The trip home

One of my worst nightmares happened this morning: the alarm didn't go off and we woke up when the airport shuttle arrived at the apartment. I'm always paranoid that the alarm won't go off and it's never happened until now.

I panicked, packed the rest of things, cleaned as fast as I could, and threw on my clothes before running out the door. I didn't have a chance to even think about the impact of leaving. I also didn't shower or even put on deodorant which made for an interesting journey back.

We made it to the airport with plenty of time. I cried in Nino's arms because I was tired, stresed, and sad about flying home on a different flight than him. We kissed goodbye; I dragged my bags and trudged sadly to my terminal.

I got one last café creme before boarding my flight. I had extraordinarily good luck on the flight and scored an entire row of three seats to myself. It made the long flight from Paris to Dallas almost enjoyable. In Dallas, I was able to use the Grand Hyatt's spa to take a shower and freshen up. The hot water felt heavenly after such a rushed departure and long flight. Since I can't go 36 hours without a shower, it made me think of my sister Andrea backpacking through Yosemite last summer without a shower for almost two weeks. Better her than me.

Dallas had awful weather and my flight to Seattle left an hour late. Missed my Seattle connection and was bumped to the last flight from Seattle to Portland, departing at 11pm. I finally made it back to Nino and Portland just before midnight on Wednesday night. I really thought I was going to have to stay in Seattle when we left Dallas so late.

It felt weird to be back. Even as I write this about 12pm on Thursday, it still hasn't hit me yet. It feels unreal to be here. But, the sun is shining and the grass is much greener than when I left. I get the beagles back tomorrow and plan to spend the day settling back in....