Who is taking long trips Friday/Christmas Eve/Christmas day?

[Laura Corin]

However you define long. Let's support each other here.

Edited December 23, 2022 by Laura Corin

[Laura Corin]

We are driving around 7-9 hours to southern England on Friday to pick up our daughter, then driving back on Saturday. Hobbes is staying home with the dog. Weather forecast is okay.

How about you?

[Elizabeth86]

Nope and I never will 😂

[Rosie_0801]

My brother will drive 3 hours to get here, and my neighbour will be borrowing my car for a 4 or 5 hour round trip after a morning's hard labour (yay for getting rostered on your day off because everyone else took holidays,) because their car throws tantrums if taken anywhere beyond our small town.

[Eos]

Ds' SO should have just arrived from an overnight flight from California, but it's very likely their flight was wonky for the intense weather that this country is having. 

My mother was supposed to have taken a 3 hour train plus 2 hour bus trip yesterday to visit one of my sisters but I guiltily confess I helped to talk her out of it.  My sister does not realize how much our mother's strength has diminished and feels somehow put out that she, the 65 year old has to accommodate the 94 year old and not do all the fun stuff she'd planned.  My mother was worried about spending Christmas alone but is much more cheerful now that she's eliminated this stress of travel.

Good luck and peace on your drive, Laura!

[HomeAgain]

Best wishes to those making the trip - I worry about the weather, especially for the boardies in the U.S. right now.

We have no plans to travel and I'm very glad.  DS12 came down with something last night and is currently feverish and miserable on the sofa next to me.  At this point, I don't think we're going to be celebrating much of a Christmas at all this year.

[MEmama]

DS is trying to get home from Dublin but most flights into Boston are cancelled so the flight was called off at the last minute. Currently he’s in Paris weighing his options, which consist of either staying in Paris overnight, flying to Amsterdam and staying with a friend, or attempting to fly to any open airport anywhere in the US…and then hoping to fly into NYC, Boston or Portland tomorrow or Christmas Day. At least we don’t have to spend the day driving to and from Boston in the storm. 
 

My parents are on a direct flight from Germany to SF and should be unaffected by the mess.

Good luck to everyone traveling and stay safe! 

[Laura Corin]

2 hours ago, Elizabeth86 said:

Nope and I never will 😂

That wasn't our plan either. A combination of Covid infection derailing plans and rail strikes means that this is the only way to get her home. She spent 2020 Christmas alone due to Covid restrictions, so we are doing our best to avoid a repeat.

[Harriet Vane]

We’re trying to decide when to drive to Chicago—worried about the high winds that we’re forecast.

[Faith-manor]

2 minutes ago, Harriet Vane said:

We’re trying to decide when to drive to Chicago—worried about the high winds that we’re forecast.

Don't do it today! The wind is hideous, in some place hurricane level gusting. The little airport in the county seat here is measuring wind gusts at 75-76mph, and the freeways are iced over so there are numerous near crashes since we always have folks that do not heed the warnings. The next 24 hours is going to howl like this. Please stay safe.

[SKL]

We plan to fly to Tokyo Friday a.m.  So Christmas in Tokyo.  Then Hong Kong and Singapore, followed by New Year's in Bali.  We've finished the first leg of our journey which was home to San Francisco; planning to check out the highlights here in between working.

[mommyoffive]

2 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

Don't do it today! The wind is hideous, in some place hurricane level gusting. The little airport in the county seat here is measuring wind gusts at 75-76mph, and the freeways are iced over so there are numerous near crashes since we always have folks that do not heed the warnings. The next 24 hours is going to howl like this. Please stay safe.

I second this.

I was hoping to travel over this time for the first time and now I am 100000% glad we didn't with this weather. 

[freesia]

4 hours ago, MEmama said:

DS is trying to get home from Dublin but most flights into Boston are cancelled so the flight was called off at the last minute. Currently he’s in Paris weighing his options, which consist of either staying in Paris overnight, flying to Amsterdam and staying with a friend, or attempting to fly to any open airport anywhere in the US…and then hoping to fly into NYC, Boston or Portland tomorrow or Christmas Day. At least we don’t have to spend the day driving to and from Boston in the storm. 
 

My parents are on a direct flight from Germany to SF and should be unaffected by the mess.

Good luck to everyone traveling and stay safe! 

