Holiday Travel

This year will be like every year before where a lot of people travel during the holiday season. Some travel by car and others by plane depending where family happens to be located. I expect people will travel by car this year that normally do not because gas prices are down.

I have done most of my plane travel during the holiday season. It has all happened during my adult life. Growing up our family was primarily in Washington State so if we traveled it was by car. Most years we would go visit cousins living in Seattle on Christmas Day. Of course, we would do so after opening Christmas presents we had under the tree. It was nice going to Seattle not only to see our cousins but open more presents. It was always good to show off the most important gifts we received especially the ones we got in Seattle. Later on when my sister got married we spent at least ten Christmases at her in-laws in Lakewood, Washington. It was a really good time getting together with both our family and brother-in-laws family and the food was delicious. This period of time was when my brothers would come home from college as well.

The first trip that I took to travel at Christmas time was when my sister, her husband, and two boys had moved to Quebec, Canada. Almost thirty years later they still live in Quebec, Canada. It was quite an experience for the first time trip. I never will forget the trip. I and my parents traveled to Montreal, Quebec. There was no direct flight to where my sister lived. My brothers by that timed both lived on the east coast so we met them in Montreal which had a lot of snow. What made it quite the trip was that my parents and I were fogged in at Sea-Tac International Airport for three days. I have to say they were the longest three days of my life. Of course, I had to do some complaining as well though it was no one’s fault. We finally got out on a flight that went from Boeing Field in Seattle that went to Dallas, Texas. We than caught a flight to Montreal. It was the only flight that got out of Seattle that day. I can say I got to know Sea-Tac Airport very well. I really enjoyed the rest of the trip, and there was no problem when returning back to Seattle.

I had another trip back to Quebec a few years later at Christmas time as well. This trip my parents did not go with me and I had no problem with fog. Besides my sister and her family my older brother Dick was there as well. He actually spent the Christmases with them. He did a great job of being a good Uncle. He rented a car, and I did the driving. That is a whole another story in itself. It was a really good time, and it was actually the last time I saw him since he died the following June.

I traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota for Christmas a couple times when my brother Jack and family lived there. It was really nice to have an actual white Christmas as well. I spent a couple Thanksgivings when they lived in St.Louis, Missouri as well as a Christmas. I expect in the future I will travel back at some point to my sister’s in Quebec and to my Brother Jack’s home as well. There is nothing more special than to spend the holiday season with family and if it is to travel somewhere than a bonus.