Little did we know that the weather would hold us hostage.
Please keep in mind that Dennis loves snow, as do I. In fact he spoke on more then one occasion of his hopes that it would snow enough for him to shovel because he misses shoveling so much. Who says that?
So I lay the blame for the Blizzard of December 2010 completely at his hiking/snow weather shoes. All of you thousands of people that were stranded at airports up and down the east coast, you have my endearing yet freakish husband to blame. He wished for this. With his entire Florida heart and Rhode Island soul.
We arrived without a problem on Friday morning. We immediately began eating and drinking and I personally never came up for air. My mom outdid herself by feeding and watering us without stopping. When faced with extra people and a need for dinner, something the herbivores and carnivores alike would eat, she wiped up a fabulous soup from the storehouse of supplies hidden in the basement. There was a fire blazing and plenty of Hitler historic movies to watch. We mixed many batches of spiced eggnog, watched movies, and laughed about the coming snow storm.
Saturday dawned to the smells of coffee and bacon. Huge breakfast that took all morning to create, consume and then my mother to clean up. My father worked at wrapping the entire stove top in paper towel to prevent my mother from having to chisel the bacon fat off, but alas he couldn't prevent "KNOBS OFF", the name I lovingly gave to my mother's cleaning of the flat top stove, she takes the knobs off every night after dinner so she can massage the stove till it gleams. We were eating and cooking so much this weekend, she had to knobs off all day long to keep up with us.
We went out to the movies to see Tangled in the afternoon, which gave Jane a break and more time she know doubt used to clean where she couldn't reach while we were in her way and returned to yet another feast, turkey and all that comes with it. The rest of the family arrived, Jen and Terrence, and soon we were laughing, eating, drinking and watching more Hitler historical movies...(because what is a family dinner without Hitler?) And then Sunday the snow began. Granted, we mocked at first, even going out to breakfast at Julian's where I stuffed myself with stuffed french toast. Fudge stuffed french toast to be exact. We sent Kerri home to beat the storm and laughed at how the snow is never as bad as foretold... but when it started to come down at 4 inches an hour, I knew our departure would not be as we planned. Monday there was the great digging out, when Dennis' wish was granted and shoveled for 2 hours. And still the snow poured down. Flights were canceled all day Monday so we never even tried to attempt the airport.
Tuesday we kissed everyone goodbye and began the long wait and inevitable gate hopping that is flying non-revenue standby. We ended up spending 12 hours at Logan Airport but never a flight did we board. Many people, who had bought tickets, were experiencing the same pain. Mothers were nursing their babies right at the gates, one flight of 200+ bound for NY waited 12 hours as their flight kept getting delayed until it was finally canceled at 7 PM. The customers could had driven themselves home by then, if there had been cars to drive. I checked, there were no trains, buses or cars to be found. When Kate dropped us off at the airport she said we were facing the Super Dome when we went inside. She wasn't far from the truth. However, I found it rather enjoyable because there was no absolute need to return. We could only try to get home and since we couldn't, Dennis and I opted to quit trying at 7 pm or so and we gathered our bags, caught the Silver Line to a nearby hotel where we changed, walked to a lovely Italian restaurant for dinner and the spent a restful night in a comfortable bed overlooking the harbor. What could be better then watching the sunrise over the water the next morning?
We repacked, returned to Logan and we were greeted with hundreds upon hundreds of stranded people all waiting in line for a glimmer of hope. Somehow we managed to get listed on a little wanted and little known flight to Jacksonville, FL. We boarded and soon were flying somewhat home-ish. I will say that the plane was tiny and filled with a sweatshirt-matching-high-school-cheerleading girls, all giggling, all the time...need I say more? I'm not complaining though....we were getting closer, at least into the state.Once we landed..out to the rental car we headed and Dennis drove us the remainder four hours home. So we made it back, 3 days later then we intended but happy from the adventure. Everything was perfect. Thank you to my mother and father for working so hard to keep us entertained and well fed, thank you to Kate for giving up her room, thank you to Kerri for the ride and the rubdowns and of course the laughs, thank you to Marty (Kerri's honey) for letting us have her again. And of course, thank you to Jen and T for visiting with us and adding to the memories and the all over good time. Truly, every moment was unforgettable.
Visiting family is always an adventure and mine is no different. I am never bored with them and I am never left hungry.
