Post Via Day3 – Home

It is with no lack of excitement that we woke this morning knowing that we were going home. Home for us is a beautiful place, and we’ve missed it.

We arrived at the Airport early and had a leisurely wait until boarding. I’d used Frequent Flyer miles to upgrade our return journey to Business Class so it was going to be a nice journey.

Two hours into the flight I noticed that we were flying near London. So there is was, in the short span of two hours our pilot had undone 94 days of hard work, sweat, and pain. Wow.

Our flight had been delayed by about 45min leaving Rome. But normally they can make the time up in flight and they nearly did this time as well. However we didn’t have a leisurely connection in Newark so it was going to be tight. It all depended on the big 4. Immigration, bag claim bag re-check and security.

Immigration was a breeze with no one in line ahead of us. Bag claim could have been faster but no big deal. Bag re-check was ultra quick. Three down, one to go.

Anyone who has flown through Newark knows how much of a zoo security can be in Newark. The Airport just isn’t built for it. The halls are narrow and they’ve had to cram scanning equipment as well as serpentine queues in spaces designed for foot traffic. It just never works well.

We arrived in line with just a few minutes to spare. Then some disorderly people in front of us refused to follow the rules and everything ground to a halt. Tick tick tick tick.

It was fortunate that our gate was the first one in the terminal. As we arrived the last call was announced and we boarded (last on the plane). Whew.

After a few quick texts to family to say we’d re-entered the USA after being away for over 100 days we were taxiing down the runway on the quick 1-1/2hr flight to Greensboro.

It was so nice to be picked up by our daughter and granddaughter. It was a fun reunion. Somehow I think Allison is pretty happy! What do you guys think? Ok…so am I.

We arrived to a welcome home banner and a fridge and cupboards full of food and a beef stew dinner (a gift from our kids, my sister Nadine, and friend Cindy). We also heard that some saints from our church swung by and did some pruning and trimming and weed whacking for us as a gift. I’m overwhelmed.

Being home was bizarre. Some things had changed. We’d had some landscaping done while we were away and it really changed the look of the lot. Also the house felt HUGE. The bathroom was enormous; the kitchen immense.

After a few hours with the kids and a home cooked meal we planned on crashing early since the jet-lag was kicking in.

It is great to be home.

Tomorrow I will write a few summary thoughts to tie a bow on this vlog. In about 2 weeks I will add a P.S. to talk about the transition from pilgrim to citizen. After that we will all have to wait and see what the future brings.

It’s been a real blessing to have done this. The investment will increase as the weeks pass and the memories fade. I know I’ll be glad for the reminders of important people, special places and beautiful sights.

Thanks to all who have been a part of our journey. Thank you for your patience and for your thoughts and your prayers along the way.

Thank you for commenting and writing to us. It meant a lot to hear from you and know we were not alone in this. Until tomorrow…ciao.