A Journey of 3000 Miles - A Christmas Travel Story

Unfortunately, I am going to have to add the horror stories that have already been told about Holiday travel this season. We left our warm and comfortable home at 4:15am on Saturday morning. Our flight from Albany was initially delayed 45 minutes but so was our connection in Cleveland so we weren't too worried. As we were boarding the plane, Jason heard the gate agent talking about another delay. We told her we wanted to wait in the terminal instead of boarding a tiny, cold plane with two small children. With no trace of sympathy whatsoever, she told us we should board the plane as she would be closing the gate so the flight would be listed as an on-time departure. Now, as you may recall this flight was already delayed 45 minutes so how that statement even makes sense I leave to you to figure out. Only in the illogical, unfeeling realm of air travel is a statement like that even possible.

Reluctantly we boarded the plane which was in fact very small and very cold. We were on the first flight of the day and the heat had not been turned on. The plane was so cold that later when I used the plane's bathroom I notice that the water left in the sink basin in the plane's bathroom was frozen. Jason and I tried to keep the kids warm while we waited...and waited...and waited. We sat on the tarmac in the plane for two and a half hours. The friction level on the runway or something like that was too low so we couldn't take off. Then we had to be deiced. As the minutes (and hours) ticked by, we begin to worry about getting stuck in Cleveland. Banding together with some fellow passengers we checked our Cleveland connection on Jason's Blackberry and tried to get information and assistance from our flight attendant. Better to try and get water from a stone. We even contemplated deboarding but were told they would have to deice the plane again and the other passengers would be delayed. So we flew to Cleveland.

We missed our connection in Cleveland by only 30 minutes. We went to the President's Club (Thanks John) to relax in relative comfort and more importantly get help re booking our flight. The people working in the Presidents Club deserve medals for how hard they worked to get us to LA. The next flight to LAX left at 2:30pm. We were able to get one seat with the rest of us on standby. We decided I would take the seat and fly with Jane on my lap. We were out of baby food and were running out of diapers. If Jason and Josh couldn't get on with standby, they would try to get on the next flight at 6:00pm. If that didn't work they would have to spend the night in Cleveland but they would get to fly first class on a flight the following night at 6:00pm.

I was able to get on the 2:30 flight after it was delayed another hour. Jason and Josh were not. That's when things started to get bad. Halfway through the flight to LA I began to feel like I was going the faint or throw up. I paged the flight attendant and asked her to take Jane so I wouldn't drop her or barf on her. That's when I had the joy of using an airsickness bag for the first time in my life, over and over again. The poor men sitting on either side of me were treated to a show they will never forget. I spent the rest of the flight miserably. Luckily the man sitting next to me had kids of his own at home and he and the flight attendant helped me take care of Jane who couldn't understand why her mother kept handing her to other people. They were absolute angels! The flight attendant even put a cool rag and ice on the back of my neck. Miraculously, there was member of my church on the plane who was able to use his priesthood power to give me a blessing of health. I don't think it was an accident that he was sitting in the seat right in front of me. I gradually began to feel better.

When we finally landed, the nice man on my plane helped me down to the baggage claim where he unloaded my luggage from the carousel and took me outside to wait for my dad. I was so relieved to see my Dad. Luckily Jason and Josh got on the 6:00 flight without any major difficulties. Once again, the amazing people working in the President's Club in Cleveland pulled a few strings and got Jason and Josh moved up the standby list. I am so grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord in sending kind souls to help and care for us on our journey. We have all recovered from the ordeal and are trying not to think about the return trip.