September 11 Digital Archive

story3369.xml

Title

story3369.xml

Source

born-digital

Media Type

story

Created by Author

yes

Described by Author

no

Date Entered

2002-09-11

911DA Story: Story

My wife, son and I were on vacation for ten days, travelling throughout Arizona and Southern Utah, visiting the various canyons and National Parks. We had flown into Phoenix on September 1, 2001 and rented a car to travel to the various points of interest. We returned to Phoenix on September 10 and stayed at a motel, preparing to fly home the next day (September 11). Upon getting up that Tuesday morning, we did not turn on the T.V. but went downstairs to have breakfast at the motel. It was then we saw on the T.V.
in the lobby the unfolding tragedy, and learned later that the nation's airports were closed down. Since there was no guarantee of flying home anytime soon, I called the rental car agency and asked for permission to drive the car back to BWI Airport in Baltimore, Maryland (over 2,000 miles). When we arrived at the airport, there were hundreds of cars from all over the country because of other people not able to fly. I will never forget where we were or what we were doing on September 11, 2001!

Citation

“story3369.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 1, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/11986.