New York

So, here's the story. I found out that on December 1st I'll lose free flights on Delta, and I'll have to start paying a (nominal) fee for flights with them. I'll still get free flights on Skywest, but that doesn't get me nearly as many places as Delta does, so Jamie and I decided that every Monday and Tuesday until December first will see us in a new destination. On Sunday night, we decided to take the redeye flight JFK airport in New York City leaving SLC at midnight. We got to the airport at about 11:15, and got to the gate just in time to walk onto the plane before they closed the door. Nothing is ever as easy as it should be, thought, because when I was about halfway to my seat, I realized that I didn't have my laptop with me (even though it was with me when I got to the airport...). I ran out to see if I had left it outside the door, but it wasn't there, so I asked the guy if I could run and grab it. He said yes, but since we were non-paying passengers he said that he was going to shut the door with or without me when the plane was supposed to leave (in about 7 minutes), so I took off running. I finally found it clear back by security, and since I am so out of shape I was almost dead at this point, but I only had a very few minutes to get back to the gate or the plane would leave with my family but without me, so I kept running. I got to the plane just in time, but I literally had sweat running off my bald head by the gallon, and I was panting like Dan's dogs. Oh well, I made it.

The flight was fairly uneventful since the boys slept the entire time. Neither Jamie nor I got any sleep, though, so we were a little tired when we landed in NYC at about 6:00 their time. We immediately headed out to the supposedly free shuttle train that would take us to the subway, and were more than a little surprised when we found out that it actually cost $17! Oh well... We caught the Subway out to Times Square and got something to eat before snapping a few pictures. As you can see, even though it was 7ish there, the boys weren't quite used to the time change yet.


After that, it was just an adventure in trying to find the right subway stops and landmarks using some inaccurate maps. We did pretty well, I think, and were able to see the Christler and Empire State buildings without much difficulty. We even accidentally found the New York City Public Library (remember Ghostbusters?).

Christler Building

Empire State Building

Empire State Building

New York City Public Library

After that, we made our way up to Central Park and the Temple, which is basically right across the street, and hung out for a while there. Then we headed down to Ground Zero before going to the airport. The last time I was in New York was 1997, so I actually stood on top of the twin towers, and even though I knew what to expect this time, it was shockingly touching to see the hole where the buildings used to be. There were probably nearly a couple hundred people at the memorial, yet it was almost reverent there. It was a good way to finish off a day in the Big Apple.


After we spent a while at the church next to Ground Zero, we hopped on the subway back to the airport, and promptly fell asleep. I woke up to see Jamie nearly fall off the bench and every person on the train staring at the strange tourists with all those kids. It was actually pretty funny. Anyway, we got to the airport in plenty of time, and were fortunate enough to see the airplane leave without us because there weren't enough seats...oops... Anyway, we told the kids that we were going to have a special sleepover at the airport, so they got all excited instead of getting mad that we didn't get to go on another airplane ride. We spent the night in a very cold airport terminal, and caught the first flight home on Tuesday morning. I probably don't need to say that although the trip was fun, we were very glad to be home.

Alas, I must be off to work. I hope you enjoyed this.

-Ben

Here are some more pictures...

San Diego

We decided to head out to San Diego today, so I thought I'd put up a few pictures. Enjoy