Texas Trip: Flying Home

It's been a busy time, but a very interesting time.

We're leaving the sunny 70 degree weather of Texas -packing my sandals and wearing my sweatshirt.

Grace and Matt have been wonderful hosts, but I miss my family, my church, my water, my bed...

The planes were packed with passengers this time-everyone going home for Christmas. There were college students, men in military uniforms, mothers with young children, etc. The security guards and ticket agents all had a smile and a holiday wish.

(As we were in line for our security check in Austin, some kind of alert stopped everything. The guards stopped the machines and all looked toward the front of the building until the "all clear" was given. I don't know what happened, but it made your adrenaline race.)

I was wearing a short sleeved shirt, and when we landed in Detroit, I had to dig in my bag for my sweatshirt. I love the tunnel between the buildings at that airport. I felt like I was walking through the Red Sea with water on either side.

I was glad I bought a crossword puzzle book. There wasn't room to use my laptop on this trip. Randy read his new Jean Shepherd book and dozed. I was sleepy too. We were feeling the after-vacation-let-down.




Flying at night is beautiful! You can see the lights of the cities even at 30,000 feet. They look like bush fires or lava flows. I could see the curvature of the earth and the stars above. As we got over Maine, we could see the edges of lakes and rivers, because of the wavy lines of lights. (I missed the water of Maine.)

There was family-feel of the passengers going to Bangor, Maine. People talked with each other and shared stories of why they were going home. They knew the towns and schools where each other lived. We had something in common.

We had to wait in the enclosed ramp for our bags (valet for carry-on bags), and I was FREEZING! It was only 5 degrees! Caleb was waiting for us, and I was so glad that the car was still warm. Randy was glad to drive home. It didn't seem to take any time at all.

We were HOME!

Caleb had cut and decorated a Christmas tree for us, plus made a wreath for the door. It was after midnight, and tomorrow would be a busy day. I fell asleep with "Annie" songs running through my head. It was a great vacation, but it is also great to be HOME!