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Anyone traveling for Christmas? Let us know where, because someone here may be in the area.

I'm going to Dallas, Texas this Saturday till next Saturday. If anyone here is in the area, IM me your number and we can have lunch or something.

I'm driving down to Santa Cruz, CA on the 23rd. Not sure which route I'm taking, I-5 or I-101. Guess it depends on whether the Siskyou Summit is iced over. Snow I can handle, but ice sucks, especially on a mile-high, 16% grade. The only way you can combat that is via studded tires and I don't have the $800 and storage for those.

The coast road is longer, but it's mostly snow-free and you don't have to pass through cow country. Nice fresh conifer forests, no methane-emission fields As an extra bonus there's a cool dinosaur park and some neat Native American trading posts on the way.

On Christmas, we'll be going to my aunt's house in Bedford, Texas, just like every year. About an hour-long drive.

And for New Year's, we plan on going to a friend's house in Melissa, Texas.

So basically, this year is just like any other; uneventful.

Me and the girls are hopping in the car tomorrow to visit the parents!
(well, mine, not theirs!)

Pariah, you pack your own food?

Oh, I'll be travelling, just not as soon as I want to. That's life though.

My entire family is localized right where I live. I *never* have to travel to see relatives.

And I'm very thankful for that.

My grandmother on my mom's side and my aunt both live nearby. However, my grandparents on my dad's side live in Arkansas and my grandfather on my mom's side lives in Florida. It's easy enough to get to my dad's parents' house, since we live in northeastern Texas. However, it's a long drive to Florida every summer..

We rarely go to Florida for Christmas, though. From what I can remember, we've only been there two or three times for Christmas since I've been born.

I just got back this morning from a Christmas vacation in Disney World, Florida. We took my grandfather down there, and he enjoyed it very much. The weather was absolutely GORGEOUS, compared to the blizzard Buffalo faced during the Christmas season. Who knew that I would be riding water slides in the hot weather (ironically in Blizzard Beach) while my family and friends was hunkered down in their homes because of the snow? It's g-g-g-good to b-b-be h-h-home. Brrrr.

Hooray, Gevauden's back!

Sounds like you had a good time there. Any interesting or amusing tales to relate?

I'm really going to have to find a way to visit Disney World one of these days though, it sounds spectacular.

Well, I did finish reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. My superego is still trembling. Now if I could focus just enough to attack the raging pile of homework creeping up onto my desk...

The whole vacation was a blur though, because we go down there so much (now, I insisted we go back to Europe sometime, but nooo...). There was one thing that sort of stood out. I was waiting at rope-drop for Hollywood Studios, right near where all the thrill rides were, and the cast members let us go right at 9:00. Everyone's rushing into the park, and I'm moving along with them, when all of the sudden I realize something: I'm on the wrong side of the street from the ride I want to get on! So I look around, and I cut through the middle by walking forward with the crowd, but at the same time going perpendicular to the flow. I'm trying to be polite, so I start walking with the crowd faster to make sure I'm not cutting people off. All of the sudden, some guy's foot tangles with mine (he's just jammed it in there), and I topple forward into a lady who shrieks in a high-pitched squeal, "Jesus Christ!" and gives me a glare of utter disgust. The guy who tripped me was more polite; he pulled me to my feet and said, "Whoa, man, watch yourself, you just cut in front of me." I don't really think I did cut in front of him, but understand that these people got up early to get on these rides, and it's the holiday season, so stress levels are at an all-time high. I just sort of apologize and scramble over to Rock n' Roller Coaster like some stuttering mental patient. Gotta love that crowd mentality.

Anyway, other than that everything was hunky-dory (whatever that means). My grandfather hasn't been to Disney World in a long while, so it was just nice to see him happy.

I just came back from a relatives house an hour and a half ago.