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A wet, cold and stressful last minute scramble before the Thanksgiving holiday

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Published  November 27, 2019 10:30pm PST
Holidays
KTVU FOX 2

The last-minute rush for the Thanksgiving holiday

Azenith Smith reports from San Jose.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Many people spent the day before Thanksgiving scrambling for last-minute items for their Thanksgiving meal, dealing with holiday traffic and wet weather. 

At the height of the evening commute, many drivers crammed Bay Area highways as part of the holiday getaway traffic. For some drivers, the holiday started off bumpy with the wet weather making the roads a mess.

“Because of so much rain, I didn't really see everything on the road and I got a flat tire,” said Juan Duran visiting from Los Angeles. “I hit something really hard.”

At a San Jose gas station, Duran was changing his tire. He drove from LA to visit family in the Bay Area. 

“Today was really rainy, very hard, very strong,” said Librada Sandoval of San Jose. “It was a big storm.”

Sandoval was on her way to Gilroy to be with family.

“My plans is to be with my kids at home in peace and quiet,” said Sandoval. “Nothing about shopping.”

For others, the day before Thanksgiving was all about shopping.

“Oh it's nuts, my wife is preparing all the side dishes for tomorrow and my kids are also preparing to put up the Christmas tree,” said Santos Hernandez of San Jose.

At Zanotto's Family Market in San Jose, the big draw was the big bird in a bag. Hernandez picked up a special order of prime rib. The market sells turkeys of all sizes. 

“It’s been busy, it was really busy yesterday and this year, there's a lot more people that I think that are cooking,” said Humaro Keita of Zanotto’s Family Markets.

For some, it’s not the turkey that's a Thanksgiving staple but ham. There was a very long line at a Honeybaked Ham in San Jose two hours before closing. Shoppers were seen bundled up with their umbrellas.

“It’s worth the wait because these are so delicious,” said Delia Herrera of San Jose. “I waited about an hour and a half in line.”

Herrera was among them. Even with the hectic holiday shopping, traffic and weather, she and many others are counting their blessings.

“For life, for health and prosperity,” said Herrera.

“I’m thankful for having my parents and having health,” said Duran.

“I’m thankful for my family,” said Mary Helmers of San Jose. “I lost my mom this year so both my parents are gone so that's a little bit sad but thankful my kids and family will be together for Thanksgiving.”