mackeysmom
Let's Go Mets!
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2003
- Messages
- 1,030
Cousins take on the World - Day 0 12/5/03 The day the snow began to fall, and fall, and fall.
Cast of Characters:
Laura (me) - age 34 (sister to Am and and cousin to Annmarie)
Annmarie - age 32 (cousin to Laura and Am)
Annmarie - age 38 (sister to Laura and cousin to Annmarie - to avoid confusion will be called Am)
When we last left off, our countdown clock read "17 days, 11 hours, 45 minutes, 50 seconds". As the big day got closer, Annmarie and I diligently checked the weather in Orlando in order to plan our wardrobes. Although we knew that the weather in Orlando was sketchy (possible rain, chilly at night), we never imagined that the weather in New York would play such a vital role in our travels.
Now, when it comes to the weather forecasts I am a firm non-believer in what the weathermen say. If they say rain, I plan on sun. If a big storm is going to leave us with 12 inches of snow, I prepare for an inch or so. Needless to say, when reports of a Nor'easter heading our way for Friday the 5th began to surface, I didn't give them much credence.
On Thursday, I received a panicked phone call from Am. It seems she had attempted to make a reservation for a car service, only to be told that they were not taking any reservations at the time due to the "big storm" that was heading our way. Calls to three other car services resulted in the same response - "Call back on Friday night for an update". Luckily, the company I used was able to secure her a reservation. Crisis Averted.
Friday morning, I awoke to a dusting of snow. "No big deal I thought - the earlier it starts, the earlier it will end. I could not have been any more off the mark. The snow continued to fall, and fall, and fall. Those of you who live in New York know that by about 5:00 p.m., we had almost a foot of snow in some areas.
Annmarie decided to change her travel plans. Instead of being driven to the airport by her father on Saturday morning, she was going to drive to my house on Friday night and sleep over so we could go to JFK together. Annmarie's 50-minute drive from Rockland County to Long Island took about 2 1/2 hours. Still, I was confident that our flight would take off as planned.
The snow continued to fall. At about 9:00 p.m., I went online and check out Jet Blue's website. They had already cancelled some flights for the next day. A few to Orlando and Tampa (Am was flying to Tampa and meeting us in Disneyworld on Tuesday) were cancelled, but luckily not ours.
The Weather Channel began to talk about "phase two" of the storm, set to hit us with another 12 - 15 inches of snow on Saturday morning/afternoon. Still, I was hopeful.
Am called - now as much as I am a "non-believer" in the weather reports, my sister is a doomsayer. She was convinced that she would be spending her weekend trapped in the airport. I tried to calm her down, and told her that I would give her a call at 5:00 a.m. with an update.
After some last minute packing, Annmarie and I headed off to sleep. The alarm clock was set for 5:00 a.m., the car was set to pick us up at 6:00, the flight was set to leave on time at 8:20 a.m. and we had PS's for lunch at the 50's Prime Time at 2:00 p.m.
We were ready to go - but was Mother Nature ready to let us go???
Cast of Characters:
Laura (me) - age 34 (sister to Am and and cousin to Annmarie)
Annmarie - age 32 (cousin to Laura and Am)
Annmarie - age 38 (sister to Laura and cousin to Annmarie - to avoid confusion will be called Am)
When we last left off, our countdown clock read "17 days, 11 hours, 45 minutes, 50 seconds". As the big day got closer, Annmarie and I diligently checked the weather in Orlando in order to plan our wardrobes. Although we knew that the weather in Orlando was sketchy (possible rain, chilly at night), we never imagined that the weather in New York would play such a vital role in our travels.
Now, when it comes to the weather forecasts I am a firm non-believer in what the weathermen say. If they say rain, I plan on sun. If a big storm is going to leave us with 12 inches of snow, I prepare for an inch or so. Needless to say, when reports of a Nor'easter heading our way for Friday the 5th began to surface, I didn't give them much credence.
On Thursday, I received a panicked phone call from Am. It seems she had attempted to make a reservation for a car service, only to be told that they were not taking any reservations at the time due to the "big storm" that was heading our way. Calls to three other car services resulted in the same response - "Call back on Friday night for an update". Luckily, the company I used was able to secure her a reservation. Crisis Averted.
Friday morning, I awoke to a dusting of snow. "No big deal I thought - the earlier it starts, the earlier it will end. I could not have been any more off the mark. The snow continued to fall, and fall, and fall. Those of you who live in New York know that by about 5:00 p.m., we had almost a foot of snow in some areas.
Annmarie decided to change her travel plans. Instead of being driven to the airport by her father on Saturday morning, she was going to drive to my house on Friday night and sleep over so we could go to JFK together. Annmarie's 50-minute drive from Rockland County to Long Island took about 2 1/2 hours. Still, I was confident that our flight would take off as planned.
The snow continued to fall. At about 9:00 p.m., I went online and check out Jet Blue's website. They had already cancelled some flights for the next day. A few to Orlando and Tampa (Am was flying to Tampa and meeting us in Disneyworld on Tuesday) were cancelled, but luckily not ours.
The Weather Channel began to talk about "phase two" of the storm, set to hit us with another 12 - 15 inches of snow on Saturday morning/afternoon. Still, I was hopeful.
Am called - now as much as I am a "non-believer" in the weather reports, my sister is a doomsayer. She was convinced that she would be spending her weekend trapped in the airport. I tried to calm her down, and told her that I would give her a call at 5:00 a.m. with an update.
After some last minute packing, Annmarie and I headed off to sleep. The alarm clock was set for 5:00 a.m., the car was set to pick us up at 6:00, the flight was set to leave on time at 8:20 a.m. and we had PS's for lunch at the 50's Prime Time at 2:00 p.m.
We were ready to go - but was Mother Nature ready to let us go???
