That summer our church was in dire need of a new rug. And so the rug fund was instituted. Anyone who donated $50 to the rug fund, would receive free "taxi" service to and from the airport. The rug fund benefitted from those who donated the money, and from those who donated the time and car as drivers. (we, as beneficiaries of a ride, later did a stint as drivers).

Our Turkey vacation was to last 14 days, and with the extended parking over $5 a day, it made sense to get to and from the airport via the rug fund. We left our car in the church parking lot, and were picked up by our driver and taken to the airport in plenty of time for our afternoon flight to Newark.
We arrived at our gate to find it crowded with unhappy travellers. It seems there was a line of severe weather between Pittsburgh and the east coast, and all planes going in that direction were delayed. When the decision was made to cancel all flights eastward that night, those of us with international tickets were called away from the ugliness at the gate. We were told that we would be put up at a nearby motel, given vouchers for dinner and put on the first flight to Newark in the morning.
What to do? Had we driven to the airport we would have just gone home. We did not want to call the rug fund coordinator, be picked up, and have to bring our own car to the airport in the morning! We decided to go with the flow, and followed the others to the limo that took us to the motel.

Surprisingly, we were the only Pittsburghers in the group. We ate dinner with several young engineers on their way home to Great Britain, France and Italy after having worked on a project here in Pittsburgh.

The next morning we caught the plane for Newark and landed there to find that there was an 8 hour wait for the plane to Paris. Two of the young engineers were in the same plight. Newark is not a jolly place to wait around 8 hours.
One of the engineers said that he had never been to New York, and would like to see the Empire State Building. We are familiar with the city, having grown up nearby, and decided to act as the tour guides. We bought tickets for the bus that would take us into New York and let us off just down the street from the Empire State Building. They were not cheap. Nor was the admission to the top of the building. The lines to buy the tickets were long, and to board the elevators to reach the top even longer. But we kept reminding ourselves, it was better than Newark.

Eventually we reached the top. It was a windy, smoggy day. Visibility was really poor. No matter. It is an incredible view. We took our pictures and then began our journey back to Newark.
Was I prescient enough to include the World Trade Towers in my pan? No, I wasn't. I concentrated on the Chrysler Building which is my favorite part of the NY skyline.
And our new friends were completely satisfied, and had one more souvenir to take home of their visit to the states.