Imagine There's An Image

We're heading up to Toronto on Friday to be with the Out-Laws over Christmas. Yes, having displaced my Canadian and formerly Protestant wife, Sandy, from both her country and religion of origin, it's the least I can do (actually, converting to Judaism was her idea, but I do appreciate it.)

We'll be staying with Sandy's brother's family, who generously house and feed the four of us every year. The rest of the family, Sandy's parents and her other brother and his family, come from Ottawa for the holiday, so the whole mishpocha is together.

We had given up on driving to Canada for Christmas several years ago, choosing to fly instead. But this year, when Sandy did her Travelocity/Orbitz/CheapTickets research, the lowest roundtrip airfare was $430 ... each! And that was only if we schlepped ourselves sixty-five miles to Dulles International, a dangerous voyage through the nation's worst traffic jam. Or, if we didn't mind changing planes in Philadelphia (what's that, like ten minutes in the air from Baltimore?) we could leave from our own BWI Airport for the privilege of paying $464 a ticket.

When Sandy told me the news, I thought this called for some creative thinking. Hmmmm, what could we do for $420 a person?

Well, for $264 each, we could fly to Cancun. Now that's a nice idea for late December, if you ask me.

Or how about this? Haven't been to Paris since our honeymoon in 1980. How about we pack up the kids and all fly there for only $324 a person? C'est un marché, non?

Or... and I really like this idea, I found a deal for 4 days/3 nights in Fort Lauderdale, including lodging, for $239 a person. So here's the plan... since this is about half of what it would cost us to fly up to Toronto, why not hold a lottery for Sandy's family? Four lucky Jansens can join us down in Florida - our treat! Isn't that a great idea?

Sandy didn't go for it. Can you believe that?

Oh well, so here's the real plan. We're going to drive this year after all, but not with one of our old rustbuckets. Sandy rented a brand-new Dodge Grand Caravan - that will be a comfortable ride for the four of us, and no worries about breaking down in Batavia, NY.