Adventures in Winter Travel
Feb. 15th, 2016 07:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sdelmonteSo for years, we have taken the risk of traveling in the winter. To cons across the country and in the UK, to various events with friends and family. Till now, it usually worked out fine. This weekend, our luck ran out, though not too terribly.
The event was the bar mitzvah of Batya's sister number two son. Which meant going to Rochester, NY. In good conditions, the flight is less than an hour. But the weather conspired in interesting ways. Going, there were high winds at LaGuardia. High enough that at 6 pm, we had already been informed that our flight was delayed from 9:40 to midnight. So the good news was we weren't sitting at LGA for an extra three hours. The bad news was still that our flight was really delayed. And then delayed again and again till it didn't leave till 12:50. So late that there was no way anyone at the house we've be staying at would be awake to let us in.
We - "we" being my mom as well as Batya and me - decided to get a hotel room at the airport instead. At least we managed some sleep. (Thankfully, the hotel is literally a two minute walk from the baggage claim.) It was a hassle, and we still didn't get a lot of rest, but it beat having someone at Batya's sister's house let us in at 3 am, followed by us crashing on insufficient couches.
Today - after a weekend that saw the temps drop to 12 below in Rochester - we had a 1:40 flight. That was delayed two hours in leaving because the plane needed some serious de-icing at LaGuardia. And that was then delayed another hour by the same weather conditions in New York and also another de-icing.
Total amount of time delayed going and coming back: close to seven hours, plus an unscheduled night at a hotel. All things considered, it could have been worse, since if our flight home had been cancelled, we could have been stuck in Rochester till Wednesday (due to a snowstorm there). But all these delays are tiring, and stressful, and remind me why I prefer the train.
PS: the bar mitzvah came off fine, though as ever there is no stress quite like that of having a lot of family in one place.
The event was the bar mitzvah of Batya's sister number two son. Which meant going to Rochester, NY. In good conditions, the flight is less than an hour. But the weather conspired in interesting ways. Going, there were high winds at LaGuardia. High enough that at 6 pm, we had already been informed that our flight was delayed from 9:40 to midnight. So the good news was we weren't sitting at LGA for an extra three hours. The bad news was still that our flight was really delayed. And then delayed again and again till it didn't leave till 12:50. So late that there was no way anyone at the house we've be staying at would be awake to let us in.
We - "we" being my mom as well as Batya and me - decided to get a hotel room at the airport instead. At least we managed some sleep. (Thankfully, the hotel is literally a two minute walk from the baggage claim.) It was a hassle, and we still didn't get a lot of rest, but it beat having someone at Batya's sister's house let us in at 3 am, followed by us crashing on insufficient couches.
Today - after a weekend that saw the temps drop to 12 below in Rochester - we had a 1:40 flight. That was delayed two hours in leaving because the plane needed some serious de-icing at LaGuardia. And that was then delayed another hour by the same weather conditions in New York and also another de-icing.
Total amount of time delayed going and coming back: close to seven hours, plus an unscheduled night at a hotel. All things considered, it could have been worse, since if our flight home had been cancelled, we could have been stuck in Rochester till Wednesday (due to a snowstorm there). But all these delays are tiring, and stressful, and remind me why I prefer the train.
PS: the bar mitzvah came off fine, though as ever there is no stress quite like that of having a lot of family in one place.