Commiserating here as a parent of a dc studying out of the country! DD’s flight out of Vancouver got canceled Monday night. We aren’t able to get her home until next Monday night. Always an adventure!

[freesia]

We are traveling Christmas Day. It should take us about 5 hours. 

[iamonlyone]

We plan to travel today — leaving in about an hour for a five hour drive. We are far enough south (in the US) that we have a couple inches of snow and the dangerously cold temps (2 degrees at the moment, with a high forecasted of 11). Our son only has Christmas Day off for work, so this is the second year that we (dh, dd23 and I) are taking Christmas to him. We rented an Airbnb house.

Planning has been fraught with difficulty! Dh tested Covid positive a week ago Wed. We are thankful he tested negative Tuesday, and I didn't get it. So, we didn't know if we could go because of that, and now the storm!

The back seat is full of snow pants and blankets. We do have some wind here (not like up north), but skies are clear, and we are getting good reports about the roads being clear.

I'll try to check in tonight from our destination. Thanks for staring the support group, Laura! Prayers and good thoughts to all who are traveling!

[Pam in CT]

My Pittsburgh son was supposed to fly today but... nah.  NYC airports were canceling and delaying flights yesterday even BEFORE the "high winds" began; so I rebooked him yesterday to fly 12/25.... and I'm now sitting in my house deeply grateful that we have a generator since we lost power at 4a last night and the utility company doesn't even yet have an ESTIMATE of when they ASPIRE to get it back on.

Around us it's all supposed to be over (aside from very extreme low temp) by 12/25 though.

 

Hugs to all who are affected. Good grief.

[MEmama]

43 minutes ago, freesia said:

Commiserating here as a parent of a dc studying out of the country! DD’s flight out of Vancouver got canceled Monday night. We aren’t able to get her home until next Monday night. Always an adventure!

An entire week?!? I’m so sorry! 😞  I hope she isn’t all alone? 

[MEmama]

8 minutes ago, Pam in CT said:

My Pittsburgh son was supposed to fly today but... nah.  NYC airports were canceling and delaying flights yesterday even BEFORE the "high winds" began; so I rebooked him yesterday to fly 12/25.... and I'm now sitting in my house deeply grateful that we have a generator since we lost power at 4a last night and the utility company doesn't even yet have an ESTIMATE of when they ASPIRE to get it back on.

Around us it's all supposed to be over (aside from very extreme low temp) by 12/25 though.

 

Hugs to all who are affected. Good grief.

Stay warm and safe, @Pam in CT!
 

These winds are fierce. We’ve been holding our breath every time the lights flicker.

[Laura Corin]

We've made it to Daughter's city. We are picking up some cough medicine for her, dropping it at her house then heading to the hotel. Quite a lot of rain but otherwise very easy driving. The lanes north were more congested,  so tomorrow may be more taxing.

[Faith-manor]

16 minutes ago, Pam in CT said:

My Pittsburgh son was supposed to fly today but... nah.  NYC airports were canceling and delaying flights yesterday even BEFORE the "high winds" began; so I rebooked him yesterday to fly 12/25.... and I'm now sitting in my house deeply grateful that we have a generator since we lost power at 4a last night and the utility company doesn't even yet have an ESTIMATE of when they ASPIRE to get it back on.

Around us it's all supposed to be over (aside from very extreme low temp) by 12/25 though.

 

Hugs to all who are affected. Good grief.

Here too. We have power and thankfully so do the elderly mothers, but west of here about 20 miles an entire community of about 1000 people are without power, and DTE has no clue when it will be up. These winds are supposed to continue into tomorrow afternoon, if not the evening, and these are NOT buried power lines  hooked to a substation having issues. They can't work on putting power lines UP on poles when it is like this. Linemen will die and folks will still be without power. I worry about everyone in this situation. Police and fire have barricades up to keep folks from entering the town, and running over the power lines or hitting the downed trees because the visibility is just that bad, and there are folks still determined to travel, or worse, required to be at work. The staff of the hospital west of there apparently slept at the hospital last night.

Also, there is an article on Yahoo about the Lakota reservation (Badlands, SD) having been hammered now for it appears to be about 8 days with no deliveries to the reservation, and drifting occurring so rapidly that there is no hope of getting supplies to them. Many families are without heating fuel, and are burning clothing and furniture to try to stay warm. One family has a young infant who had been without formula for four days, and isn't old enough to eat solid food. Folks are going hungry at a time when they are burning a huge amount of calories trying to stay warm/alive. I sat and cried. If you go look at the article, do NOT look at the comments. There are white supremacists/racists on there basically saying, well, you can imagine it. I will not reiterate their hate.

