July 12, 2009: Never Flying Again....

Cohen and I took an impromptu trip to Palo Alto for the week to spend some time with and help out my grandparents. We lucked out in that the flight from Spokane to Seattle was not full and I was able to bring Cohen's car seat on the plane and have him in his own seat. It was quite the flight, with 9 unaccompanied minors and 12 babies on board (2 sets of twins). After an uneventful flight we landed in Seattle and changed planes for our San Jose leg.

The San Jose leg was not only completely full, it was overbooked by 4 seats. Needless to say I wasn't able to bring the car seat on and had to hold Cohen in my lap. We were at the lake for the weekend and because this was a last minute trip I didn't have the baby Bjorn with me to use. Cohen and I settled into the second row behind the wing on the left side, prepared for a smooth flight.

It wasn't. As we were taxing it started to rain. It took a little bit to get up and out of the storm, but I have never heard of a plane crashing due to turbulents so I wasn't too worried. That quickly changed.

As I was gazing out the window, silently thinking I was so glad the "rough part" was over I witnessed the craziest thing ever: the plane was hit by lightning. Not only did I actually see the bolt hit the little lightning rods on the end of the wing, but I saw the ensuing fireball and it singe the wing of the plane. The entire plane was silent. We were all positive that the plane was just going to drop out of the air. Many people tried to access their cell phone to call loved ones and such. The pilot told us that yes we were hit by lightning, not once but 3 time, but the tiny rods attract the bolts and prevent them from actually striking the aircraft. However, because we were in the middle of an "unexpected thunder storm" it would be a very rough ride. Thunderstorms cause fierce up and down winds, called updrafts and downdrafts. These cause extreme turbulence that makes an airplane hard to control. We were making such huge drops, I was so afraid that Cohen was going to go flying. The lady sitting next to me was as well and she helped me hold Cohen down while the man sitting next to her gathered jackets from people and literally tied Cohen to my chest. I was frozen in fear and it was amazing to see these strangers jump into action to help us. We spent a good hour battling the turbulents and finally reached calmer air.

As soon as we got off the plane, I called John and told him that if he wanted Cohen and I to ever come back home he would have to drive down and get us.....he thinks I'm kidding, but at this point I don't think I am! Maybe by Friday I will gather enough strength to get back on a plane....