Oh, it is nice to be home. I had a very good Christmas, overall, and I spent a lot of time with my dad and stepmom and her family, including lots of kids and babies. It was somehow both hectic and relaxed, if that makes any sense. I ate a lot. They always have this incredible assortment of cakes and pies just hanging around. I think, in small towns, people drive around and drop pies off at each others’ homes. I witnessed such a thing twice myself, in just a week, so I think it must be epidemic.

I do have to tell the story of how I got down there. Watch out, it is a doozy! It approaches Planes, Trains, and Automobiles proportions. First off, I usually fly straight from DC to Atlanta and they just pick me up there, even though it is a good 3 1/2 hours from Albany, where they live. However my dad is not that big on driving, so he had the idea for me to take a second flight to Valdosta, Ga, which is still a 2 hour drive from Albany, but there is not nearly the same traffic or highways to contend with as there are in Atlanta.

So anyway, last Thursday when I left at 11am for the DC airport, I thought I had plenty of time before my flight. I got on the metro and I was on my way, but suddenly there were Metro Issues and we were stuck for thirty minutes. As we got closer to the airport stop, I checked my watch and saw that I was going to be seriously, really close to my take off time. I freaked out.

When the train pulled up, I started RUNNING dramatically through the airport. (Thank god Reagan is a teeny airport, because I am not in good enough shape for any kind of distance sprinting.) I used the kiosk check-in, which usually works fine, but for whatever reason, this time it only gave me the boarding card for the Atlanta to Valdosta flight, not the DC to Atlanta flight. Which I discovered once I got to the front of the security line (which, granted, and also oddly, was really short), and the security lady told me she couldn’t let me through without it. I went back to the kiosk and this time got both cards, and went BACK through securtiy, and then ran dramatically AGAIN to the gate…and saw that the plane was delayed because the incoming flight hadn’t arrived. So I was all sweaty and keyed-up for no reason.

Eventually we got on the plane, and onto the runway, and literally a hurricane blew in. We sat on the runway for 1 1/2 hours, with the plane trembling in the wind, and then the storm passed on and we took off.

In Atlanta I was due to have a 2 1/2 hour layover, but due to the delays I was now in danger of missing THAT flight. Again I hustled through the massively large Atlanta airport, but the Valdosta flight too was delayed. Everything was delayed. At this point it was about 5pm. The corridors were packed and people were just sitting everywhere. Apparently all of Ohio was shut down. New York shut down. We sat and sat. I treated myself to fancy coffee from Starbucks and I think they served it to me in a dribble cup, because I kept spilling coffee onto my chest. Seriously, you can’t take me anywhere. Yay for black clothes that hide all stains.

So, we were allowed to board at around 7pm, the time I was supposed to have arrived in Valdosta. I had called my stepmom to let her know what was going on, but my dad doesn’t have a cell phone, so she was going to try and have him paged in the airport while he waited, so he would know what was going on. Now, THIS plane was a scary, Buddy Holly-type plane. We boarded from the tarmac, which I had thought hadn’t been done since the 70s. As we sat, the luggage was loaded on. Each piece made the plane shake. There was no heat and we all sat in our coats. I was not excited about this flight.

Finally the plane took off. It was only a one-hour flight. We got almost all the way to Valdosta when suddenly there was a big noise. It was not a good noise.

Then, the pilot got on the loudspeaker and said that we were having “left engine trouble” and were turning around and going back to Atlanta. Everyone gasped and had about twelve heart attacks instantaneously. The flight back was super fast and involved a lot of dramatic banking and diving. Apparently the pilot REALLY, REALLY needed to get us back to Atlanta, like asap.

So, back in the Atlanta airport. It was almost 10 pm at this point. NOBODY came to meet us in the terminal to let us know if there was going to be another plane, or if they were providing us with a bus or hotel vouchers or anything. Wandering back and forth at the gate, I totally glommed onto four other people I recognized and we decided to rent a car and drive to Valdosta that night. Hurrah, progress!

The first rental car they gave us had a dead battery however. Of course. The travel story to end all travel stories!

ANYway, to make a long story just end for god’s sakes, we drove super-fast and arrived in Valdosta at 230am. My dad by this point had gotten a hotel room, so I called him there and he came out to meet me and my new four best friends. During our 3 1/2 hour car drive, we all exchanged addresses and learned each others’ life stories. When they dropped me off, we even took a group photo, which one of them just emailed me for posterity. My dad and I stayed in Valdosta overnight, neither of us with clothes or toiletries, and then in the morning we went to the airport and THANK GOD my bag had come in on that morning’s flight. I drove us to Albany. Finally, home, at noon on Friday, a mere twenty-five hours after I had left my apartment in DC!

I am never going back to Valdosta, ever.

Well. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and that you enjoy the last day of 2004. To anyone who has family or friends involved in the tsunami disasters, my thoughts are with you, and I wish you and your loved ones all the best at this time. That is a ridiculously small offering, I know, and I wish I could do a lot more.