Despite blizzard, holiday travels worked out

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the difficulties I had traveling home for Christmas.
When I came back to Minnesota, things got worse: We were traveling into a blizzard.
Last Sunday rolled around, and our alarm went off before 3 a.m., meaning it was time to finish packing up our stuff and get in the Uber to travel an hour and 15 minutes north from my parents’ house in Warwick, R.I., to Logan Airport in Boston.
As soon as reports began rolling in about the impending blizzard in Minnesota, we were somewhat concerned flights would be canceled. This was coupled with the fact that the northeast was blanketed with snow on Friday night into Saturday.
After learning my lesson flying to Boston, I decided to listen to my wife and we got to the airport about two hours early.
We were there extremely early, so we decided to hang out in the comfy chairs outside the TSA gates and plugged in our phones.
Eventually, we decided to get up and went through security in a few minutes and were a little alarmed when we saw a number of canceled flights on the electronic boards.
But our flight wasn’t canceled.
We got to Minnesota on Sunday morning, and this was just the beginning of our travel day.
Next up on the list was heading down to my in-laws’ house about four miles outside of Mankato to get our dog.
While we could’ve left him there for an extended vacation at the luxury hotel he calls his grandparents’ house, where he is given nothing but treats and gets to hang out in his own recliner all day — my wife needed her car to get to work the next day.
To my surprise, Land to Air was still operating, so we booked one of the last seats on the next bus down to Mankato.
The driver, to her credit, let everyone know right away she would be driving slow down 169, and it meant we would be getting to our destination later than expected.
We got into downtown Mankato, and my father-in-law was there to pick us up.
My brother and sister-in-law, along with their kids, were visiting from Kansas City and had left that afternoon to get back.
They made it a few miles and had a tire issue but made it to Owatonna and would be spending a night there.
Meanwhile, we got to my in-laws’ farm and quickly started up “Betsy,” our car.
As soon as she was warmed up and defrosted, we began our trip north.
My wife spent her first 14 or so years living in the city of Mankato. When she was in high school, with all her five siblings out of the house, her parents decided to move into the country a few miles outside of Mankato. Needless to say, she is used to driving in the snow.
We didn’t even get into Mankato when we saw our first car in a ditch.
Concerned the driver may be hurt, my wife got on the horn with Blue Earth County dispatch to let them know about the vehicle.
I was a little annoyed. When you call 911, they ask a bunch of questions for their records like your name, phone number, etc., and I was more concerned about us getting safely home than reciting all this information.
But in thinking back on this, it comes down to how you are raised. I personally never had to worry about this kind of stuff back home, as it is hard to be stranded for too long in a state that is the geographical size of any Minnesota county.
My in-laws are very big on making sure people are safe in bad weather.
Almost a decade ago (I feel so old saying this), I traveled from my apartment in Kasson to my wife’s house in Mankato to visit with her on Thanksgiving. This would be the first major holiday we would be spending together.
About halfway there on a country road (I am big on traveling the roads less taken), my tires gave out.
I was stuck with my dog, it was a snowy/icy day, and it was cold.
Many people drove by me, but no one stopped to help.
I was truly on my own it seemed.
My wife, who was living with her parents at the time, told her stepdad.
No hesitation. No yelling. He was on his way to come help me.
After getting to my location, he realized my tires were unsalvageable, and we would have to have it towed back to his place.
I was in a panic, though. I had just started my new job at the DCI and moved, which meant most of the little money I had was tied up into moving expenses and for my new apartment.
How was I going to pay for these new tires?
Black Friday rolled around, and I thought maybe we would be in luck, and there would be good deals on tires.
Even before my wife and I woke up, my father-in-law had already been to the store and decided to pay for the tires, I could pay them back.
Maybe it was because I was dating their youngest kid, or maybe because they felt bad for a 22-year-old from Rhode Island, but this was one of the most kind-hearted things that ever happened to me.
So when my wife goes out of her way to help people even in a blizzard, I guess it all makes sense.
Back to last week.
Almost three hours later, we made it home, stopped at Jimmy Johns on the way home, and after we ate our supper and put on warm clothes, my wife and dog were sleeping on the couch before 7:30.
As it would turn out, I wasn’t far behind.
Despite the headaches of traveling, it was a great holiday season.