Traveling for Thanksgiving...oh lord....

[vash]

i HATE traveling for Thankgiving. HATE IT! airports are brutal. tickets are priced much higher than EVER.

my mom called and laid down a guilt trip of epic proportions.. she is getting older..there is a divorce in the familia..oh man. thought i could put it off, but i checked airline tickets and they were already selling like hotcakes. i punched in the CC # and almost gagged..hahah..

flying to El Paso..it is more expensive than a flight into Bangkok if i remember correctly. damn close. i kinda remember we got a smoking deal into Asia. oh well.

Whataburger here we come!! wife and i are just flying in for a few days. i plan on being on some gravy and scotch diet for the duration..

i'm flying in later for Deer and sandhill crane..hun.. err hiking. and those tickets are cheaper when they dont associate with Thanksgiving..hahah.

what are your plans? (i cant believe it is here) on the bright side..i think this trip covers my "son duties" for Christmas. the rest of the year should be ours to decide upon.

[Seahawk]

Leave now.

Or, find a flight from a smaller regional either leaving the Bay Area or arriving in El Paso.

It is often worth the extra drive either side.

For us, kids will be here with extended family and friends. We have a skeet competition in the morning with pistol and rifle shooting as well.

I am thankful they'll all be here.

Originally Posted by vash

i HATE traveling for Thankgiving. HATE IT! airports are brutal. tickets are priced much higher than EVER.

my mom called and laid down a guilt trip of epic proportions.. she is getting older..there is a divorce in the familia..oh man. thought i could put it off, but i checked airline tickets and they were already selling like hotcakes. i punched in the CC # and almost gagged..hahah..

flying to El Paso..it is more expensive than a flight into Bangkok if i remember correctly. damn close. i kinda remember we got a smoking deal into Asia. oh well.

Whataburger here we come!! wife and i are just flying in for a few days. i plan on being on some gravy and scotch diet for the duration..

i'm flying in later for Deer and sandhill crane..hun.. err hiking. and those tickets are cheaper when they dont associate with Thanksgiving..hahah.

what are your plans? (i cant believe it is here) on the bright side..i think this trip covers my "son duties" for Christmas. the rest of the year should be ours to decide upon.

[wdfifteen]

Not leaving the house. My family is scattered and we all go our separate ways. Wife's kiddos are coming over for dinner. I told them last year I wasn't going anywhere as a public service. Three hours of turkey and Chardonnay plus after dinner Scotch and I'm a menace to the highway. And there is no way I'm enduring Thanksgiving without Chardonnay and Scotch.

[herr_oberst]

I've flown on TG day twice, and it was extremely pleasant. Airports were empty, attendants were in a holiday mood, and both times there was a pretty blue-eyed red-haired girl who wanted to see me as much as I wanted to see her, so, Thanksgiving FTW!

[LakeCleElum]

Refuse to fly on holidays any more...Vash lists my reasons.....

This T-giving, probably drive 2,200 miles round trip to Montrose, Colo where wife's son/wife and 3 grandkids moved to about 9 months ago......We can take our time and make about a 10 day trip out of it.....Beats flying for sure....

[MRM]

The rest of our family is about a three hour car trip. When we drive down for it I make sure we use my credit card points to stay at the local Radisson hotel. Since we're on points I also upgrade to Club Level where they have a manager's reception with open bar from 5-7. We have an inviolable rule that we do not stay with any relatives in their homes. We always stay at a hotel. We have the in-town relatives come over in the afternoon to play in the pool in the evenings. When they're done at the pool they go to their homes. We go upstairs to our clean and comfortable hotel room where we have a quiet night's sleep. Doing it that way makes Thanksgiving enjoyable for everyone. Especially the part about staying on club level.

[MBAtarga]

We will be staying here at the house - hosting about 28-30 relatives and friends for Thanksgiving dinner. (I hope to ration my 12 year Macallan to last...)

[onewhippedpuppy]

Amen brother! I despise traveling for the holidays. The best we have had was when we went to AZ to visit family over Christmas. My parents and my wife's parents are both about 2 hours away, too damn close to blow them off! I would love to just leave town and tell the extended family to pound sand. Booze is my only reprieve....

[motion]

Originally Posted by LakeCleElum

Refuse to fly on holidays any more...Vash lists my reasons.....

This T-giving, probably drive 2,200 miles round trip to Montrose, Colo where wife's son/wife and 3 grandkids moved to about 9 months ago......We can take our time and make about a 10 day trip out of it.....Beats flying for sure....

