The Journey Home

Well, I am back in the bump and grind of the ordinary life. There are many things I have learned on the trail which I hope to apply to life in the fast lane...or the not so fast lane.
Mike and I caught an early flight (8:40am) out of Manchester, NH on August 23rd. We had a lay over in Chicago for about an hour or two. The first flight was with Southwest and they do not have assigned seating. I was anxious as we waited and watched the hordes of people come and line their baggage up in the lines to insure they got the "best" seat on the plane. Fighting with people for space on a plane was not my idea of fun on my first day back in the "real" world. Mike and I joked about stealing the unattended baggage or notifying officials of all the baggage left unattended in the line. I am sure the people were sitting near their luggage, but I thought it would be fun to throw people off kilter a little! We, of course, behaved ourselves and just walked around laughing at the cattle lining up for the slaughter at the gate. The plane wasn't even there yet and the lines were almost all the way over to the next gate! Mike and I wandered around making moo-ing sounds and laughing at the cattle. That made things a little less stressful for that flight. Amazingly enough, the unassigned seating actually made loading the plane much quicker. Both, Mike and I, were amazed. We were also able to sit next to each other which we figured was not going to happen as we had taken our time getting into line and such.
In Chicago/Medway airport, we looked for lunch. For about a week, I had been hankering for McDonalds and planned on that in the airport. As I ate my McDonalds, Mike tried to figure out his lunch location. By the time I had finished the McDonalds, I had come to the conclusion that McDonalds sucks and I was glad that was the first I had of it since I left...I do not plan on having it again! The airport was pretty relaxed and I did not feel too stressed out as we milled around looking at shops and buying carmel corn and cookies and cheesecake. Finally, it was time to load up the plane and head to Denver.
We were able to get exit row seating from Chicago to Denver. It was nice other than the seats did not recline. All the sitting really hurt the nice bruise on my bum I had received from my STOP DROP & ROLL episode. The flight was long and it always bothers me when they serve beverages in the first 15minutes of a 2+ hour flight. Anyway, it was smooth sailing all the way home to Denver.
At the Denver International Airport, we made our way to the train to baggage claim. As we stood infront of the doors waiting for the train, people swarmed around us. Once the train arrived into the terminal, people around us nearly knocked us over in a rush to get on the train. On the trail, I have acquired a relaxed feel to life. This was not relaxed at all. I commented to Mike about the stress and rush of people..."What's the rush? It will still be there tomorrow or even in 5 minutes." He had to play devil's advocate and say that it would not be and it was necessary to rush. As we exited the train, he began pushing me and trying to make me hurry...I sauntered to the escalators and rode my way up.
For the full 2 weeks Mike was with me, he was very allusive as to how we were getting home from the airport since our friend, Holly, had taken Mike to the airport. I had a feeling someone was going to be waiting for us. Boy, was I right! When we got to the top, I scanned the crowd and found my sister and nephews standing there to welcome me home! The boys were a little aloof, but Alex broke it by giggling incesantly at me. I ran over and gave them big hugs and kisses. It was good to see them.
At that moment, the trail was left behind and my trail family somewhat forgotten. We made our way to the baggage claim and Ryan & Alex assisted Mike and I in retrieving our backpacks. From there, we headed out. In the car, my sister asked me what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go! What? Home not 10minutes and already I need to make decisions!? All I knew was that I wanted fruit and vegetables, so we headed to Stevi's (my sister's) house for blueberry pancakes.
While Stevi made the pancakes, Mike and I played with the boys and made sure to rile them up as much as possible. I think we did a good job as we got Kyle (the newborn) crying, Alex (the middle child) burned his fingers on the griddle and cried, and Ryan (the oldest) jumping on the couch with a sucker in his mouth! Ah! It was good to be back to the old chaos of my life.
With kids calmed down and pancakes eaten, we headed towards my home to finally dump me into the chaos/mess there. Mike had warned me he had just piled the boxes I sent home on my side of the bed. So, in order to get into bed, I had to make a pathway. Also, on the trail, I learned to take care of wet things as soon as possible and to air things out! So, I set to my tasks of emptying things out and taking care of the piles of stuff. Around 10pm (Mtn time), I finally put my exhausted body to bed in my own bed with clean sheets on the bed! I was home!