We need to do a hell of a lot better as a nation! 

Dear Hive, you are my online family, and you all just need to stay safe please!

[freesia]

2 hours ago, MEmama said:

An entire week?!? I’m so sorry! 😞  I hope she isn’t all alone? 

Fortunately she lives in a campus apartment with international students. Her roommate is with her and there are activities for her to attend. We’d hoped friends could take her in for Christmas, but that isn’t working out yet. 
 

Rebooking was really crazy. Her airline canceled and wouldn’t rebook until she got an email which took 24 hours and then we couldn’t reach them, nor could Travelocity. We finally just cancelled and booked a new flight. I had the flu the whole time so dh and dd worked out the time that worked best. I think she could have traveled Christmas Day with some expense. Both of them are low hassle frugal folk so they worked out what they wanted. 

[KungFuPanda]

We’re only planning a one hour drive on Christmas Day and we can cancel if necessary. So far we’re getting lucky weather wise and I hope that luck holds out. 

[vonfirmath]

11 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

However you define long. Let's support each other here.

We are leaving this evening and driving a day and a half to Arizona. (hopefully only a day and a half)

[mommyoffive]

2 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

Here too. We have power and thankfully so do the elderly mothers, but west of here about 20 miles an entire community of about 1000 people are without power, and DTE has no clue when it will be up. These winds are supposed to continue into tomorrow afternoon, if not the evening, and these are NOT buried power lines  hooked to a substation having issues. They can't work on putting power lines UP on poles when it is like this. Linemen will die and folks will still be without power. I worry about everyone in this situation. Police and fire have barricades up to keep folks from entering the town, and running over the power lines or hitting the downed trees because the visibility is just that bad, and there are folks still determined to travel, or worse, required to be at work. The staff of the hospital west of there apparently slept at the hospital last night.

Also, there is an article on Yahoo about the Lakota reservation (Badlands, SD) having been hammered now for it appears to be about 8 days with no deliveries to the reservation, and drifting occurring so rapidly that there is no hope of getting supplies to them. Many families are without heating fuel, and are burning clothing and furniture to try to stay warm. One family has a young infant who had been without formula for four days, and isn't old enough to eat solid food. Folks are going hungry at a time when they are burning a huge amount of calories trying to stay warm/alive. I sat and cried. If you go look at the article, do NOT look at the comments. There are white supremacists/racists on there basically saying, well, you can imagine it. I will not reiterate their hate.

We need to do a hell of a lot better as a nation! 

Dear Hive, you are my online family, and you all just need to stay safe please!

I hadn't heard anything about that.  That is  tragic.  I hope everyone stays safe and they are able to get supplies to them soon.

[Dmmetler]

My dad is planning to fly here Sunday. Hoping weather has cleared by then. 

[ScoutTN]

I don’t even want to drive to church and to Dh’s sister’s, about 10 miles away. Roads are icy here, but no wind. Very cold for us, anyway. 

Edited December 23, 2022 by ScoutTN

[Faith-manor]

People have been ordered off the roads in my areas. Sections of I80 have been barricaded with police turning folks around. Several sheriffs have issued warnings to stay off the roads unless you are First Responders and medical personnel or road crews getting to work. It is bad. Two deputies injured from being hit by drivers who had no legitimate reason to be on the roads. 20 car accidents in four hours in the county north of us. Also, dispatch and the county Facebook page messaged that the towing companies are done. They will take no more calls until morning, and they are pulling their crews in because it is far too dangerous for them to continue working. We also have numerous folks in the local stitch and ditch ERs/urgent cares bring warmed up and evaluated for frostbite just from being outside 10-15 minutes.

If you are in the bomb cyclone band, it is not safe to be out, and to rescue you is putting a lot of other lives at risk.

If you are not in the band, but have family wanting you to travel into the bomb cyclone or near it, just don't. There will be more roads closed by morning, more travel bans.

[Laura Corin]

The weather is fine today - Saturday  - and the traffic is flowing okay. So far. Best wishes to those struggling with difficult travel conditions. 