We might be in Montrose, also. Parents and brother live there. Nice little town.

I once tried driving from Socal to Colorado on the day before Thanksgiving. After something like 12 hours, I was in San Bernardino. Gave up and drove back to OC.

[KevinTodd]

Originally Posted by vash

i HATE traveling for Thankgiving. HATE IT! airports are brutal. tickets are priced much higher than EVER.

my mom called and laid down a guilt trip of epic proportions.. she is getting older..there is a divorce in the familia..oh man. thought i could put it off, but i checked airline tickets and they were already selling like hotcakes. i punched in the CC # and almost gagged..hahah..

flying to El Paso..it is more expensive than a flight into Bangkok if i remember correctly. damn close. i kinda remember we got a smoking deal into Asia. oh well.

Whataburger here we come!! wife and i are just flying in for a few days. i plan on being on some gravy and scotch diet for the duration..

i'm flying in later for Deer and sandhill crane..hun.. err hiking. and those tickets are cheaper when they dont associate with Thanksgiving..hahah.

what are your plans? (i cant believe it is here) on the bright side..i think this trip covers my "son duties" for Christmas. the rest of the year should be ours to decide upon.

1. You'll look back and it'll be worth the trip.

2. Whataburger. Yes.

3. I'll be running a half-marathon that morning at 7:30, so it could be worse!

[vash]

Haha.

My brother is making me do a SWAT team mountain run that morning. My mantra: "oh please don't be the last person"


Sent via Jedi mind trick.

[patz]

Texas....a fate worse than death. Good luck, Jefe.

[sammyg2]

My family gets together at my brother's house about 20 miles away for turkey because he has the biggest house and we have a big family.
But ...we do it on Friday to avoid all the traffic and hassle.

That means I get to have turkey at my house on Thursday too.

TWO TURKEY DAYS, WHOO HOOOO!

[flipper35]

It is deer season here in Wisconsin so no traveling anywhere.

We used to get together in a town about 35 miles from mom and dad where dad's side would rent the fairgrounds buildings. The largest group we had with family and friends was 175. We have a cousin that owns a restaurant and she lets us use that now that the group is down to around 70 people.

[LakeCleElum]

Originally Posted by motion

We might be in Montrose, also. Parents and brother live there. Nice little town.

I once tried driving from Socal to Colorado on the day before Thanksgiving. After something like 12 hours, I was in San Bernardino. Gave up and drove back to OC.

Cool, we have a drink if it works out.......Sorry about your prior driving plans...Only congested are I have to deal with is 80 miles of SLC....Sometimes I avoid by going thru Park City.....

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Egads! Total rip-off man. Sorry to hear.

Thank goodness my relatives are all pretty cool / flexible / reasonable about these things. Little if any pressure and if possible we make plans "Christmas-ish" or "Thanksgiving-ish". They're really just opportunities to spend a little time if possible and if not, everyone's okay with it. We're definitely not hung up on tradition to the point we're going to pressure one another to get ripped off by airlines, hotels, retailers, etc. preying on people's guilt.

Maybe I'll host this year. My new couch showed up a couple of weeks ago and I think there's still some homebrew downstairs. I should probably shoot out a few e-mails. Whoever makes it, cool.

[Otter74]

I, too, hate flying for Thanksgiving. Last year my GF and I had an early dinner at her parents' house in the burbs and then flew to Istanbul for a vacation, but that's a worthwhile exception and flying on Thanksgiving evening is a piece of cake. This year we are planning to drive from Chicago to Oxford, MS and I am having second thoughts about the driving.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Also keep in mind that the flight crews, air traffic controllers, etc. stuck working on the holiday are there because they don't have the seniority to get the day off. Tell me again why anyone would go anywhere on those days?

No thanks!

[biosurfer1]

No ****** way I travel around Thanksgiving anymore.

Back in college I had to work on the Wednesday before and knew the traffic would be bad so I planned to leave at lunch. About 30 minutes before, one of the engineers tells me there is a big project that needs to get out the door before closing (of course) so I got stuck there until 3.

Finally got on the road to drive 60 miles south of Sacramento.... after 3 hours I could still see Sacramento in my rear view mirror.

Never, ever, EVER again.

[wayner]

In Canada we avoid the rush by celebrating in advance of the US.
Thanksgiving in Canada was last weekend.