The Journey's End, For Now ...

Friday, July 25th

So, our three-week trip is complete.  All we have to do is get to the airport, turn in our car and fly home to Franklin.   What could go wrong?  We checked in online, got our boarding passes.  The flight is on time.   Home free!

Making our way into the terminal after a skyway train ride of about 15 minutes from the rental turn in, LeRoy looks a little dumbfounded and asks where his backpack was?  Here we were each lugging 2 suitcases each trying to get to the luggage counter and I realized I left my backpack in the rental car.   

Nothing important, mind you, just my computer my passport, my paperwork…. Nothing important.  We went on to the luggage check in area, and quickly got our bags checked in (they will arrive in Nashville whether we do or not!) and then started making our way back to where we turned the car in.  Got back on the skytrain and was getting close to the return center when the train suddenly stopped.   An automatic voice comes on and explains that the train is temporarily delayed and that it would be a short delay.   Then the message repeated itself.   A little while later it again repeated itself.   And then again.  Can you say panic!  

maintenance man checking components on the sky train

As we are waiting inside the train, a maintenance man walks down the tracks, comes in our car and starts flipping switches and settings.  At this point I am pretty sure that things just weren’t going to go our way today.   Finally, the train starts moving but unfortunately not in the right direction.    It limps into the last station we just left and then finally starts making its way along the right path again.  

In the meantime, after explaining to the people at Enterprise that we had left my backpack in the car, we finally got face to face with the folks, and they start making phone calls to the folks that process the return and wash the cars.  20 minutes later, I thankfully see my backpack being walked up from down below.   All is good, right?   Far from it.  Vialula, knowing that we would never make it back to the terminal, go through TSA and get on our plane started the process of changing flights.  After talking with Bob from India for at least 30 minutes we finally had new tickets, boarding passes and a large bill in hand.  So, we charge up back to the terminal and arrive at our new gate, D15, where we were to soon spend a good portion of the day and night - blogging, reading, napping ....   

Home free!  Well, not too soon we got an email stating that our new flight now had some problem with equipment or "some such" and that our flight was now delayed four more hours, leaving at 8:45 pm or "some such" time that ensured us getting into Nashville at "some such" time in the morning.  Does Uber even run in Nashville at 2:30 in the morning?   Do taxis?   Guess we will find out soon enough.  

Until then it is airport food and drink and entertainment for all!   Have you ever seen The Terminal with Tom Hanks?  It is about a man who is stranded at JFK airport and takes up temporary residence there.  Check it out, and then you will know how we felt.

"Set 'em up, Joe"

So, we endure yet another delay of our flight.  It was becoming clear to me that this flight was not going to fly out of California.  After some discussion we look at yet another option.  An actual red eye leaving at 11:00pm and getting into Nashville around 6 am.  This flight is on time, and we trade our tickets in for this flight.   It did indeed get us home, (see our relief below as we finally board our flight home!) albeit a whole lot later than our original flight.   But we are home, have all our luggage and feel tired, and as our friend, Kenjisan, in Tokyo says, "Very Rucky!"

Overall, it was a great trip, and we got to experience Alaska with Melba Jean & Jet Plane.  It was also wonderful to visit our friends who live on the left coast!  

Alaska and the PNW are so much different from our home in Tennessee.  Different, but good! From the hustle and bustle of Vancouver, Seattle and San Francisco to the wilderness of the Yukon - to the beauty of Denali National Park and sailing through Alaska - to the majestic Evergreen State of Washington - to the iconic coasts of Oregon -to the stunning redwoods of California .... wow, just wow! We will definitely have to go back and visit again someday soon, maybe see some new places like the Tetons and/or so many other places that beckon us.  As Woodie Guthrie wrote, "from the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters, this land was made for you and me."

Stay tuned for LeRoy and Vi's next big adventure.  In September and October, Vialula and LeRoy are embarking on a river cruise starting with 3 days in Prague and then taking a Viking River boat from Budapest to Amsterdam.  This is our first river boat cruise, so we are looking forward to that.  Thanks for following along.  We hope to capture some of this adventure in our next blog so stay tuned!

Reminder to selves: It's not about the destination. It's about the journey.

 

LeRoy and Vi