Taking The Long Way Home

In December, when we left for the states, Marc said when we returned home, he got a great deal on our tickets and we would be overnighting in Miami. I had visions of getting to Miami around 8:00, Marc and I grabbing a bite to eat, getting a hotel and taking one more long hot luxurious bath before returning to Honduras.

And then I discovered that is what dreams are made of.

We left Nathan's around 11:00 on Wednesday and drove to his office. He then took us to the Little Rock airport on his lunch hour. We checked in, cleared security and waited for three hours. We filled the time by eating lunch and I got on my computer since free internet was available. When our plane left Little Rock at 3:30, we made a quick one and a half hour flight to Chicago.

In Chicago there was snow on the ground and even the walkways were bitterly cold. We found our gate and had another two hours of waiting. In that time, we had one gate change and ate again, filling the rest of our time with reading and working puzzles. Due to the weather our two hour layover became three and a half or four.

I said there probably won't be too many people on a flight this late in midweek, thinking we could spread out on the plane. Marc agreed. Wrong. The plane began quickly fill with people wearing Sooner shirts. Oops! I did not think about the national championship being played the next day between Florida and Oklahoma. So much for spreading out, the plane was packed.

Marc had already been talking of staying in the airport because of the time we would arrive in Miami and the time we had to be back at the airport the next morning. Weather delays were just what he needed to decide by the time we landed got off the plane and out of the airport to a hotel would take at least an hour and we would barely get to a hotel before we had to be back at the airport. So, at 1:30 a. m. we walk off the plane and into the gate area and set our stuff down. I think we must have been on the very last plane landing in Miami for the day. The gate agent knew what we were doing and graciously walked back onto the plane and got some blankets for us.

I noticed we weren't the only people sleeping in the airport. I am not sure the other people had blankets, though. Marc took his blankets and went to find a spot on the floor. Not me. I knew if I got on the floor and tried to sleep, it would take a tow truck to get me up again. I opted for the chairs in the gate area.

At first, I was wired and could not even think of settling down to sleep. More time with the puzzle book. I finally felt sleepy and got myself into a position where my leg or my arm was touching both my computer bag and my camera.

There was a chime that sounded every quarter hour, with a lady's voice piped in telling us the time. I did not hear her every single time, that meant I actually slept some of the time. Someone came through running the vacuum cleaner. Of course they have to do that at that time of the morning. He bumped into me, waking me. I started to get up and let him vacuum under and around me and he said no need. He already woke me, I thought he should have vacuumed where I was. Then the floor machine came through. By 5:00 a.m., the gate area is filling with people on the first flight out. More than once I reminded myself how much money we saved on this flight.

I didn't get much sleep, but there were nights in the states I got less than I got in the airport. Right, Susan.

I was so ready to be here when that plane finally landed in Tegucigalpa. I really was energized to plunge back into the work that awaits us here.

Terri