The Travelers Return Home

“There’s nothin’ fun to do today because we have to go home,”  said James.  Feelings about returning home ran the gamut.

We were packed and ready to go by 8:40 a.m., but really hadn’t planned to leave till 9:30.  We decided to head out 15 minutes earlier.  Call it Divine Intervention, because if we hadn’t done this, we would have never made our flight.

Traffic was crawling, which we knew before we left.  However, we hadn’t anticipated a bad car wreck in the airport area on the way to terminal B.  For crying out loud, the fool had to have been going 100 miles an hour because the sports car had been rolled and the jaws used to cut off the top.  This set us back thirty minutes.

We had to print our tickets when we got there.  I was able to print our six tickets from a kiosk, but it wasn’t working for Abby, who also had Michael and Courtney’s.  They had to get in line and wait for a customer service representative because, as we found out later, no one is able to print seven tickets from a kiosk for “security purposes.”

Mark and I went on ahead to the security checkpoint with our family and were standing in line a bit before 11.  Boarding for our flight would cease at 11:25.  We arrived at our gate as passengers were handing over their tickets and boarding our plane.  

Christian texted Michael that they had nine minutes till boarding would close.  All we could do was wait for them and pray! 

In the tram to the gate, Michael announced that they had 5 minutes to make the flight.  Carry-on clad Michael, Courtney, Dylan, Jacob, Jason carrying a car seat, and Abby toting Annalise ran through the airport to Gate 107.  This clip from Good Luck Charlie captures it all pretty much as it went down for the Timm family.  That's Jason in the orange vest.

The knowing flight attendant nodded reassuringly as they approached.  “You’re okay.  We’re waiting for you,” she reassured them.

Nine and a half minutes after us, the rest of our family boarded the plane, beaded with sweat.  I was so deeply thankful to see them!

These are some final moments captured before we left the house:

Mom and Dad also left Florida with flair.  The van was finally loaded and one last walk-through of the house was completed.  Dad got in to take the first shift of driving and proceeded to back into and knock over the three garbage cans at the end of the driveway.  Mom's regale of the story was almost difficult to understand because she was laughing so hard.

Mom and Dad traveled through Georgia and Tennessee stopping that evening in Clarksville.  Traffic all day long was quite sporty.

The next day they took a break in Peducah, Kentucky where they found a huge Harley Davidson shop shaped like a giant steamboat.

They were so glad they took the time to stop here and walk along the river.

Mom and Dad arrived safely home by 11:00 p.m. on Friday night after a LONG day of travel.

How thankful we all are to have been blessed by this amazing trip.  We are truly blessed to have each other and to have shared these treasured memories.  Thank you God!  Thank you Grammy...