On December 10th, I received a message from my best friend’s husband. She had been in a bit of a funk and he wanted to know if I would be able to visit. After checking my account and looking over my financial situation, I told him it would have to wait until the summer. Or possibly, if I were able to scrounge up enough cash, March at the earliest. It wouldn’t just be me going out there, after all, I’d have to pay for Emery as well. So, he asked me for our information and told me that he’d help out with the cost of the flights. I had just started looking for deals when I received an email notification from Spirit Airlines stating that our trip was booked. Only the dates had to be wrong because they were listed as December 12th with a return date of December 16th.
I immediately sent him a message, asking about the flight information, and he told me that there wasn’t a mistake. “Merry Christmas!” After the shock wore off I realized that I had no idea if I could even go because Emery had already missed several days of school, and even though I had vacation time I wasn’t sure if I’d be allowed to take off with such short notice. After talking to my boss man I was given the green light to say “Yes” to this spur of the moment adventure. I spent the rest of the day getting things in order, and letting the rest of the sales guys know what was going on. The next step was to find out whether Emery was going to be allowed to take the time off from school. Thankfully, after speaking with the admin and having her look over Emery’s attendance I was told she would be okay to miss. I asked them to gather her homework and I would have my mom pick it up for us so she could get a jump start on her work once we got back.
The next day I spent it getting caught up at work so I wouldn’t leave anything unfinished. When we got home I washed clothes, did some cleaning, made arrangements for our pets, and we packed. Our flight left at 6 AM so we’d have to leave by 3 AM to make the drive and get there on time. It was going to be a really early and long day for us, but totally worth it. In less than 24 hours we would be on California soil. We’d be in a city that saw a lot of my growth, the very messy transition from a teen to an adult. I would be able to hug my best friend, who I hadn’t seen in four years, and I’d get to love on her kids. Emery would get to see the place that inspired her name and as she so excitedly exclaimed, “Mom, I can’t believe I’m actually going to California and I’m actually going to remember it this time!” We checked and doubled checked everything in our bags. And then it was off to bed. Though I doubt either one of us got very much due to our excitement.
Three AM came quickly. We loaded everything up in the car. Decked out in leggings, chanclas, and hoodies we set off on our two-hour drive. We made it in time to clear security, find our gate, and grab some snacks along with breakfast. Now, if you ever fly with Spirit Airlines just know that they charge you for everything so make sure you have some cushion in your budget for that. Since Emery was a minor, and our flight was booked together I had selected the option of Spirit designating our seats instead of having to pay $23 per person to pick them ourselves. I assumed they did the same thing as Southwest Airlines, and put passengers together or in the same area if the flights were booked together. Well, when we checked-in I noticed that they had us at opposite ends of the plane. So, I spoke with one of the women at our gate and she happily switched our seats so we could sit together. And since I had purchased a carry-on, first zone boarding was included for free so Emery and I were able to board the plane first! We grabbed our things and settled into our seats. Within forty-five minutes our plane was backing out from the gate and headed towards the runway.
