<p>LGM, Son has been trying to get to Reagan National for about the last three hours. He started out for the nearest subway stop that was supposed to be open, it was closed, so he called here and got us to walk him through to the next open subway stop. He is going out to Ballston where his cousin with an all wheel drive will pick him up and take him to the airport. If he ends up spending the night in the airport he will meet up with his other cousin who flys for American Airlines out of National (she’s been in the airport since Friday night) and she’ll take care of him.</p>
<p>marite - thanks! I hope you don’t have to shovel too much. Maybe BOS will stay open. </p>
<p>CNN says Bethesda got 23" of snow - :eek:</p>
<p>Just got off phone with D. She landed at JFK! She said her flight was one of the few that flew from London to the east coast — Virgin Atlantic. So far, her connection is still scheduled for later tonight. All the other flights on Delta to DTW were canceled — so we are very thankful. She said the sun is out & while there is little air traffic, the runways look fine.</p>
<p>The weather folks SAID the sun would be out by noon. It still is cloudy and dreary here. But we only got three inches of snow so I’m not complaining.</p>
<p>Hope the travels go well for those still in the process.</p>
<p>My new dog is having a hard time with her short little legs…and we found that our old lady golden has a sore of some sort on the pad of her foot and seems to be very bothered by the snow and cold. I had to wrap her foot in a sock , covered by a sandwich bag and secured by a rubber band :(</p>
<p>We had to shovel a path for the dogs to do their business in. They are both shorter than our 19 inches of snowfall.</p>
<p>We have about 21 inches - I kept up with the shoveling yesterday so it was pretty easy today. Fortunately, D has been home from school for over a week so no problems there - but she is chomping at the bit to get out to see more of her friends.</p>
<p>Ran into a woman just a while ago (in Brooklyn, NY) who just had to come back from the airport. She had been trying to fly back to Michigan since this morning, and her flight was canceled. She can’t get back to Detroit until THURSDAY. What a drag. I felt bad for her. But she was in a good mood, and kind of glad to be able to stay in NYC for a few more days. At least she was with a friend, and not staying in a hotel. That would be a real drag. Four extra days of pretty major expense. How are people managing to do this?? :(</p>
<p>lolulu,
what a drag! Wish your son - and all the stranded travellers - the best! Hope they all get out safely, soon!</p>
<p>Just wanted to say a nice word about the often maligned Northwest Airlines. Although my D’s travel disaster was her own doing–she got to the airport without her driver’s license and then took a cab the 45 minutes back to school to get it and then back to the airport, missing the plane–NW allowed her to rebook (in first class no less) for no charge, not even the usual $75. Given all the travel problems yesterday, they just didn’t want to make anyone’s problems worse. My D had a very long day, learned a lesson but got home safely. (she was flying from detroit to southern Cal)</p>
<p>Son made to DC airport about 4:15, just as his flight was supposed to be taking off. He rode the subway out to Ballston where his cousin met him. On the subway he met an older man from Iowa who works for DOA who was going to walk (about 6 miles in the snow) from the Rosslyn stop out to the airport, so son got his cousin to give the man a ride as well. (Son said the man looked like half his friends’ granddads). Once he got inside the airport the line for checkin was miles long. Son started up a conversation with a passing TSA agent about the Redskins. After a little while the agent asked son where he was headed. When he told the guy Iowa, the guy took him to the front of the line. Son now has tickets, boarding passes, etc. He will have to spend the night in the Louisville airport but he will get home only about 36 hours later then he thought. When I tried to book him a new flight on-line they kept telling me nothing until the 23rd. Karma works.</p>
<p>Franglish … wow, that really drives home the fact that my D is VERY fortunate. She is in the air on the way to Detroit now. Her travel companion missed her flight to Cleveland, though … it took almost 2 hours for the luggage to come out & then they had to go through customs. The friend ended up missing her connection. D helped her get everything straightened out. She said the workers at JFK gave lots of incorrect info & were unbelievably rude. D said she is looking forward to southern charm again (school is in Nashville!).</p>
<p>patsmom, it’s cold and fluffy. :D</p>
<p>I shoveled the driveway, the front walk, and even cleared a path to the front door. I still haven’t been to the shed to get the yardstick; the snow is deeper than my boots are high!</p>
<p>Fortunately, no sad or frustrating stories to share, although Lake Jr. was annoyed that he couldn’t find a shovel so he could go out and do a bit of entrepreneurial snow removal in the Virginia DC suburbs.</p>
<p>H was so thrilled with his new powerful snow blower, he went around our neighborhood to help some elderly people plow their driveways. I don’t know what it is man with tools, especially ones that make a lot of noise. He was gone for hours.</p>
<p>My son was originally scheduled to fly out of Philly last evening. Friday morning when it became clear that flights would not be getting out the next day, I called my son to tell him to get packed and ready and I would try to get him on an earlier flight. I checked his airlines website and they were already offering changes to flights (no fees) out of certain east coast airports. Kudos to USAirways for getting him on a flight out a day early. He has many friends who are stranded in Philly, some not getting out until Wednesday. When he arrived in Milwaukee, his bag was not on the same flight. Again, kudos to USAirways. They called later that night to say his bag had arrived and would be delivered to our home (1 hour from airport) the next morning. Imagine our surprise when it was delivered the same night about 11:30 p.m.</p>
<p>My DD was coming home from college on Saturday night from Italy (gone 6 months to study) to Boston and was one of the few flights that got in (thank god). Her next flight home was on Sunday at 11:30 am from Boston to Newark to our hometown. I got her a hotel at boston knowing she wasn’t going anywhere (for days). She called me and said she was going to handle it and would call me back. 30 minutes later she called me and said she had booked a flight to Houston, that night from 11pm to 2am and would take a flight from there to our midwestern city the next morning. And she did it. She’s home safe and sound. Thank you lord! That my friends, is my Christmas present.</p>
<p>kelsmom,</p>
<p>I’m imagining your D is home by now, safe and sound. </p>
<p>I’ts wonderful to hear of the kindness and resourcefulness of many of the youngsters. Hope everyone gets safely to their destinations for the big day.</p>
<p>Happy Holidays to all.</p>
<p>Son is home. Got off the plan about an hour ago. He is tired and cranky, but glad to be here and like artmommy said, this is all the Christmas present I need.</p>
<p>I’m still waiting for a plow to come through this area! About 2 ft. of snow fell here and we still haven’t seen a plow come through our area. A friend informed us that 8 town trucks (with plows) broke down so I suppose I shouldn’t keep my hopes up of one getting here soon.</p>