Being Home

Sorry not to have put an ending to that great Africa trip but I managed to get a cold as soon as I returned home, then right back into the rush of life in the United States!  How quickly we get back to rushing around!

The ending of our trip was extremely peaceful in comparison to our trip to South Africa.  We left Durban, flew to Johannesburg, then from there to Dakar, Senegal for a stop and refueling.  That was about the half-way point to Washington D.C.!  It was interesting that just as we had when we left Victoria Falls, we were subjected to some sort of bacterial fogging before we could leave Senegal.  This time though it was a jet with 73 rows and nearly 600 people and stayed with us a good while on the trip.

Dulles Airport was uneventful except that we almost missed our flight once again from U. S. Customs and Immigration having so few people working.  But as with every step of our tirp we learned once again how small our world really is.  As we were getting off our plane the people next to us heard us talking about the Methodist Conference.  It turns out they live in Dairlyand, Wisconsin and attend church at Faith UMC in Superior so we had friends in common! 

We then flew from Washington, D.C. to Chicago where we had some good old U.S. junk food before boarding our final flight to Minneapolis/St. Paul.  It was great to be back in Minnesota and I did the crazy part - after 33 hours of travel I got in my car and drove to Duluth!  I just wanted to be home, to be with my dog, my friends.  So, after 36 hours of travel I made it home.

I am glad to be back but already miss being where life is a little less hectic, where we could stop a while and talk to people, where we could relax.  But I am thrilled to be back in Duluth - loved the Indian Ocean but nothing is llike Lake Superior!  This trip wasn an adventure, a time away, a time to reconnect with my sisters and a time to connect with new friends from around the world.  It was an opportunity I was glad I didn't miss.

And the footnote to the trip - as of TODAY, 35 days after we left, Jan got her luggage back!!!  They called her from the airport and she went out to get it - so far nothing seems missing!  I told her she should ask United for her baggage's frequent flyer miles as well as her own.  What a great ending to a great adventure!