Every traveler in the world knows that the week of Thanksgiving is the absolute hardest time to travel in the US. Well, I will be the one to tell you that it is not that bad if you plan ahead. We had a very uneventful trip from Washington to Orlando yesterday.... and here's why.. we booked well in advance and we gave ourselves plenty of time. Sometimes its just that simple.
You all know that I travel all the time and there is nothing worse than arriving early to sit and wait for a delayed flight. I get it... I do it to. I get to the airport one hour before boarding... I coast through security as fast as I can.. ( laptop out of the case, no liquids, slip-on shoes...) I am super efficient. I then grab a rag mag and I am ready to board. Simple stuff. Well, forget that. This is not your normal flight to Boston... or to Oakland. This is travel during Thanksgiving and you need to be at the gate one hour before they board. That's right, people. Give yourself time! Pace yourself and you will see that everything will feel a whole lot better.
Another big tip... book in advance and make sure that you do not fly in the thick of it. Meaning... try to go out the Monday or Tuesday before Thanksgiving and come back on the Monday or Tuesday after. I also suggest flights in the afternoon... this helps avoids the long security lines and also almost guarantees you a parking space at the airport.
Let me take the advice columnist hat off for a moment and tell you about our trip...
We left the house 3 hours before our flight. The airport is an hour away and I wanted to give us a full hour to get us parked, on the bus to the terminal and through security. Once we got through security (Eva told the FSA guy that she was flying on a big airplane today!) we then sat and had a nice lunch before we headed down to the gate. We then boarded the plane (remember: I printed our boarding passes 24 hours before to ensure that we were among the first to board) and prepared for the flight. Eva had her lollipop and was looking out the window as we took off. She then settled back and watched Finding NEMO on my video Ipod. About an hour into the flight she was sound asleep and 40 minutes later we were in Orlando. It was that easy.
Here's where things got a bit annoying... that damned AVIS! I HATE AVIS! Ok, so... I called them two days ago to confirm that they had a car seat for me and that they had my wizard number in the record. I wanted to just go to the preferred desk, pick up my keys and drive away. Simple... right? We walked to the garage to the preferred booth to pick up my keys. They should have my name on the board... nope. Nothing. So, I spoke to the agent who asked for my name and said that he could not find my reservation. I then handed him my preferred card and suddenly... he found my name. I asked him if we had a car seat...and he said that it was not in my record. I snickered and told him that I called only two days ago to confirm all of this. All he had to do was apologize... but, instead.. he said, "I don't know... I just work here." What? Then, we get into the car (he told me it was supposed to be a Nissan Altima... and it was a Toyota Camary... I can see how you would make that mistake.) Whatever... I'll stop bitching now.
My parents live about 30 minutes away from the airport. There was zero traffic and we made it to their house in no time. Travel to Orlando... done.
Today was a relaxing day. This afternoon we went out to the Premium Outlets in Lake Buena Vista. That's right folks... across the street from Disney! You could smell Mickey.... we were that close. After a good credit card workout, we all came back and started our Thanksgiving baking.
My Nana is 96 years old... she is deaf and partially blind and still makes the best Apple Pie. Tonight, I sat at the kitchen table and watched her make a crust by hand. Her recipe is easy... we call it "A half, A half, A whole and One." Its a half a cup of Crisco, half a cup of sugar, a whole cup of flour and one egg. You mix that together to form a wet dough. You then grease the bottom of a baking pan (Crisco again) and using floured hands... press half of the dough to form the bottom of the pie. You then fill the pie with 7 peeled, cored and sliced apples. She sprinkled some sugar and some cinnamon throughout and then spread the rest of the dough across the top of the pie. It then went into a 350 degree oven for about an hour and 15 minutes. I just took it out... and I have to tell you... even with all the craziness of travel.. the smell of that apple pie makes all of the travel well worth it.
Enjoy your families tomorrow. Remember to pray for all of our troops who are away from their grandma's apple pie this Thanksgiving.
Travel safe.
Lori
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