Home Again (finally)

True to his word, Jake woke me up at 3:30 AM. I hopped out of bed, brushed my teeth, took my pills, got dressed and was downstairs in less than five minutes. I put my kit into my suitcase (which Jake had lugged downstairs the night before) and grabbed the travel mug of coffee he had thoughtfully provided as we headed out the door and into the rain.

Traffic was light, of course, but it was a two-edged sword. He couldn’t speed as there weren’t a lot of other cars on the road, just cops looking for drunks. Never less, we got to the airport in plenty of time. We said our goodbyes and I trudged into the airport.

I think mine was the only flight leaving (we were supposed to take off at 5:24 AM) because there wasn’t anyone at any other gates. Naturally, everything was closed, so I had to hope and pray my book wouldn’t run out and I wouldn’t get thirsty until I got to Charlotte.

Then we were told the incoming flight was delayed due to weather until 6:00 AM. I quickly checked my connecting flight in Charlotte. It didn’t leave until 7:45 AM, so I figured I still would be okay.

The flight came in, the passengers deplaned and we walked out in the rain onto the tarmac and up the stairs into the little plane. I was being very careful as Crocs and water don’t play well together, especially when you add in metal stairs.

The pilot warned us about possible turbulence due to the storm, but the flight was unremarkable. My seat companion was a young man in his twenties, who family had recently moved to Columbia from northeast Indiana. He was on his way to celebrate New Year’s with his girlfriend’s family in Idaho. So, we swapped stories about Amish and Mennonites and Idaho.

When we landed, I rushed to the gate for my next flight and found it had been rescheduled to 8:30 AM. So, I went off to find some breakfast.

There were no Coney Islands or such where you could get a normal breakfast, though. I decided to use the same logic as driving on the expressway, where you eat where the truckers eat, figuring they know where the good food is. So, I walked around, looking for pilots and/or flight attendants eating. Most of them were at the Burger King !?!

So, I ordered an egg, cheese and ham croissant with hash browns and orange juice. The breakfast sandwich was good, but the hash browns were weird (like 1/4-inch thick tater tots). I finished that up and went back to my gate.

I sat next to a very friendly young lady who was passing the time by knitting a scarf for her boyfriend. I asked her if she lived in Detroit and she said, no, she was from Tallahassee. She was on her way to her boyfriend’s parent’s house in, of all places, Lake Orion. So, I told her about Waconda while we waited.

Then they changed the departure time to 9:15 AM. The plane was here and ready, but the flight crew were delayed as they were flying from somewhere west through a bad storm.

I finished my book and went off in search of another and a bottle of water. When I got back, everyone was gone! I found out they had changed the gate as well, so I wandered down to the new gate and found the departure time had changed as well. Now it was 10:00 AM. Sigh… So much for an early flight meaning I would get home early…

I looked outside at the plane and saw it was another small one (like the one I just took from Columbia). I pointed that out to my knitting friend and she said, “No, that can’t be right".

But, at 10:15, when we finally started to board, it was true. We walked down the normal tunnel but at the end, rather than a plane, there was a set of metal stairs. It was still raining, so I gingerly walked down them and over to the plane’s steps.

I was surprised that the very attractive blond I assumed was our flight attendant was, in fact, the pilot! So much for my antiquated gender preconceptions.

This time my seat companion was a friendly young wife who had been visiting her parents in Savannah and was heading home to rejoin her husband (he had to work) in Toledo. She said the flight from Savannah was rough with heavy turbulence and she hoped this flight wouldn’t be the same.

To give you an idea of how small the plane was, they asked for two volunteers from the first four rows (I was in the fourth row, BTW) to go sit in the rear of the plane to balance the load. I have never seen THAT before! Two guys did move and we took off.

We were in heavy clouds for most of the trip. We were both reading books, but she called my attention to the fact that snow was building up on the window! I would have taken a picture with my phone, but I was in the aisle seat and didn’t want to bother her.

When we broke through the clouds on our descent, everything in Michigan except the roads was covered with snow! Since I had been away, I didn’t know if that was from a big storm or several days of light snow building up.

We landed and taxied (for what seemed forever) to the gate. I wished both the wife and the knitting lady (who was sitting a few rows back from us) a Happy New Year and went off in search of the nearest bathroom. I sent Jake a text to let him know I made it safe and sound.

I got my luggage and went out to the car. Since it had been under cover in the parking deck, there was no snow to deal with, but I sat there until the heated seats kicked in. It was COLD!!!

I wanted to drive straight home, of course, but I stopped at CVS to pick up a prescription they kept calling the house about. Since I was there anyway and I’d cleaned out the fridge before I left, I went next door and ordered a quart of chicken fried rice first.

When I got home, I found a week’s worth of mail neatly bundled and tied in rubber bands in my mail box. My neighbor had thoughtfully plowed my driveway at some point, so I only had and inch or snow on it to deal with (it looks like I have about four inches of snow everywhere else). I parked the car in front of the garage and went in the front door (I always unplug the garage opener when I leave on a trip).

I noticed the footprints in the snow from the mailman. So I wasn’t surprised to see a package in the door. It was from Dave and Melissa.

I fussed over the cats and gave them a treat. Then I hooked the garage door opener back up and got the car inside. I took my suitcase into the bedroom and found one of the cats had apparently wanted to show their displeasure at my leaving by taking a dump on my bed! Gross!!

So, I stripped the bed, sprayed the spot and started a load of laundry. I checked my voicemail and email and found three messages from U.S. Airways on both, letting me know each time my flight was delayed. [Note to self: Next time, give them your cell phone number!]

I ate my lunch and then unpacked my suitcase. I opened Melissa and Dave’s package and found both a cookbook and a wall clock that was built into a frying pan!

I spent a while trying to figure out where the skillet clock could go (it looked silly just replacing my existing kitchen clock). I finally figured it out, but when I moved the picture it will replace (next to the stove) you could definitely see the outline around the old picture frame (Grease? Dirt?) so I didn’t take a picture for you, yet. I need to wash (or maybe even repaint) that piece of wall first.

I opened my mail and threw away most of it, just saving about 10 cards (either birthday or Christmas).

I cleaned out the three kitty litter trays and opened a window to air out the downstairs. That reminded me I had to reset my thermostat as I had turned it down to 60 degrees while I was gone. The bedding was finally done, so I remade the bed and took a long (3+ hour) but well-deserved nap.

When I woke up, I called Melissa to thank her, but just got her voicemail. Later, Jake called to ask if the house was still standing and I told him nobody had broken in.

I ate the rest of the fried rice for dinner and watched a little TV, but went to bed by 10:00 PM, surrounded by cats.