The Perils of Getting Here 

I don’t know if I have shared with you that the Goldsworthy family is growing … again.

Son Matthew, who lives in North Carolina, is expecting a little girl in the next few days (our third granddaughter – girls 3, boys 0) with his gal. Naturally, being the eager grandma that I am, as the due date drew near I made plans to travel to North Carolina to welcome Mia Rose.

What I didn’t realize was how difficult it would be to get here.

I made arrangements to fly out of Burbank to Phoenix (two-hour layover) then onto Raleigh. Getting to Phoenix was no problem. I had good seats for the short jaunt and a big airport where I could spend the time between flights. (Thankfully they had a delicious burger bar where I could special order a burger of my choice. Yummy!)

Trouble started brewing when there was delay in boarding passengers. Apparently a flight attendant, who had checked in earlier, had disappeared making the crew short-staffed. Flight rules don’t allow passengers to even board until all crew is on-site and ready to go. So we had to wait for another crewmember to replace the missing one.

Delay number 1.

That person finally arrived and it was time to board. Fortunately we had only been delayed about 20 minutes – a good thing because, if you remember, you lose three hours when traveling east. I had boarded in Burbank at noon and wasn’t expected in North Carolina until 11 p.m., which already concerned me because I knew that despite a late pickup Matt would have to work the next day.

After boarding and taxiing down the runway, we suddenly stopped. A sandstorm – not a phenomenon in Arizona – had brewed up, preventing us from taking off.

I had never seen a sandstorm other than on television and was amazed by its ferocity. Once again I was seated comfortably, next to a window, so I was able to peer continually outside as the sand, buffeted by high winds, slammed the plane. I had turned off “airplane mode” on my phone so I was able to send photos to my son to alert him of my situation. He, in turn, sent me photos of the movie “The Mummy,” which featured torrential sandstorms. Could be worse.

Delay number 2.

Thankfully within 30 minutes the sandstorm abated – but the winds didn’t. At gusts at 52 mph (according to the captain) we were unable to take off and had to wait until the weather quieted down. That took another 45 minutes or so.

Delay number 3.

Eventually we were able to take off and made good time, arriving in Raleigh at around 12:45 a.m. By the time I got my bags and Matt made his way to the airport, we were off to his house around 1:30 a.m. Ugh.

And here I sit, ready for Miss Mia to make her debut.

Know what? Despite the drama of getting here, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.