Hey folks....just thought I would create a repository for some of your more crappier moments on a plane, train, or automobile while travelling during the Thanksgiving Holidays.
Mine would definately have to be two years ago when my wife and I left North Carolina to visit her brother and his family up in Cape Cod, Mass. We left on Wednesday morning with great attitudes and high hopes---all of which were quickly dashed upon the rocks of despair as soon as we hit D.C. and the snow started and the traffic began to grind to an excruciating halt. We floundered with shortcuts and end-arounds trying to avoid the worst of it to no avail. Connecting back into I95 north in Delaware was a nightmare realized as the snow and ice started to pound us like Kirstie Allie on a glazed doughnut.
Traffic was running at a brisk 25 mph all the way up through New York with snow quickly piling up to about 6in. before we saw the first plows on the road---which rendered the highway into a nice little hockey rink, sending 18-wheelers all over the road like giant, killer lawndarts of death. We were in my brand new Toyota Tacoma pick-em-up truck which was, incidentally getting absolutely KILLED by chunks of flying ice spray off of every snow plow and truck that we either passed or got passed by. This lunacy continued well past New York several hours until we arrived at the crack of dawn in Cape Cod---18 hours after we left into what would normally be a 12-hour drive at best. We looked like hell and felt even worse than we looked. Not to mention that her brother was technically "separated" from his wife at the time---a fact revealed to us just moments before out departure from NC. You couldn't even imagine the tension that existed at that dinner table throughout the day. The whole family was there, knew about it, but chose not to acknowledge it, so it became this whole weird thing.
Leaving it at that would be a gnarly story in itself, but the ride back was just as torturous in a different way. No snow this time, just the worlds longest traffic jam that apparently started in Maryland, and ended right where we caught up to it---in White Plains, NY!! We sat, at one point, in traffic without moving for two and a half hours--all with the NYC skyline staring us down stage left. I was miserable, and honestly thought I was going stir-crazy in there. My poor wife wasn't fairing any better and the tears were flowing before we got to Philly. The return trip took almost 20 hours and we arrived at our house, cracked open three bottles of wine and proceeded to get drunk as skunks in a pickle barrell. We both swore that we would never travel like that during Thanksgiving again......and we meant it!!
Mine would definately have to be two years ago when my wife and I left North Carolina to visit her brother and his family up in Cape Cod, Mass. We left on Wednesday morning with great attitudes and high hopes---all of which were quickly dashed upon the rocks of despair as soon as we hit D.C. and the snow started and the traffic began to grind to an excruciating halt. We floundered with shortcuts and end-arounds trying to avoid the worst of it to no avail. Connecting back into I95 north in Delaware was a nightmare realized as the snow and ice started to pound us like Kirstie Allie on a glazed doughnut.
Traffic was running at a brisk 25 mph all the way up through New York with snow quickly piling up to about 6in. before we saw the first plows on the road---which rendered the highway into a nice little hockey rink, sending 18-wheelers all over the road like giant, killer lawndarts of death. We were in my brand new Toyota Tacoma pick-em-up truck which was, incidentally getting absolutely KILLED by chunks of flying ice spray off of every snow plow and truck that we either passed or got passed by. This lunacy continued well past New York several hours until we arrived at the crack of dawn in Cape Cod---18 hours after we left into what would normally be a 12-hour drive at best. We looked like hell and felt even worse than we looked. Not to mention that her brother was technically "separated" from his wife at the time---a fact revealed to us just moments before out departure from NC. You couldn't even imagine the tension that existed at that dinner table throughout the day. The whole family was there, knew about it, but chose not to acknowledge it, so it became this whole weird thing.
Leaving it at that would be a gnarly story in itself, but the ride back was just as torturous in a different way. No snow this time, just the worlds longest traffic jam that apparently started in Maryland, and ended right where we caught up to it---in White Plains, NY!! We sat, at one point, in traffic without moving for two and a half hours--all with the NYC skyline staring us down stage left. I was miserable, and honestly thought I was going stir-crazy in there. My poor wife wasn't fairing any better and the tears were flowing before we got to Philly. The return trip took almost 20 hours and we arrived at our house, cracked open three bottles of wine and proceeded to get drunk as skunks in a pickle barrell. We both swore that we would never travel like that during Thanksgiving again......and we meant it!!
