All the Best, Noelle

12/22/2024

One of the best parts of Christmas is looking outside at the snow that stuck, watching the white veil drape across your front lawn. This never happens in Florida. This year as I travel to the West coast I have my eyes on the prize hoping for the perfect Christmas snow day. My mother and I take the venture of 2,605 miles using planes, trains, and automobiles (really just planes and cars) to Medford, Oregon. Medford is a sleepy little town with almost nothing to do except retire. But around Christmas, this slumbering town has a lot more to offer. It seems like the entirety of the population waits and prepares 364 days a year just for Christmas. 

To get there from Pensacola, Florida we first took a flight to Austin, Texas, which would usually be a simple and quick, about an hour flight. This was not, of course, we got sat next to a woman who at 25 years of age had never been on a plane. Originally, I thought this woman was just odd or on drugs or something. The energy emitting from her could have made and social butterfly immediately the most awkward person in the world. It wasn’t until the plane was speeding forward to take off that she confessed to us in a panting manner, that she had never flown on a plane. Though I feel we did a kind thing, we spent the rest of the hour flight trying to calm her down. To be completely honest, as soon as we landed in Texas I couldn’t wait to get out of the enclosed area with that woman. When we finally got out of the plane I felt a weight fall off my shoulders. 

Our next flight, thank God wasn’t as exciting as the first. Just a 4-hour long straight flight to Portland. Though those Southwest plane seats a quite literally made from a metal rod and some cardboard, I slept like a baby. Once we finally touched down in Portland I couldn’t wait to see the ice stuck to the ground and maybe even snowflakes falling. To my surprise, Portland is warmer right now than Pensacola was when we left. After that, we began to drive to our final destination Medford, Oregon about a 5-hour drive from Portland. Maybe Medford will be colder? News flash, it wasn’t. The only hope I have is the Christmas miracle that snow will magically start to fall from the sky. 

Wish me all luck and maybe snow.

All the best, Noelle