In My Own Bed

I'm flat on my back, listening to the rain outside. :)

I'm gonna write about today tomorrow... zzzzz

"Good night!" :)

...written the next day:

I got up *very* early (3am Pacific) at 6 am in order to pack everything, eat next door and leave by 7. Packing was fine, but next door didn't open til 7. So I took off at 6:30. GPS Lady told me I'd get to LaGuardia in 45 minutes. And that, of course, turned into an hour and a half (with only one wrong turn). It took quite a while to merge onto the I-95 George Washington bridge to go into Harlem. Thankfully, I was nowhere near downtown Manhattan, although the drivers were just as crazy.

My GPS plopped me right at the car rental place! Thank the Lord! And I had tons of time. I really didn't want to get there at the normal two hours before take-off, because that might have made me sweat bullets in traffic. Who knows what traffic is like at 10? I didn't want to know.

So I got there too early to check my bags. And I needed to switch things around so my suitcase wasn't over 50 lbs anymore. Southwest lets you fly *two* checked bags for free... something I discretely found out from the large placard in front of my face while I was juggling the last 6.5 lbs. at the scale. So my 27 lb. backpack could get checked too! This made everything simpler. And I thought I'd might as well weigh myself as I was there, so I found out I'm still the same since Rodney's house: 165. This is sorta good news, since it means I didn't gain anything, but I'm still one over my signing weight. Gosh, darn it! :) I'll just have to press on this week before I check in on Friday.

So after finding this out I went and had breakfast. :) Had a slice of turkey quiche and a salad and I sat down with my laptop and copied my 2,810 photos from the trip onto the mini-laptop in folders by days. By this time I could get rid of my bags and go through screening, so I did.

Got to my gate and had three hours to kill before boarding. So I opened up the first picture and went through all of them, rotating as I went. I finished Day 11 just as it was time for me to get in line! The flight to Chicago was quick... but I was able to see the Statue of Liberty from the air this time! Otherwise I read for a bit and then slept for a bit in an uneventful flight. We even got in a half-hour early.

I paused in the A concourse for a Battle of Midway display they had up (in Chicago-Midway airport), featuring a fighter plane hanging from the ceiling. And at the food court I looked longingly at everyone's plates, but only had a Greek salad.

We boarded not too long after I got to the gate on the B concourse. But we didn't leave the gate for two hours! There was a mess of severe storms coming through that grounded all flights. Rain gushed down my window on the plane for at least a half-hour. I think I slept for a little while, but it was pretty uncomfortable. I read in the airline magazine about a service dog that was helping a veteran with PTS... very neat story... and then dozed more. I soon had enough of trying to sleep so I got my laptop out yet again and started going through the days, picking out my favorites and copying them to five different folders by topic (general sights, navy stuff, revolution stuff, maritime stuff, and a separate folder for NYC). This will make it much easier for me to post and for everyone else to view if they can stomach it all. :) It'll be at least a thousand in total. Remember, it did take me over a week to see everything... and I have an admitted shutter-bug problem. I should seek counseling. :)

When I finished all this sorting and copying we were only under an hour away from Seattle. My hand was a little cramped from using the same keys for so long, but at least I utilized the time. As we neared in, diving into the puffy clouds, I wondered if Washington really was the most beautiful place in the nation, as I had seen so much beauty this week. But when we broke through, there was Mt. Rainier, solid with snow, jutting out between the clouds. After penetrating the last layer, I was treated to sunbeams sprinkling out over Puget Sound with an orange sunset behind the Olympics to the west. Sorry... No contest. :)

Mom called my phone as I was disembarking; they were waiting for me. :) My bags came out promptly as Meg and Jason met me there. Mom and Dad were in the car. And I was starving! They took me out to Santa Fe Mexican Grill (and I had grilled chicken and rice & beans... no cheese... no sour cream!) and it was excellent! They had had snacks and had waited the extra two hours for dinner just to celebrate my coming home with me! :)

I am home.