Home!

It's over. A 9 day vacation back home in Iowa has ended, with the 15-hour day that was my trip home yesterday. Thankfully, the trip was pretty good (though LONG).

Got up at 4:00am (2:00 Pacific time) and got ready, before being driven to the airport by my parents for 5:15. I had my bag packed full of stuff, and just hit the 50 pound limit for bags not to be overweight. I've gotten good at doing this over the last few trips, so I was confident this one would be good too.

First, I have to say that there is NOTHING to do in Moline airport at 5:30 am. There is one little coffee shop/bakery open where you can get something to drink and eat, but otherwise, nothing. Of course, there's not much there at any other time, so it would be nice if they'd be kinder to their passengers and actually open something good.


Got into Minneapolis around 7:30 and my connection wasn't leaving until 9:30, so I had a little time to grab some breakfast. Had an Arby's sausage biscuit, and it was heavenly. Discovered that while Minneapolis has wi-fi, it's a Boingo hot spot like Chicago is. This means, for some reason, my iPhone won't recognize it. It connects, but it won't let me do anything. That was fun.

I read on the Moline-Minneapolis flight and I read at the airport. I had bought a book specifically for this trip, but I was getting through it pretty quickly. I did spend about half of my Minneapolis-Seattle trip just listening to my Talk Radar podcasts, which was very nice. I think I did doze during it, though, because I don't remember what all they were talking about. I didn't sleep much, though.

Got into Seattle at 11:00 am Pacific time and got my bag, then headed upstairs and grabbed a beer and a sandwich at one of the restaurants that's on the outside of the security line-up. Was planning to get some Chinese before heading to baggage claim, but forgot that I wouldn't be going into that part of the terminal. Oh well. Next time.

The bus ride left at 12:30 and it was a pretty good trip too.  The wi-fi cut out from one stop to the next stop, but it came back when the driver started the bus again at the second stop.  Not sure what happened, but I was happy.  I was able to tweet!  I still spent a lot of time reading and listening to music/podcasts, and I finished the book just after Bellingham, so I had a fair bit of time to go.  Time to catch up on podcasts!

A bus pulled into the border crossing right before us, but thankfully it didn't take them too long to get processed.  We got off the bus and went through the usual rigamarole of being quizzed by the border guards.  They were pretty efficient and we were on our way fairly quickly.  Efficiency:  what a concept!

I ended up getting home around 5:45 pm or so (7:45 pm Central time), thus ending my 15-hour odyssey.  It was a great visit, but it's also nice to be home.  Unfortunately, because returning on Saturday (or even Friday, I think) was $100 more, I came back on a Sunday and I have to work today.  No rest for the wicked!

That will NOT be fun, but I think I can handle it.  Have to hit the ground running, catching up on emails, student issues, summer course registrations, and all of that good stuff.

Can't wait!!!  And if you believe that, then you'll believe that Sean Penn isn't an annoying git.