Traveling for the Holidays

Last Monday, after working a 10 hour day, (my wife and I) planned to catch a red eye to Boston out of Denver International airport. Well, we we ended up missing the flight by 2 minutes! That is right, the plane had just shut the door when we came sprinting up to the gate. It was 1am.

So we had two options.
1) leave the airport, retrieve our car from long-term parking and head back home to Colorado Springs (an hour & a half away) and start the journey all over again in the morning to come back in time for the next flight at 11:45am.

or

2) spend the night in the terminal at the gate.

As you might guess we chose option 2. Yes, we decided to bunk down at the gate! We figured that with all the experience of traveling from our childhoods, 10 hours at the gate would be no problem. Have you ever spent the night in an airport? Would you describe it as restful? I would describe our rest was fitful at best. the cleaning crew come through and they make some noise, at least they were courteous. The air conditioning is on full blast and the carpeted terminal is REALLY hard, though I must say the Colorado sunrise was magnificent.

At least we came prepared with our own dried fruit, bananas, a burrito, trail mix and water for sustenance. and a few books to read.

It is interesting to see the terminal go from the evening activity to deserted ant then back to the hustle and bustle in the morning. It is like a beehive. the flow of people is amazing. I love to people watch at the airport it is fascinating you feel like you are part of something. a fellow traveler and yet distinct. I saw people in every state of dress each with a different destination and life to lead. I like to make up stories about where they are headed and who is waiting for them at their final destinations whether its the biker guys, ladies with blue hair or the polished businessman in his suit.

All told, after approx. 24 hours in the transit we arrived in Boston. We caught a connecting flight and lay-over in New York's JFK, where terminal for Jet Blue is awesome! (Where else can you take a yoga class while you are waiting for your flight, and grab a bite from the fresh buffet bar?)

Boston was cold and wet yet we had a fabulous time with the family catching up on each others news and reminiscing old times... what fun!!

I did pick up a cold in the airport and fought it with loads of cough drops and multivitamin C but got me on the day we departed for home. I lost my voice! this time we had a great return trip a straight flight from Boston to Denver! and the stewardess gave me extra snacks!

Flying back on Saturday evening was great because when we got in at 11:30pm, it started snowing on drive back to Colorado Springs, and it then kept snowing for the next 24 hours. We ended up with a foot and a half of snow! If we hadn't left Boston on Saturday we still might be there!

Do you have a good holiday traveling story? Share it!