On Tuesday morning it was time to head home. We woke up at 5:30 am and by 6:15 we were heading down the hotel corridor, once again traveling nimbly with just our backpacks and carry-ons. The Styrofoam cooler and bags of snacks and extra water bottles had all been compacted into our luggage or abandoned into our overflowing hotel room trashcan.
We waited outside for the shuttle bus and it came around 6:30. We arrived at the airport by 7 am.
After we checked our large bag and the booster seat, we found our gate and had some time before boarding, so I went and got us all some breakfast from the airport Burger King. The breakfast sandwiches weren't too bad, actually.
Our flight home was a brisk four and half hours long. Thank goodness, because this flight had a bunch of babies and kids going bonkers on it. It was so noisy. Also, the federal mask mandate on public transportation had been overturned by some judge a day or two before, so masks were optional now, as the pilot happily announced "for all those who had been living under a rock for the past day." We still wore ours though.
We got to see the Rockies as we flew over them.
We arrived back in Raleigh around 4:30 pm. Our friend Jess picked us up at the airport in her truck. Then we picked up some Chinese takeout on our way home. Rosa and Anna met us at our house and we all had supper together and shared stories from our wonderful trip. Then I ran out to Aldi for groceries and I was so grateful to once again know right where everything was. It was good to be home.
