At one point in our journey, we stopped at a fuel oasis along Interstate 80/90 to purchase a jug of wiper fluid because ours was nearly gone. Heaven help us if the fluid ran out just as a huge spray of salt hit the glass, reducing our visibility to zero just as we were rounding a curve along the highway!
Actually, though, it wouldn't have worried us because we had already experienced zero-visibility driving on our return trip from Texas last January. On that trip, we couldn't rely on visual clues to our location because of the deluge of water on our windshield, so we learned how to navigate by sonar, using the relative frequency of the sounds emanating from the sides of the car as we cruised between guardrails on the left and tractor-trailer rigs on the right. It's really not that hard. Once one finds the correct "tune", it's relatively easy to maneuver the wheel so as to stay equally distant from both.
The important thing is to keep the passengers from screaming, because those high frequencies sometimes form an interference pattern with the road noise and scramble the signal. That can be bad.
This time, thanks to copious application of wiper fluid every minute or so, we were able to keep the windshield clean. We arrived at the airport without incident.
For some unknown reason, though, we had forgotten to do our research on which terminal he would be flying from so we made the beginner mistake of stopping at the "International" terminal (which sounds kind of like it would involve "International" flights) only to discover that we were supposed to be at another terminal, even though technically James is taking an International flight. Not sure how that logic is supposed to work.
So we high-tailed it over to the other terminal using the cute little tram and it was only a few minutes before we were walking through the other terminal trying to figure out (again) where we were supposed to be going. Because there were millions of little kiosks out in the middle of the walkway begging us to use them to check in our bag, but not informing us as to which airline they were for. We did not want a stupid kiosk to handle his bag; we wanted a real person behind a counter!
Luckily, the AirBerlin staff showed up after a few minutes of wandering through the kioskian jungle, and they gladly took his bag and checked it in and then gave him his boarding pass and it only took a few minutes! And then, in a fabulous streak of luck that could only mean that the end of the world was approaching, the Security Lane right next to the counter opened up (which meant that we did not have to walk back to the other Security Lane which was jammed with hundreds of people) and James was able to stroll through at a very leisurely pace and disappear beyond the barriers in a very few moments.
No baggage issues this time. He and his mother had spent some quality time making sure that his bag was under the weight limit, even with all the precious things he was carrying. It was a huge relief to get his boarding pass so quickly!
After a tearful good-bye (well, we parents were tearful inside, anyway), we left the airport and drove back eastward towards Michigan to drop in on cousin Mike to find out what is going on with Uncle Bob and Aunt Susan.
Cousin Mike wasn't there when we arrived, but his lovely wife, Shawna, was there, and she graciously invited us in and entertained us until the rest of the family got there. First, Mike's son Andrew and his lovely wife, Erin, along with their charming twin daughters, Kayla and Kaliee; then, finally, Mike himself. Andrew & Erin cooked up a marvelous spaghetti dinner, so we all sat down and ate and yapped and had a wonderful time.
Except for the discussion of Bob & Susan. It wasn't one of those "everything is going to be all right" kinds of talks. Because Time does not stop or reverse, and Time is laying havoc to their physical bodies. Aunt Susan's cancer is being treated, but there is nothing they can do for her advancing dementia. E.g. she refuses to put her teeth in because she thinks they belong to someone else, thus it is difficult to get her to eat. Consequently, she has lost a lot of weight. As for Bob, he had surgery to remove the tumor that was causing the internal bleeding, but the after-effects of medications has left him confused and belligerent.
The family drives down every so often to see Bob, and they take care of Susan as much as possible, getting her to the doctor for weekly checkup/chemo. It is obviously exhausting for the family, which is why were down there, to see if there is anything we can do to help.
At this point, they're not sure what we can do, but they're going to let us know as soon as possible. So we're just waiting to get the word from Mike or Shawna. And praying. And hoping.
:::
Deborah and the rest of the Band/Orchestra students arrived at the High School late Tuesday night after a grueling 24-hour home from Florida. They were originally scheduled to get back by 9 pm, but inclement weather and other issues delayed them until nearly 11:30. We parents had been informed (via email) of their delays up to the point where they thought it would be 10:30, so we were all there in the parking lot waiting by 10:15. There were no subsequent emails or texts from the directors. But the buses didn't actually arrive until 11:30. Which made the last hour's wait a very tense one.
Naturally, it was snowing. The buses had encountered the snow first in northern Indiana, which slowed their progress. Then there were pit stops and mechanical issues and myriad other little things that came up. So by the time the buses appeared, the kids aboard were tired, anxious, and groggy with lack of sleep. Deb was no exception. Exhausted. Cranky. Complaining. And desperate to avoid school the next day.
As an experienced traveler, I could completely relate to that. So I granted her permission to sleep in. No one needs a cranky teenager in their class.
Funny how talkative she was when we got home, though. Seems like she was up another hour talking about all the fun (and drama) she had down in Florida.
I suppose it was just the adrenaline.
1 comment:
Yes, I totally remember the rush of conversation that comes at the end of a teen trip. That is when you have to keep them up, because the minute their head hits the pillow, or if they even fall asleep in the car, the desire to share with parents any part of their adventure is gone forever.
Sigh.
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