Report from seat 20D

Yesterday morning, Alex was waving good-bye to us again as he began his dog/house sitting gig and my husband and I headed out to the airport for a trip to Florida to see my Dad and Washington DC to visit our son, daughter-in-law and our almost six months old grandson.

It’s Thanksgiving time for our family with its “traditional celebration” occurring in early November. As I have gotten older and cheaper, I have taken a stand on getting on an airplane during peak holiday periods because of the crowds, the unpredictable weather with predictable delays, and, most importantly, the spike in airfares that show up at a time when you are already strapped for cash with gift-buying in full swing. So, Thanksgiving is this Sunday, the 8th.

Last time I told you about a flight, it was a “quickie” to LA which required one Nature Valley Oats n’ Honey Granola packet to ward off the fear of hunger en route. Well, the trip to Florida is a whole other story. There is no direct flight to where we are going, so the trek is an all day affair and our arrival in the Charlotte, North Carolina for our plane change occurred at 4 p.m. PST.

The solution to this lunch predicament, other than spending money to buy plane food (more annoying to me than the inflated price of holiday airfare), was to pick up a fresh meal in the airport and bring it on-board. Keeping with the Thanksgiving theme, one homemade turkey sandwich sat proudly in my carry-on bag.

I know what you’re thinking. Why didn’t she make a sandwich at home and bring it with her. The answer is…next time I will. I cleaned out the refrigerator in preparation for the trip and neglected to save anything interesting to make that sandwich.

I laughed heartily when the food cart drove down the aisle offering $7.00 salads and heard disgruntled passengers complaining that all the salads seemed to be missing the salad dressing. My sandwich, however, was perfect and my half; since I split it with my husband, cost $4.00.

So, all is good. The skies were clear across country, the plane was empty, my airfare and lunch were relatively cheap, and I had mustard dressing on my sandwich. Thanksgiving weekend is starting out with a bang.

Talk to you soon.