The Long Road Home

Lane Wallace

Tuesday, January 01, 2002 at 10:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The author's seemingly innocuous decision to leave her airplane in New York for a couple of weeks turned into an "epic journey" due to unexpected mechanical issues and, significantly, the 9/11 attacks, which grounded her plane near restricted airspace.
The subsequent flight home to California, assisted by a friend, was plagued by unusually severe and persistent weather, including thunderstorms and tornadoes, forcing numerous detours and delays across the country.
Despite the frustrating and challenging three-month odyssey, which included a seven-day journey from New York to California, the author ultimately found a renewed sense of accomplishment and appreciation for flying and the beauty of the world upon finally reaching home.

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||| |—|—| | | | It seemed such an innocuous decision at the time. Life had gotten a bit much, I was behind schedule, the late August weather patterns looked bad, and I needed to get home to California for some meetings. “Well,” I thought. “I’ll just leave the airplane in New York for now and come back and get it in a couple of weeks. Life will be calmer, the weather will be better, and the trip will be much more relaxed.”

Talk about famous last words.