully. 

I flew out to California on November 26^th, 2008, and spent four days having fun with my son, eating turkey, and touring.  The flight home took many hours.  I had to take three planes each way.  On my trip home, the plane from Chico to San Francisco was a little old thing that held thirty people, but the flight was only an hour.  Yikes!  It rattled and weaved, and there was some turbulence.  We left right on time at 6:30 p.m. Pacific Time.  Once in San Francisco, I had a 3 ½ hour wait.  Okay, no problem, I just took out my laptop and wrote a little.  After all, what else could I do?  I’m a writer, and I write!  Then the plane we were supposed to take had a mechanical problem.  That caused a 1 ½ hour delay in addition to the 3 ½ hours.  Now I’ve been at the airport for five hours.  Let me tell you, it’s not cheap to eat in San Francisco!  And they have the best chocolate to try to resist!  You know the longer you wait, the hungrier you’re going to get…  Whew, are you tired out yet?  Have some more coffee, or move closer to the fire for some extra warmth.  By now, it’s 12:30 am Pacific time. 

Finally, our plane arrived.  When I say we, I refer to all the passengers as a whole.  Since I am by myself, there is no we.  At this point we still didn’t know why we had to get a new plane.  But I’m thinking, “If something is wrong with that plane, I want a new one!”  All we knew was the plane was in-flight from San Jose.  It arrived, and we finally got to get on.  I was in the second section to load; my number was two.  Wait, that doesn’t mean I get to get on after first!  Oh, no, the first to get on is first class.  Then, they have some other silver class, then silver premium, or something similar!  After that there’s some other class.  So, since that plane is the biggest plane I’ve ever seen, let alone been on, the first half of the plane filled up with all the ‘special’ people.  I should have pinned on my AUTHOR badge!  Okay, after all the front people were seated, they called the first section.  The second was Economy Plus.  That was me!  I didn’t pay Economy Plus prices, but I got Economy Plus seats.  I was in row 32 seat A, and behind me there was a whole empty plane still waiting.  Huge, I mean huge!  Well, it took an hour to load this plane with passengers. By time everyone got their bags put in the overhead bins, and under the seats, it was a whole hour!  We’re into six hours just in San Francisco now.  The flight attendants came on and told us about the broken windshield in the other plane, and also that the plane we were on now, was a chartered plane that had just brought the San Francisco 49’ers back home after a game.  I know you want to ask what everyone else asks.  “Was the plane a mess?”  No, it was very clean and as normal as any other plane.  But, as I said before, HUGE!  Thank Goodness it was huge, because the trip was very turbulent, and rough; there was sleet hitting the side of the plane, and I could see it spraying off the wings.    

Yes, I’m tired at this point.  It’s late now, and I know I have to fly all night and wouldn’t be landing in Detroit until 10:30 a.m. Eastern time.  Should I do the math?  But before Detroit, comes Chicago.  And of course, we landed in a white-out blizzard!  Unfortunately!   Remember the sleet hitting the side of the plane?  Well, it was now snow.  I began to get a little concerned.   I already had it all pictured.  We would land, slide off the runway, then be on the 5:00 news!  Thank God, it didn’t happen.  While we were waiting on the runway, I counted 18 snow plows all on one runway, plowing and salting.  And I also knew in a few hours I’d have to start all over again, and make the final leg to Detroit.  It was time for Starbucks.  A nice hot, tall, strong Starbucks with real cream.  So, much for the diet at this point.  Oh, did I mention that a lot of people missed their connecting flights?  As we sat at the gate still inside the plane, we learned that the jet way was frozen or locked in some way, whereas they couldn’t hook it up to the plane; therefore we would either have to be towed to another gate, or wait till they fixed the jet way.  Some people were sitting on my plane, watching their connecting flight next to us, load, and take off.  We were already over an hour late arriving. 

         Since we arrived late, I only had less than 2 hours to wait.  Umm, nice yummy strong Starbucks.  Did I mention that I had to carry my laptop, my rolling carry-on, AND a hot cup of coffee?  A scone, too?  Plus a bottle of water?  And I had to use the restroom?  Sooner than later, we began boarding.   I wasn’t looking forward to take-off after seeing the weather had worsened.  I didn’t even know what time it was anymore!

          The trip to Detroit was a little rough, but over Lake Michigan it was worse.  I couldn’t see anything except clouds and fog, or fog and clouds, but it was white.  I dreaded one more landing; sure this would be the one we slid off of.  All the way to Detroit Metro, I tried to rest, eyes closed, and wanting more coffee.    We started to descend, but it seemed like we did that forever.  It was still pure white out.   I couldn’t look!  Since I wouldn’t look, I didn’t know that there was no snow, and there was just a light mist.  I was ready to brace for a landing.  When we touched the ground I opened my eyes to see clear across the runway, no snow, no crash landing.  Can you tell I don’t like flying?  Darn kids moving so far away!  It was another 2 hours to drive home.  And one more cup of coffee.   Thank goodness I had a ride waiting; therefore I didn’t have to drive those 2 hours.

          With Christmas around the corner, and me being off work for two whole weeks, I would still jump on another plane, and do it all over again.   After all, it’s my child, my first born.  I think I’ll check for non-stop flights this time.