The Last 3 Days of Christmas

Orange County’s last-minute holiday rush is off and running with the start today of an extended weekend of traffic jams, frantic shoppers and worn-out Santas.

Traffic snarls started Thursday at John Wayne Airport, where vehicles lined up for half a mile to get into the terminal. And that was at 6 a.m.

“It’s unbelieveable,” said Jan Mittermeier, assistant airport manager. “I couldn’t believe it when I crawled in front of the terminal. I’m actually surprised that it was as bad as it was this morning.”

The crunch at the airport is expected to continue until at least noon on Christmas Day, Mittermeier said, and be especially bad this evening. Travelers are being urged to park in remote lots and use shuttle buses to get to the terminal.

Unless a fog rolls in, travelers won’t have to worry about weather-related delays, although storms in the East and Midwest could delay arrival times. Still, airlines have added time to their flight plans to make up for that, she said.

Naturally, the congestion will extend to freeway traffic, said Highway Patrol Officer Lyle Whitten in Westminster. He said that his office will dispatch the maximum number of officers--about 13--to handle the snarls expected along the San Diego and Santa Ana freeways, especially this evening and through the weekend.

Because Christmas lands on a Monday this year, many residents will have to return to work the next day. So more jams are expected Monday night, Whitten said. He compared it to Thanksgiving night, which “was sort of a nightmare.”

Whitten advises travelers to leave before or after rush hour on Friday, give themselves extra time, tune in to radio traffic reports and have a map handy to search out alternate routes.

CHP Officer Ken Daily in San Juan Capistrano suggests that drivers heading out town beat the traffic by doing what he plans to do: go to bed early, then leave at 3 a.m.

The weather forecast through Monday calls for patchy morning low clouds along the coast that will burn off by afternoon. The sunshine will be hazy, with high temperatures in the upper 60s to low 70s. The lows at night will be in the mid-30s to lower 40s.

“I don’t think Santa’s going to have a problem except for cutting through that haze,” said Rick Dittmann, a meteorologist at WeatherData in Wichita, Kan.

Local shopping malls are already madhouses. Many retailers say they expect business to peak around 7 p.m. tonight and reach other plateaus about 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

“Shop early and wear comfortable shoes,” warned Sherry Jones, general manager of the Laguna Hills Mall. She added that the holiday rush started on Monday: “It’s busy (but) there is some parking left.”

South Coast Plaza officials expect about 40,000 shoppers on both Saturday and Sunday, about 15,000 more than on the usual weekend, marketing director Maura Eggan said.

“There’s always been that swell, but especially since Christmas is Monday this year, people are telling themselves they have another weekend,” Eggan explained.

Grocery store operators--often the last places to get hit by the rush--were bracing themselves.

“We’re ready to roll,” said Mario Conti, service manager at Vons in Costa Mesa. He added that his store has hired half a dozen extra cashiers for the weekend. “We’re usually busy until the bare end.”

Although stores expect to sell a fair number of Christmas turkeys, prime rib has been the prized meat at Pavilions Place in Laguna Niguel.

“It’s not like Thanksgiving, not even close,” said John Timpano, the meat department manager. “Prime ribs sell three or two to one to turkeys.”

Employees at flower shops were working extra hours to fill orders for Christmas bouquets and poinsettias. Newport Florists has 200 deliveries to make on Saturday and 100 on Sunday. Ninety percent of Newport’s sales during the Christmas season have been red and white flowers.

“This year, it looks like they are waiting until the last minute,” said shop manager Alex Fernandez.

Russo’s Pet Store in Laguna Hills reports stepped-up sales of dogs, cats, birds and hamsters in recent days. “They’re buying everything,” said Alan Kielbiowski, a cashier at the store. But shoppers have yet to go for a pet pig being offered there. The price: $2,000.

Shoppers are expected to also be out buying Christmas trees, hoping to buy late but cheap, with prices cut more than 50% at some lots.

“You’ll have people on a tighter budget,” said Ewell Gunter, a worker at Snowy Pine Christmas Trees in Santa Ana. “They’ll always be looking for a bargain. A lot of people are living from paycheck to paycheck.”

This is a peak weekend as well for the Orange County Rescue Mission, where volunteers are feverishly dealing with deliveries of donated presents and food.

“It’s wild,” administrator Bob Magluayan said, just after receiving 1,000 boxes of food donated by McDonnell Douglas. “We’ll get (donations) all the way through (Christmas).”

On Monday, the mission will serve dinner and give gifts to about 4,000 people, Magluayan said.

But one business, the U.S. Postal Service, is already winding down the year. The volume of mail at the Santa Ana post office has steadily fallen throughout the week: It is now nearly impossible to get an out-of-state letter or package delivered by Christmas Day, other than by an express mail service, spokesman Joe Breckenridge said.

Still, most mail sent by 5 p.m. today to a Southern California address should make it by Saturday, he added.

Those who need to reach Santa Claus, however, still can. St. Nick will be in most malls right up until Sunday evening. After that, he’s gone--even at Costumes Galore in Orange, which has 60 Santa Claus outfits, owner Rose Gaines said.

“Our Santas, our elves, our Rudolphs are all rented.”