Arrived!

We are in America, safe and sound.  That’s the bottom line. And we are thankful.

But it wasn’t an uneventful trip. I had plans to document the trip with photos, but I ended up just trying to survive. I didn’t pull my camera out even once.

The flight schedule was a nightmare because our agent booked what we were told were “illegal” connections — less than the minimum required two hour layover time. We had 90 minute connections in both Seattle and Dallas. We were literally running through the airport to catch our flights. But amazingly, we caught them.

I didn’t know you can’t bring beef into the country. We declared it, and were held up in customs for inspections. They confiscated my dried beef but allowed all our other foods, candies, and tea.

I must say that the staff we encountered at the Seattle Airport were wonderfully polite and helpful. I was most impressed at their attitudes, especially considering we had “illegal connections” and beef. They treated us with respect and a sense of humor. I wish I could say the same for the Dallas folks. I don’t know if it’s because by the time we reach Dallas, we are cranky and foggy (all true) or if the people in the Dallas airport are really so mean. But everytime we go through there, I am upset by their snippy attitudes and barking commands. They make me feel like a criminal, especially when we go through the security checks. Does anyone else find the Dallas airport unfriendly?

Another big problem with the short connection times was hunger. We forgot that American airlines don’t feed you anything. And we had no time whatsoever to eat at the airports. Poor Sprite and my husband were tortured,  running past Taco Bells, Chilis, and Wendy’s with a growling stomach. (Asian airlines give you lots of food. It’s not always good, but at least they offer you meals and snacks.)

Our luggage was a huge disaster. Some airports considered it oversized, some didn’t. We never knew where to pick it up and even to what city it was checked. At customs, I had to cut open the bands holding two of the trunks closed. I had visions of my unmentionables scattered over the luggage carousel as I ran frantically gathering them while people laughed. When we arrived in Memphis after over 25 hours of travel, no luggage. Nothing. All six pieces were lost. The last time we saw them was in Seattle in customs.

American Airlines was telling us it could be up to 5 days before the luggage would found. So at 1 AM Saturday morning we made an emergency run to WalMart to get pajamas, unmentionables, shampoo, etc. We had nothing but toothbrushes in our carry-on pieces.

We woke up to tornado warnings and a huge storm, so we were glad we shopped at 1AM rather than waiting for later in the morning.

As it turned out, our luggage was delivered to our home on Saturday afternoon. Nothing was missing. (And I was spared the humiliation of gathering my unmentionables on a luggage carousel.) So we are most grateful. I’ve already visited with my mom, eaten Mexican twice, and learned how to use my new Kindle. Life is good.  Thanks for all your well wishes. I feel so loved by my blog readers!