DANVILLE, Calif. -- It seemed a bit surreal for Danville’s Lorrie Sullenberger Friday, standing in her driveway, preparing to carpool her teenage daughters to school.

Her driveway was filled with news cameras and the street with satellite trucks.

Sullenberger’s husband -- Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III – was the pilot who saved dozens of lives Thursday when he guided disabled US Airways Airbus A-320 jetliner to a relatively low-impact emergency water landing on the Hudson River in New York.

“We are very grateful that everyone is off the airplane safely,” said Lorrie, fighting back tears and flanked by her teenage daughters. “That is what my husband asked me to convey to everyone, and of course we are very proud of dad, and very shocked.”

Lorrie said that Sully was “feeling better today. He’s a pilot. He’s very controlled, very professional, but we haven’t talked a lot… He has talked to his daughters several times.”

Since her husband was not expecting to be able to return the Bay Area for several days, Lorrie said she and her daughters had yet to decide if they will fly to New York.

“We [were] really in shock all day yesterday,” she said. “Today is the first day of waking up after the fact.”

She also said she had really never worried about her husband being involved in a crash.

“It is a shock like it is to everyone,” Lorrie said. “My husband has said over the years that it is highly unlikely for a pilot to have an incident in his career, let alone something like this. It never crosses my mind.”

When asked what it was like to wake up this morning with her husband being hailed a hero on newspaper fronts and television news reports across the county, Lorrie said it was a little overwhelming.

"The girls went to bed last night and I could hear them talking, `Is this weird or what?,'" Lorrie said.

When asked a second time about the unexpected fame, she added: “He’s a pilot’s pilot and he loves the art of the airplane.”

Lorrie then politely excused herself to drive carpool to bring her daughters to school.