Back in Detroit...

Well, my trip has come full circle, and I'm sitting in the Detroit airport waiting for my flight home to Harrisburg. It's quite the contrast in experiences really. On Thursday night, I had the enthusiasm of getting my trip started and seeing my friends in front of me, coupled with the excitement of following the Phillies game as they broke out to a nice lead against the Brewers. Today, the trip is sadly behind me, and it's just a dreary Monday morning/afternoon in Detroit, no excitement there. (Though I'm very excited that the Phillies next game will be on Thursday in the NLCS!) That's the thing about trips like this - you look forward to them for months, and then its all over in 3 days.

Yesterday was a good way to spend the last full day of the trip. I joined Tim and Amanda at their church, and got to put some faces to a few names I'd "met" over on their blog. After church, it was a typical lazy Sunday afternoon of napping, following football games and fantasy teams, and following along as the Phillies clinched their NLDS with a win over the Brewers. (Okay, so the last part isn't exactly "typical", but it was freakin' AWESOME!). In the evening, I broke out the Wii, and Tim and I engaged in some tennis, and some serious Mario Kart action. Amanda has those pictures, maybe they will make it up onto their blog at some point. Although, they just got rid of me in time for another house guest, as Amanda's Dad is out for a visit, so I wouldn't put that on her right away :-) Nathan was quite the enthusiastic fan of our Wii activities.

Then it was off to bed, and up this morning for goodbyes and the ride to the airport. Nathan, in his sweet toddler way, did his best to make leaving as hard on me as possible. I've given Amanda some mock grief in the past for bragging on how adorable her son is, but it is only that, mock grief. Nathan might not be the cutest kid EVER, but he's got to be a finalist for the honor, especially since he's got such a sweet personality on top of his adorable appearance:-) Tim, Amanda, whatever you're doing, keep it up!

But, much as I would have liked to stay, I had to be on my way. The flight from South Bend definitely set a few records for me and commercial flights. It was definitely the smallest plane (exterior prop engines, and it seated 34, I believe, the very definition of a puddle-jumper), and also the shortest flight (about 40 minutes). I believe it was also the first time I've boarded a commercial plane in the US by walking out to the plane and climbing the ladder into the door, rather than through a standard tunnel gate. I could be wrong about that though, I'm having vague recollections of doing that on a flight out of Harrisburg. Then, once I got into Detroit, I got to do a couple laps of the concourse. My boarding pass said the flight was at B-15, and there wasn't anything to check right near where I got off the plane. The first place I saw to check was having issues and the board where the Harrisburg departures should have been wasn't working. When I got almost to my gate, I looked up and the only Harrisburg flight listed was for C-16, which was right next to where I had come from, so I turned around and started walking back. Then, it occurred to me that the departure time for that flight might have been much earlier than my flight, so at the next opportunity I looked at departures again, and there were 2 Harrisburg flights listed on that one, an earlier one that had been delayed (which was the C-16 flight) and my flight, which was in fact listed as B-15, so I turned around again.

So, here I sit back at B-15, with probably another 90 minutes before I can get on my last flight. While I'm sad to see my trip end, I am looking forward to getting back to my house, my dog, and my own bed. Going back to work tomorrow is another story, but I'm sure I'll survive :-)