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And the day started like any other, except I had trouble sleeping last night. You know, that feeling when you were a kid and the next day was Christmas or the first day of school. I've traveled extensively all of my life yet I always have this tinge of anxiety about flying. I've resigned myself to accept the fact that if I'm traveling I have to fly to get there.
This morning Rio graciously got up early to take me to The Coaster Station in Carlsbad. She offered to drive me to the airport but the drive from Oceanside to Carlsbad was enough! And I thought the coaster experience would be a wonderful way to start my adventure.
I will miss Rio and I know that this trip of mine is a turning point in our dynamic. I would love to scream IM FREE! And I don't mean that in the way of being free of parenting - I mean it in the way of I can pretty much do anything or go anywhere I want when I want to! That kind of freedom! My new chapter begins with a great big smile on my face.
I made
a friend as I was purchasing my train ticket. It was as if we shared a secret language without saying a word between us. The man behind us ridiculed the two of us for having so much stuff and it taking too long to put our crumpled dollars in the only two machines. I asked him if he could share the secret of how we could do it faster. After he was done (and he took longer than both of us) he approached us on the train platform and made a comment that made us roll our eyes and say something along the lines of "ugh, men!". My new friend Shelley and I crammed in as much conversation as possible by the time we reached the airport. I was impressed with my first Coaster to Bus 992 to The San Diego International airport experience. It cost me a total of $6.75, spared me being nervous with Rio and her teenage driving, and I made a new friend. Score! This day, it started with ease and it was lined with excitement.
Arriving at terminal two was easy but upon entering I immediately started profiling people. I don't like that about
myself and made a mental note to explore why at a later date. Today I am that traveler my mom raised me to be, always arrive to the airport two hours before your flight. I grabbed a bagel at Einsteins, glanced over and saw a guy sitting at a table with a man bun who reminded me of Cain. Ahhhhh Cain, I miss him and I instantly thought of him and his recent travels to Iceland.
Most people who know me are aware that I love airports, today was no different. I was so aware of the people around me as I waited in the security line. The mom who was yelling at her kid, the dad who became embarrassed when he caught my eye realizing I could sense the situation going down in front of me. I silently asked for forgiveness because I knew years prior I was that mom, stressed out, trying to keep everything together while traveling with young kids. Not today though - today I am the new traveler with grown kids and I am traveling across this great nation of ours.
I received a text as I approached my gate that my flight
was delayed. It was only delayed by 7 minutes - not enough to alert my east coast cousins, Courtney and Chandler, who were picking me up from JFK after my 5 1/2 hour journey across the sky.
I strategically found the best seat at my gate. I could pretty much choose any seat I wanted because I was so early. Impressed that every seat had a plug tucked away in disguise, I decided to charge my phone so I could listen to my playlist on random as I travelled the almost 3000 miles. I love music combined with travel because if you're lucky and you listen closely you will later be reminded of your journey through a particular song or band or genre.
Families started arriving all glued to their phones and iPads. There was a moment where I glanced around and thought "Look up people!" I too am usually guilty of that. And then the dreaded text came and almost on cue everyone looked up. Our flight was delayed by 2 hours. Mind you, I had arrived 2 hrs early so we were now 4 hrs away from departure. I resigned myself to the fact that it
was going to be a long day and I'd probably need more coffee. After some time, and looking at my phone every five mins wondering what time it was I decided to take a little walk around to explore the souvenir shops and see what food options were available.
I ventured further away from gate 37 because I had all the time in the world. I talked to the guy at the spa like store who tried to encourage me to get a massage. I strongly considered it even though I'd end up with messy hair while landing in New York. I continued on my terminal two journey trying to decide if I should sit down and have a beer at Stone Brewery or go to the kiosk like vendor and buy an overrated, overpriced salad that consisted of pretty much lettuce and a packet of salad dressing.
All of a sudden I see someone familiar and knowing exactly who he was I still had trouble processing that we were in the same space in the San Diego Airport. There he was, my very long time friend Van Raster, all dressed up in his pilot attire. I hadn't seen him since attending a holiday cocktail party at his house in December. I walked with him to his gate still tripping out that of all the many many travelers and fight crews traveling this holiday we ran into one another. I had all the time in the world, I could walk to terminal three if I wanted to. Then that text, like earlier that made everyone look up - there it was again, only this time it announced my flight was now boarding! What??? I quickly said goodbye to Van and dashed back to my gate. I grabbed a Starbucks and a spinach feta wrap knowing it was all I was going to have besides pretzels or peanuts to sustain me across the sky. After boarding I reflected on running into Van and I decided that these were the types of experiences that enrich my life. This trip I could tell was going to be a wonderful adventure.
Around five hours later our captain announced we were 30 mins away from landing in New York. I pulled the plastic shade up and was thrilled to look down on fireworks sporadically going off throughout the city. Ive never seen fireworks from above. The young twenty something, just out of college couple who sat next to me oooohhhhed and awwwwwwed and told me how great it was to see because it seemed they always traveled out of the country on 4th of July and rarely witnessed fireworks. They were traveling to St Thomas with a connection at JFK.
I was happy to finally be arriving because it felt like it had been a really long day since I had boarded the Coaster at The Carlsbad Station and hugged Rio goodbye.
At the receiving end to greet me at JFK were the best cousins ever, Courtney and Chandler. I've only spent brief periods of time around them over the past few years but I must say they are the epitome of true, unfiltered, organic, family. We talked so candidly for what felt like hours traveling home to Connecticut.
Arriving at Aunt Eleanor's also takes me to a place where my heart feels like it's going to burst with happiness! And there she was with my egg salad sandwich waiting! One of the things I told Rio I looked forward to the most. It sounds a little silly but there are people who feel right just by being in their presence. She is one of those people.
I crawled into bed about 1:00 am east coast time, exhausted, with a full heart, from a very full day! ❤️
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Aunt Vickie Steinert
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"Here We Go Again....East Bound To Begin A New Journey With Your Dad's Sisters and Your Cousins
Hello Kathy!...Welcome To Our Fourth Of July Celebration With Your Dad's Family! I Read Your Blog and Moving Forward You Will Have a Great Few Days Visiting in Green Pond And Seeing Our Traditional 4th of July Parade In All It's Glory!!...Enjoy Yourself and Hope To See You Soon!