often when i travel i am unable to blog events immediately as a connection to the internet is not always readily available. this trip is no different.

this morning we all flew together to boston. by that i mean myself, my grandparents, 2 of my aunts, and 1 of my uncles. twiddle thumbs took me to the airport and we were about 1 freeway exit away when i got a call from one of my aunts. their taxi has not arrived yet so they're going to be late. i said i'd call my mom because she wanted to give them a ride to the airport anyway. i called my mom and she and her boyfriend both drove their cars so that they could pick up everyone and their luggage. i got to the airport and checked my baggage outside and inside i used the automated self-check in system, very quick and efficient. then one of my aunts arrived and the line to check in baggage had grown tenfold. as we waited in line, the rest of our party arrived. one of the baggage handlers likes my aunt so he got all of us through very quickly, thank you. later we were having breakfast together at the airport (except me because i had already eaten before i went to the airport) and we figured out why he was so nice. 3 different people in our party had each tipped him $20! like a scene out of a comedy! hahahaahaa

we flew jet blue. it wasn't bad but it cost me a lot for a one way ticket last minute. to others it's probably not much money though. but if you buy 2 one ways or 1 roundtrip ticket with jetblue, the cost is the same and that total is too much i think because for that same amount i could have went overseas. i did like though how there were individual tv monitors with satellite feeds. this meant there were at least 3 channels with programming of interest. i mostly watched "the dog whisperer" and some specials on american prisons. damn, i never want to go to prison.

we arrived at logan airport in boston and took a shuttle to the rental car company which seemed to be the furthest from the airport of all the rental car companies. my family had booked 2 mini vans and it took forever to get them. the lady at the counter didn't know what she was doing i guess. even the attendants who pulled the cars up to the front were like, "what's going on?". i just waited outside with my grandmother. i never went in to the office. perhaps 1 hour of waiting before we were finally in 1 mini van. my uncle drove, my aunt was navigator, and i was passenger in the back. my grandparents and other aunt waited behind for their mini van. because of the shity service, my family vowed never to use thrifty rental car again.

driving out of boston was hell. we missed a turn but still managed to get where we needed to go. we got on the freeway and needed to take a bridge. somehow the on-ramp we used was not the right one because there was a divider preventing us from taking the exit we needed! we had to go aways before we could turn around. my aunt kept asking my uncle if he was ever going to turn around. i guess they have some sibling issues because he didn't believe that we really needed to turn around. finally, he listened. although, when we turned around we didn't have the option for taking the bridge we needed. we were back on the streets of boston and there were detours due to construction. god knows where we were but eventually we got to the freeway we needed to be on. later, my aunt said we needed a certain exit and my uncle missed it. so we ended up in maine for 1 exit or so then turned around. back to new hampshire (new hampsters as my uncle says) we were to meet up with everyone since one of my aunts lives in that state. hmm, perhaps i should start numbering my aunts. this will get confusing otherwise.

we went to the hotel my grandparents were staying at and they were already there. they got their rental car after we did but we had so many detours and wrong turns that they beat us! my grandparents and aunt #2 (CA) were staying at the hotel. aunt #1 (NH) arrived with her husband and we followed them to the restaurant she had made reservations at. she was upset because we were late and because from what i gather, she likes to be leader and stick to a schedule or something and gets upset easily when you stray or when she's not calling the shots. something like that. so people back away from her and try to minimize dealing with her.

we got to the restaurant, italian, and ate. aunt #1's son was there with his wife. i didn't know he was married. my aunt has 2 boys close to my brother's age but honestly i couldn't tell you who's who and which is older. i've forgotten. sorry. they lived in california when they were little but moved to new hampshire before i could get to know them. i think they left when my dad was alive so that says something about how long ago it was. one of my dead aunt's children was there too. she seemed so happy to see our grandmother, understandably. after dinner, it was a bit of a mess leaving because everybody had to have their say about what's going on and shit. i was outside with a few others and aunt #3 (CT) was getting very testy because she was coming down with a cold and just wanted to crawl into a bed. eventually everyone exited the restaurant and we dropped people back off at the hotel. aunt #3 decided to get a room too so she could crawl into a hole. my uncle and i stayed at aunt #1's house. after all these years, i finally get to see where they live. all i remember about their house in california was that they had a sandbox in the backyard, spoiled cousins!

at my aunt's house, there were various family photos on the wall, including one from the 1800s. so that sparked some talk. i had seen that photo back in high school when i was doing a family tree project. i know the basic story. i learned more details this time. that actually the family was against the civil war. (they lived in georgia and had several plantations and slaves, of course.) they flew the union flag. of the 3 sons in the photo, 2 of them tried to flee from joining the army it seems and died in the swamps. ok, well that makes me feel a little bit better in dealing with my parental side's southern slaveowner past but still, ouch! then i know after the war the family lost everything. with the carpetbaggers and union army stealing stuff, they were down to nothing. the widow filed to get payment back for damages and neighbors testified they were pro-union but the family didn't get anything. ever since then, i'd say our family has been poor. later on, from what i've heard before, i could summarize it down to that my grandfather didn't want to be a hick so he joined the navy and left georgia. his family still holds it against him. oh wait, they're dead now. i don't know how their children feel and i don't care. irony to me is then my grandfather had many children and almost all of them left california to become hicks in various states!