Home sweet home - September 18, 2008

Jim met us at the airport as we landed around 3:30 pm, just about on time. We had been flying since approximately 10 am London time, with a brief layover in Dublin. Most of that entire time was spent walking from the gate where we landed through customs for a 't' for transit stamp and then walking what seemed to be the entire distance back to a gate next to where we landed. We feel as if we were walking the same corridors because we could see folks without baggage walking in the opposite direction through a glass wall. And I am certain we passed the same advertising banners. Jet lag or travel fatigue - either one is possible, except we were really tired by the time we got to that last boarding gate.

Our trip from Larnaca was without incident. I slept most of the time. Anita woke me only for the meal we were offered. I honestly don't remember what it was, but I ate it. I had ordered vegetarian meals as much as possible, as I have found them to be fresher and quite tasty after trying them on some earlier flights when meal used to be offered regularly.

Anita saw Jim about 45 minutes before I did. We reached the customs booth only to find that the Aer Lingus crew neglected to give us the customs forms necessary to enter the country. Since I again was sleeping much of the time, Anita tells me she was told they weren't necessary for citizens. My leg was really bothering me after being cramped behind a passenger who decided to recline his seat the entire flight, so luckily, my friend went to find the forms.

After filling them out and explaining how I spent $300 on souvenirs during a 5 1/2 week trip, the customs agent stamped my passport and we could enter the room to claim luggage. British Airways in Larnaca assured us that they could handle getting our luggage to Dulles as they partner with Aer Lingus. Since we were staying the night at a hotel in London, not having to claim luggage seemed wonderful. Anita's bag was one of the last bags that arrived on the carousel in Dulles. Mine did not as as of 2:30 pm as I write this, I have not yet heard from the airline that my bag has been found. By the time they checked and filled out forms and answered my questions (unsuccessfully) about liability solutions, it was close to 5 pm before I made it out of the baggage claim area. Jim said he was happy I had send Anita out, because by the time she showed up, he was already worried.

Anita is certain that it will show up, and I am hopeful that she is correct, as several of my most cherished purchases are in that bag. I know in the long run, things are not as important as memories and family, but it's those special items that help keep the memories fresh. So, all of you wonderful reader, keep your fingers crossed for me. Everything that I was able to pack in the the two boxes mailed from Botswana has arrived safely, including a multitude of Botswanan stamps to share with stamp collectors. Any takers?

I have been spending the day walking around the house trying to stretch the cramped muscles that have my leg paining me today. If I am not feeling better tomorrow, I have promised both Anita and Jim that I will call my doctor for advice and to see if he wants me to make an appointment. I did spend part of the morning going through email left over from what Jim did not delete for me. (I had left a list of things that come automatically that I would not want to read after being gone so long.) There were still over 200 important emails to take care of. I think I'm caught up on that and I have also sorted through the stack of mail and magazines Jim collected for me.

Over the weekend, I can try to make sense of the bills he paid and get our budget ledger up-to-date. Since we started paying bills electronically, I have always kept the ledger record and Jim has done the electronic part. It works for us.

Anita and I will visit with mutual friends this evening who are gathering to hear some of our stories, see some of our new treasures and welcome us home. It will be a wonderful way to end an extraordinary adventure.

See you next when I'm putting photos in the places they belong. Keep checking, so you can see what you have been reading about. Anita and I are sharing photos with each other, so we will have almost 8 gigs of memory to weed through between the two of us.