a night in new jersey...oh my!

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY -- I was "beary, beary" nervous about my first international trip. Although I was only flying to Montreal, the largest city in "La Belle Province" of Quebec, it seemed like a long ways away. But tucked safely into Sue's green Jansport backpack, I felt pretty secure.

The worst part was getting up so early to catch the 5:10 AM Whidbey-SeaTac Shuttle. Sue's husband Bob dropped us off at Naomi's Self Serve and as we boarded the van I heard somebody say, "Is that Sue Frause?"

Of course! This is Whidbey Island, where lots of people know your name. It was Kim Kelzer, an accomplished artist, on her way to some art happening in Saskatchewan. OK, Saskatchewan "art" sounds somewhat like an oxymoron, but I don't want to get my Canadian teddy bear buddies up in paws over that statement. I'm sure there's plenty of fine art in that province and maybe Sue will take me there someday.

Unfortunately, things got off to a bad start at SeaTac. Our flight on Continental Airlines (which Sue quickly renamed "Confidential Airlines," since you never know when you'll depart or arrive) was delayed an hour due to bad weather back east. But finally we boarded the sold-out flight, and I got the overhead bin right above Sue, a nice guy named Adam and a chatty woman from Jersey who was hooked up to oxygen.

We finally landed in Newark, an hour behind schedule. Of course we missed our 440 PM flight to Montreal, but that was delayed also. In fact, this was just the beginning of what was to become a most memorable night at Newark's Liberty International Airport.

When they announced that our flight was leaving at 6:30 PM for Montreal, I suggested to Sue we get something to eat. I was learning quickly that airplane food was not usually an option unless you fly business, and unfortunately, that was not the case on this trip.

Not wanting obvious fast food, we ended up at Nathan's Famous, where we dined on real burgers and real fries. We sat at a table with a nice gentleman who used to live in Capetown, South Africa. Sue told him she and her family (and me!) would be going there in September, and he said we would love it.

Before long our departure time was moved back to 6:30, then 8:30 and finally 9:30 PM. The airport was in fact closed, on red alert due to storms. And we weary tavelers were getting testy --- the annoying announcements over the public address system were becoming more irritating by the minute.

"Elsa Skunk-eee, paging Elsa Skunk-eee!"

Sue chatted with two women on their way to Moncton, New Brunswick and also Howard and Roger from Montreal. The dentist and lawyer were just back from a week in Costa Rica, and anxious to get home. But the news got worse. Our flight was now leaving at 11 PM, then 11:20 PM and finally the dreaded verb: CANCELLED!

We made our way upstairs to the so-called "Continental Service Center" (another oxymoron). Here we were exposed to some of the unhappiest employees on the planet. They were rude and surly, and after being told that there were no complimentary hotel rooms left, I begged Sue to ask for blankets and pillows so we could bunk down for the night. She also had to beg for food vouchers, and the generous agent gave her two ($8 each). One for Sue and one for moi!

Soon, Howard and Roger and Sue were putting together their makeshift sleeping quarters. Around midnight, we all dined on stale carbs from Dunkin' Donuts along with steamed milk. Sue said that would help me sleep. Fortunately, I was pretty comfy in her backpack, propped up on a chair with my very own airplane pillow. Although I could have done without the fluorescent lights and CNN Breaking News about the California wildfires. Why weren't they covering this chaos in Newark, anyway?

Poor Sue. She wasn't doing well at all. First she put the thin blue airplane blanket and two fake pillows on the floor, but it was too hard. Then it was too cold. Finally she moved back up into the chairs that she and the two Montreal chaps had pulled together. That didn't work either. She returned once again to the hard floor, dozing in and out of sleep between 2-5 AM. She finally awoke around 5:30 AM and used the last of our vouchers to buy Egg McMuffins, hash browns, OJ and coffee from McDonald's.

Fortunately, we were booked on the 7:30 AM flight to Montreal. We said our good-byes to Howard and Roger and at last we were up, up and away for the quick flight to O Canada!

I don't care if I ever see Jersey again.



Copyright © 2006 Sue Frause. All rights reserved.