THE LONG TRIP HOME

After saying goodbye to family and friends, we were dropped off at the airport around noontime. (thanks Tina)  Our flight was scheduled to leave around 2:15pm.  But then a HUGE lightening storm rolled in and caused delays all around.  All the workers were pulled inside until the storm passed which meant no planes could land or take off.  It lasted close to two hours.  We finally were able to board our plane around 5pm.  They promised our connections would be holding for when we arrived.  (we flew into Baltimore, MD before reaching home)  Traveling is one of my least favorite things to do.  It's dirty and germy and I always feel so yucky.  There were no seats in the over crowded airport so we sat on the ground.  (gross)  The long flight to Baltimore smelled like dirty socks with an occasional gas attack.  Someone had some MAJOR gas...to the point that I think I held my breath for minutes, occasionally sneaking in a sniff of oxygen only to realize that the smell was STILL there.  Stevie had me laughing SO hard with her convulsions.  We endured lots of turbulence...you know, the kind where you feel as if the plane is going to plummet to the ground.  It was freezing so we ordered hot chocolate at 10,000 feet.  Inevitably there was spillage.  Spillage onto my flip flops.  (thanks Stevie)  The flight arrived at 11pm...the time that we were supposed to arrive in NH.  We hurried off the plane, running to our next gate where they were holding the plane, all the while I was sticking to my flip flops as a result of the hot chocolate spillage at 10,000 feet.  There was no way I was losing my flops running through the airport...(that's a good thing, right?)  We made it to our gate, only to realize that there were delays all over the states and the plane hadn't quite arrived.  In the interim I had Stevie fetch me some wet paper towels so that I could "unstick" my feet from my flip flops.  (sick)  We didn't have to wait too much longer and was finally able to board our second (and last) plane.  We were exhausted along with every other passenger on that plane.  They made us sit for an hour while waiting for luggage to arrive from all the delayed planes.  Another short hour and we arrived to NH.  Another hour (2am) and we were home.  It was a fantastic and memorable trip, but it is oh so good to come home.