Air-Travel blunders

I consider myself a pretty well-travled individul. I accept the long security lines, delays, bad food and cramped spaces to get to fabulous destinations, to visit my family and friends. But sometimes things go wrong & I wonder, "is it worth it?"

This last trip was of that kind. My five day vacation was cut to four when I was stranded in St Louis after a series of airport delays and flight cancelations (how airlines get away with canceling whole flights full of people & leave them no other option to get to their destination!) It was especially frustrating because I missed two get togethers with friends who were leaving town the next day themselves - so I didn't get to see them at all!

Here are some of my other memorable travel blunders;

November 2002 - While on a lay-over in Columbus I meet Liz for lunch, we go to PF Changs and a young Parker throws everything on the table onto the floor. It's a great lunch. When I get back to the arport, I relaize that I had inverted my flight time, and it had left and hour ago! Embarassed and tearful a ticket agent granted me a new ticket on the next flight. (note - I have never left the airport during a layover since- I refused to go with roommate Wendy to lunch on a 6 hour layover in Minneapolis, and refused a short Amsterdam tour on a 10 hour layover there)

April 2004 - My connecting flight to SLC is canceled due to a late spring snow storm, leaving me stranded in Denver and no chance of making the wedding the next day I was traveling to. I end up staying in Denver for the weekend with Scotty.

July 1999 - On my flight to Paris, the plane is held on the tarmac for 6 hours, as it waits out a rainstorm. I have no way to contact my group, but luckily have the address of the hotel we are staying in. After almost 12 hours of air travel I wander the Paris streets for almost 3 hours searching for the hotel. It is so hot that the wheels on my suitcase melt off!

34th Street

34th Street05
Originally uploaded by kristenpj

One of my favorite Baltimore Christmas traditions are the Hamden 34th Street Lights. One of my friends and I went out at 11pm last night to try and get some shots without all the traffic.

That plan worked, but some of the houses turn the lights off for the night, some of my favorites were out, the blue crab house and the bicycle wheel snowman house. So I'm going back Sunday night & getting there earlier.

I also dropped my lens cap at one point and spent 15 minutes crawling around in the street, in the snow. Finally I found it on top of the tire of the truck I was next to. Crazy.

when we got to cold on 34th Street, we got back int he car and drove down to the Washington Monument in Mt. Vernon to get some more pictures. Unfortunately there was a crazy man at the monument who really wanted to talk to me, and not let me take pictures, so I have to go back there too!

it was a fun, cold night regardless and I was lucky to get some pictures of the lights with snow on the ground.