Getting Home

As the whole world, and probably several other worlds know by now, part of my family went with me to Italy last week. We had a wonderful time. Truly magnificent, in fact.

The journey from Chattanooga to Assisi was long. We were traveling (along with layovers) for about 23 hours. We were late enough arriving that we changed our plans for how to attack our trip, and honestly I think it was for the better.

We did get a little worried sitting in Termini Station waiting for our train to Assisi when a shocking hail storm hit the city out of nowhere.

We spent a few days in Assisi, then traveled back to Rome for the remainder of our week.

We arranged a private car hire to take us back to the Airport. I learned my lesson getting into town. It was 70 Euros for the five of us to ride the train from the airport to Termini. It was another 70 Euros to ride a taxi from Termini to our apartment. On the trip home I arranged for this car hire. It was 80 Euros from the apartment to the airport.

A Euro saved is a Euro earned as they say.

But then things started to wind down.

Our flight out of Rome to Atlanta was delayed by 30 minutes. But our arrival into Atlanta was delayed by 50 minutes. We were looking at probably literally running from passport control to our gate.

I tracked the flight on the screen in front of my seat. We left Rome, flew north across Spain, and continued all the way to Edinburgh before finally turning West. We came in over Canada and down through Maine on our way to Atlanta. What is typically a 9 hour flight was closer to 10 1/2.

Our behinds were tired!

Then we got the news that our flight from Atlanta to Chattanooga was also delayed. We breathed a little easier about getting to our gate. We had no time for a lounge, so we went straight to B12 and sat down. The flight was delayed again.

Then, with 10 minutes until time to board, we were told there was a gate change. No need to hurry, they said. The flight was delayed again. We trekked down to B33 and waited.

Then we were told of another delay and another gate change. If we weren’t so tired, we would have laughed. But we were all beyond laughing at this point.

We walked all the way back down to B18 where, after another delay, we finally boarded the plane.

We were scheduled to arrive back at 9:40 PM. Instead, we arrived closer to 11:30. Brittany and Bug still had a 2 1/2 hour drive to get home. After debating about the weather, and being tired, and whether or not to skip work on Monday, Brittany made the decision to just go for it. (She made it safely and in good time).

Alycce and Zack had their car at my house, so we ordered an Uber. It was going to be 15 minutes. Then it said it was trying to find a new driver. I canceled the Uber and we stepped into a cab. The Uber XL was going to be $34. The cab wound up being $20. A small victory for the little guy.

I wound up going to bed around 12:30 AM. And, as is my habit, I was wide awake at 4 AM.

It was a wonderful trip, but that ending was something else!

In the end, although we were tired and irritable, we were also still eternally thankful for our time together. A true blessing for me.

I hope to have a video ready for Thursday, March 19, about our trip. People have asked to see more of my kids, so this is just us sitting around a table talking. I hope you will watch it.

As for me, I think my traveling days are on hold for a bit while both my back and my checkbook recovers. LOL