[Elizabeth86]

On 12/23/2022 at 7:28 AM, Laura Corin said:

That wasn't our plan either. A combination of Covid infection derailing plans and rail strikes means that this is the only way to get her home. She spent 2020 Christmas alone due to Covid restrictions, so we are doing our best to avoid a repeat.

I completely understand. I’m sure I may have to travel for Christmas someday, but not while I still have a bunch of littles. We love to travel, but I can’t imagine not being home at Christmas.

[GailV]

Kids are flying here (STL) from NYC today, Christmas Eve. The flight has been delayed -- first for 2 hours for no given reason, now they're trying to get the pilot there from DC.

So far it's been less of a disaster than we expected. Dh has plenty of experience with annoying airline situations, so we'd already discussed possibilities for re-routing if the flight was cancelled. Right now there seems to be a high probability they'll make it here sometime today, which is amazing.

ETA: Airplane is on the move! Woohoo!

Edited December 24, 2022 by GailV

[Grace Hopper]

We split time with our kids’ in-laws. This is their year to not be with us so we are low key at home. Next year we will be party central. 
 

That means we are not hosting Thanksgiving 2023. I intend to schedule a vacation over that time so that I truly get a holiday on the off year. Because even after decades I am still the one that has to make the traditional dinner and such happen and I really want to be off on my off year! 
 

So not this year, but next. 
 

I hope all you travelers and your traveling loved ones have safe journeys!

[Jenny in Florida]

Not going until 12/26, but I am scheduled to fly to NYC, rent a vehicle and drive my elder kiddo back to Florida to spend a few weeks with us. (Getting their feet back under them after a recent break-up.)

Total drive time estimated at about 16 hours, assuming traffic and weather cooperate. 

Since I am assuming neither of those things will happen, I'm planning on at least two nights on the road.

Although, as my husband pointed out about an hour ago, there's probably a 50/50 chance my flight will be cancelled given the weather, anyway.

[Harriet Vane]

We tackled our big drive today, and it definitely ranks up in the top five most foolish things I have ever done. The wind had died down for the most part and we assumed friction from traffic would have helped on the roads. We were wrong. Our state is entirely coated in thick ice. The roads were horrible. It was literally so of the worst winter driving I have ever done—and as a native Chicagoan that is saying a lot. Driving on ice is the WORST—there is no traction and very little you can do when the car starts slipping and sliding. 

We continued on because we knew conditions were better in the next state.  When we really grasped that the roads really were that bad it seemed just as dangerous to return over the icy roads as to keep inching along. We were right—conditions improved drastically. But it was a nightmare getting there.

So glad to be with dd and dsil at the other end. And honestly glad we are alive and well.

[Laura Corin]

I'm glad you made it safely, @Harriet Vane. You could have ended up in a ditch and then rung a peal of bells all night!

[KungFuPanda]

I shouldn’t be here because I’m on a short trip, but I wanted to report a balmy 32 degrees in D.C. with clear roads. We just passed the pentagon. We’ve passed about 4 cars that were in accidents some time over the last few days so I hope they were all ok. 

[iamonlyone]

On 12/23/2022 at 10:21 AM, iamonlyone said:

We plan to travel today — leaving in about an hour for a five hour drive. We are far enough south (in the US) that we have a couple inches of snow and the dangerously cold temps (2 degrees at the moment, with a high forecasted of 11). Our son only has Christmas Day off for work, so this is the second year that we (dh, dd23 and I) are taking Christmas to him. We rented an Airbnb house.

Planning has been fraught with difficulty! Dh tested Covid positive a week ago Wed. We are thankful he tested negative Tuesday, and I didn't get it. So, we didn't know if we could go because of that, and now the storm!

The back seat is full of snow pants and blankets. We do have some wind here (not like up north), but skies are clear, and we are getting good reports about the roads being clear.

I'll try to check in tonight from our destination. Thanks for staring the support group, Laura! Prayers and good thoughts to all who are traveling!

Aaaand, I didn't check in with TWTM board. (I forgot my password and didn't want to mess with resetting on my phone!) Our roads were just fine; we had no trouble. And we are so glad we got to go! Wonderful family Christmas memories made: check!

Edited to add: There were a lot of abandoned cars off the side of the highway on our drive. So, Thursday was definitely a bad travel day here, but the highways were clear by afternoon Friday when we drove.

Edited December 27, 2022 by iamonlyone