upcoming trip to NYC

When I called Dad for his birthday last week, the first question he asked me was, "When are you coming to New York?" I told him with my job situation I didn't know.

Two nights later, that question was still a thorn in my side. Number 1 - I hadn't been to New York in 2 years. My last visit was Dad's 70th birthday party. The party ultimately got cancelled, but I decided to come out anyway. Number 2 - My job is ending this week, I have no excuse not to go. Number 3 - weather in NYC will be cooler and not stinking hot as it is in the summer. And something I didn't really think much about, probably because my job hunt is predominating everything else, number 4 - Mom's 70th birthday is coming up.

Once I finally put these pieces together, duh, Lani, make the stupid reservation! The revelation came to me about 11:45 p.m., already past bedtime, but I was determined to complete the task. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway. I first went to United. Off-peak season, thought it would be under $400. At the time I searched, it was just under $500. NO. Then went to Virgin America. Much better, but about $370 for coach/economy class. Keep it under consideration and compare this against JetBlue.

I then went to the JetBlue website, and now that they have flights out of SFO, it was definitely something to check out. I was able to get a direct flight from SFO to JFK just under $340. Booked the flight immediately. This will be my first flight on JetBlue. Josh flies them all the time and really likes them. I'll see.

One major difference is that rather than take a flat fare cab ride for $40+, JetBlue recommends taking the subway because of all of the construction currently going on at JFK. I'll catch the AirTrain shuttle from the airport to the Howard Beach subway terminal (picture on this blog entry is taken from our shower curtain depicting map of the NY subway system!). I'll take the A train through Brooklyn and into Manhattan and exit at Chambers and Church. Sherman lives about 4-5 blocks from this station.

Hopefully it won't rain. It won't be fun pulling luggage (carry-on only!) across wet pavement. But I am looking forward to seeing Sherman's place. The last time I was there, he had just moved in and the place was only about 60% completed. Cindy and I had to sleep on an Aerobed and maneuver around boxes. I'll also make it a point to make at least one meal in his snazzy kitchen.