Home Again...

Well, after about 24 hours of travel, we are back home again, after a wonderful 25th anniversary trip. Things went well for the first two plane trips, from Honolulu to San Francisco (where Ron had a bowl of chicken stew in a sourdough bread bowl) and San Francisco to Chicago, but we got "fogged in" at O'Hare. The plane we were supposed to take to Buffalo at 7 AM got diverted to Indianapolis, so our flight home was delayed to 8, then 8:30, then 9, then 9:30, then 10, and then 10:30, but it was almost 11 by the time we took off. We got home at 1 PM, and the girls had dinner pretty much ready, in the crockpot. We exchanged stories while we had dinner, then headed to the living room to hand out gifts... Connie's birthday presents, and the souvenirs we brought home for the girls (t-shirts, necklaces, and pens... Candy loves her pen with a sea turtle on it!)

Now it is almost 9 PM, about 36 hours for me with only brief, uncomfortable catnaps on the plane and in the airport. I'm hoping to sleep soundly through the night and get right back to Buffalo time.

We came home to a beautifully clean house... the girls were very busy yesterday! They did a great job of making their own meals (including a campfire meal) and doing the shopping and all. I guess we'll have to leave them alone more often!

Just a few last minute notes from the cruise...
Our waitress, Staci, was wonderful! With Freestyle crusing, you're not assigned to a restaurant or a table, but we made a point of requesting Staci's table whenever we went to dinner. She got to know us, and made sure I got my gluten-free meals the way I needed them, and brought us plenty of hot water for a cup or two of tea after dinner.

I thought this was funny... outside the doors, we had a little sign that said "Welcome". It wasn't until the day after we got on the ship that I realized that the sign had a little knob to rotate the sign, and change it to "Turn down room", "Make up room", or "Do Not Disturb." I guess we weren't the slowest ones on the ship, because on Saturday morning, when we were getting ready to leave, I overhead a man saying that he just figured out how to change the sign on Friday night!

There was a strange sense of deja vue on Saturday morning. On Saturday the 21st, we stood on the balcony of our hotel room and watched the ship come into port. On Saturday the 28th, we stood on the balcony of the ship and watched as we passed by the hotels.

Our favorite airport of the trip was San Francisco. Ron loved the models of World War II airplanes hanging from the ceiling, and he's still raving about his delicious bowl of chicken stew! Any any airport that offers free wi-fi to its customers gets brownie points with me!