NYC, what is it about you? {solsc day 13}

Daughter the eldest is on her first trip to New York.  She is an 8th grader and the trip is with her Model United Nations group.  The teacher is retiring after many, many years and wanted to go out with a bang.

Most of the time my girl was growing up I was a middle school librarian, and I was a chaperone for our school's theater class trip to New York for several years.  I loved those trips, and I adore the city. Memories were made for us as chaperones, and for our kiddos, many of whom had never left our little corner of the world to venture as far as Dallas or Houston before this trip.

The final trip I made as chaperone a freak snowstorm hit on our last day in the city.  We were as stuck there as the planes were to the tarmac. We had worn short sleeves during our first couple of days, but switched to coats and gloves that morning as we explored.  I remember being on the wooden elevator in Macy's as the snowflakes began to come down in earnest.

The extra four days (FOUR DAYS, PEOPLE--WITH MIDDLE SCHOOL CHILDREN) were interesting. We were stuck in a La Quinta in Secaucus, New Jersey.  Knowing we were leaving that afternoon, all the kids had blown the last of their money.  Truth be told, most of the adults had, too. We couldn't go back into the city because our tour was officially over and they had other fish to fry. Thank goodness for washers and dryers in the hotel, and for the hotel van that took us to Walmart to load up on bread and peanut butter with our pooled resources.

The first day the snow was awesome.  Most of us had never seen any real accumulation--we just don't get that in Deep East Texas.  By the third day even the most die-hard snow lovers was over it.  It was gray from the traffic, and the novelty was gone.  We caught a dollar movie (Bridge to Terabithia) at a strip mall we could walk to, and we had one splurge lunch at an Olive Garden because they had all-you-can-eat soup, salad and bread sticks.  We had to hold "school" at night so that we didn't incur absences.

Memories were made, y'all.  Bonds were forever made, too. That is a trip I'll never forget. I still have a Cheez-It box in my office signed by every kid on that trip. Ah, the stories I have--but most are of the you had to be there variety.

When I got the call last night that my daughter's trip back home would be delayed I probably wasn't as surprised as some other parents.  I knew the blizzard was blowing in, and I've experienced what that means for flights in and out of there.  I'm not worried.  I'm not upset.  I find it fairly amusing, actually, and I'm excited she is having even more of an adventure than we first bargained on. I hope she makes some awesome memories with her friends and chaperones, and maybe even comes home with a signed Cheez-It box.