Christmas Joy - Grandma's Arrival

After 2 days in the Detroit Airport, Scott's mother, Fay, finally arrived today at noon. Fay endured 2 flight cancellations, 3 flight re-bookings, 2 nights in the Best Western and countless hours waiting. She explored every nook and cranny in the Detroit Airport (except for the men's bathrooms, as pointed out by Brian) and almost finished the book she brought to read "during lulls in the day". Oh, and she didn't have her checked luggage. In fact, it arrived yesterday and was waiting patiently at the Champaign airport.

She shared several stories from her travel escapade. First, what happens when a flight is canceled and the traveler needs to get on another flight - instead of rebooking with a live person, the traveler is herded over to a cluster of phones which are patched into the airline's 1-800-reservation service. Isn't that personal....

The kicker - many of the phones didn't work, or the 1-800-reservation system was so clogged with calls that it was hard to get through. Fay's travel anecdotes reinforced the reason why we choose not to travel during the holidays, especially to-from snow-prone areas.

But Grandma has arrived and that in itself is this year's best Christmas present!