Today, Lindsey left for Washington DC trip with her 8th grade class! She was so excited that she couldn't sleep. She was instructed to get to the airport at 4 a.m. for her 6 a.m. flight! I surely did not want to be that mom to over sleep so I slept on the couch last night with my jeans on.... Lindsey packed her suitcase and was ready to leave at 3:30 a.m. to get to PDX on time.
I barely fell asleep after midnight after packing her lunch and finding more socks for her to take. I woke up at 1:44 a.m. and knew I had little more time to sleep. Next thing I know, it was 4:04 a.m! Yikes! I ran upstairs and woke Lindsey up who was practically in tears in sheer panic when she saw the time! She said that her alarm did not go off! We grabbed all the bags and dashed out of the house. Just when I entered the freeway, my gas tank was empty: the dreaded red light came on!! I was willing to go all the way to PDX.... Then I immediately I thought of my friend Ken running out of gas en route to Cannon Beach two weekends ago...in the middle of nowhere! "what if we get stuck on the side of the freeway and completely miss the flight to DC?" We had to stop for gas. I made a quick pit stop at the nearest Shell near Hollywood area. I yelled out "five dollars!" In my foggy, no caffein brain, I didn't even think about it. Five dollars? What was I thinking yelling out only "five dollars!" Was I thinking that I was driving my Honda civic and it was still 1989? Five dollars? The gas attendant sensing our urgency, quickly filled it and yelled "GO!" I looked at the gauge, it didn't even make a dent! Lindsey had that look of horror. "mom, the light is STILL red!" I realized it was too late to turn around for more gas. I felt terribly stupid. Why didn't I at least yell out $10 or even $20? When the gas price is nearly $4 per gallon... what the heck is $5 going to do in my big SUV?
Lindsey and I barely talked driving on I 84 to I 205 north. We just prayed that we make it to the terminal. Thankfully, we made it before it was too late. I think Lindsey was the last student to arrive. I was too embarrassed to make eye contact with anyone at the airport. Silly me. Why didn't I set the alarm clock myself? Why did I trust my 14 year old teenager to wake me up? I was totally at fault on this one! I think Lindsey and I will always remember this morning forever! She grabbed one of the parent's phone and texted me: "Mom, I love you. We made it through security." What a sweet girl... I texted her right back: "love u too, put gas. all good. be safe" I got home and rolled sheepisly into bed. ENK asked if she made it okay to the airport... I replied "of course!"
I know she will have a trip of a lifetime with her classmates! Hearing this crazy ordeal, Allison said, "I want dad to take me to the airport next year!"
