So we to our garage around 1am today. Sunday was a long travel day. I was up by 6am we were off the ship around 8:30am and at the Seattle airport by 9am. The Seattle airport was packed. When I say packed I mean historically crowded. The locals were freaking out about it. Ive been in this airport four or five times and Ive never seen it like this EVER. However, there were probably 4 ships that came into port today and its not like these things arent known months ahead of time but TSA was not ready for us and it was a madhouse. It took us almost two and a half hours to get from where the ships bus dropped us off at the airport doors to get our bags checked and through security! Once we got into the regular waiting area for our flight, we only had about 30 minutes until our flight. Kamie realized he left his new, beloved hat back at TSA. I stood in line for a Starbucks iced tea while he walked all the way back to TSA and got his hat! Hes convinced they tried to steal it because he sat it
on top of his coat and my purse. Who knows. He at Starbucks a happy man. He then says to me Oh, and they said your wife left her sunglasses too and so here you go and he hands me sunglasses Ive never seen in my life. No time to go back to TSA so lucky me! I lost my favorite sunglasses a week before we left for this trip so this was extra nice.
We flew Seattle to Dallas on Alaska Airlines and then Alaska sold us to American and we flew a small plane into Springfield. We loved that small plane and seats. I will consider flying in and out of Dallas now as I have specifically avoided it for over 14 years due to it being (Kamie smokes) but all airports in the USA (except for D.C.) are now so wed much rather go through DFW with AA than through Atlanta with Delta. Atlanta is a madhouse. Dallas is not.
A few thoughts about this trip we loved it. Maybe it was the great weather, the beautiful scenery, the ability to sit on our balcony 24/7, and our general state
of mind of being able to travel again but it was one of our nicer trips. I fail to pinpoint one reason why we enjoyed this trip so much but it just felt good. We like the HAL clientele, we liked most of the ports (I wasnt keen on Juneau), and we loved traveling together again. Being an avid reader, I cannot believe I forgot to pack a couple of books (Kamie reads his Kindle, I dont like Kindles) so I was a teeny bit bored at least one day. Thats on me. There is plenty to do if you take the time to read the programs they put in your stateroom every day. Also, oddly enough, on this cruise there was no baseball on TV. I did find the walking track and I did get my steps in EVERY day. I ate salads more often than not, stayed for the majority of the trip, and took the stairs quite a bit. I didnt hustle and sweat a bunch but it was a 500 step walk or more just to get iced tea so that helps. Can you imagine what we would all look like if we had to
walk 500 steps just to get something to drink? Its about 5 steps at home now. ? I came home and weighed first thing this morning and I did not gain even one pound I did gain .4 ounces but that doesnt count in my book. (I still weigh more this year than I ever have in my life but Ive been trying to change that since April - the old fashioned way with healthy eating and exercise) I made myself take the dog for a walk at 6:30am this morning. I was concerned I wouldnt be able to make it up the hill by our house but lo and behold the dog and I had a great time and walked over 2 miles in record time. I found 3 golf balls. Life is still good. ? about the heat in Missouri while we were gone but it was 70 when I pulled out of the airport last night and I think it was in the high 60s when I left for my walk this morning. We brought the cool weather with us. Thank Goodness. The lawn doesnt even need mowed because of the drought here.
