Finally! The long awaited¹ last installment of the meet write-up!

Well, as I said last time, by the time we arrived at Shea and TJ's, it was 1 am, and I had a plane to catch in 9 or 10 hours... and because I was going to need to take a shower, and the airport was farther away than I'd thought when I'd bought the tickets, and it's advised to get to the airport a couple of hours before a flight, I was going to get up at 7. But I didn't go to sleep the minute the sofa bed was made up for me.

The first order of business was to try to get hold of Tom. Since Patty had told me just 24 hours before that Tom was on his way home, I thought it safe to assume he'd be home. I just didn't know if the phone line was working yet. Anyway, I asked Shea if I could call Tom and give him the number to call back, so that they wouldn't have a big phone bill³. Instead, Shea let me use her mobile, as she had a lot of free long distance on it. Seems she'd gotten a plan with lots of minutes... Wonder why? So I finally got to speak with my husband, whom I'd not seen for a week, nor talked to for four and a half days.

After I got off the phone, I asked if I could get online, as my hosts were heading to bed anyway. They said sure, and left me to enjoy the cable modem. Now, I say that my work connection is almost frighteningly fast⁴ but that cable modem is nearly instantaneous! I got through four and a half days of backlog in less than two hours...

Yes, before you ask, I did get some sleep. Four whole hours

Homeward bound

So I got up, took a shower, got dressed, and made triply sure that everything was packed in the right bag⁵. I also showed Shea my towel that had been in my suitcase the entire time. While TJ was getting up, I chatted with Shea in the kitchen, and got a photo of their magnet collection. The night before, on the drive up from Lancaster, I'd offered to send them one from here, but they said they only got magnets from places they've been together⁶. However, I did get a promise that they'd add a California (or even a Sacramento) one to the collection in a couple years.

We left for La Guardia airport, and the traffic wasn't that bad, so we got there when we thought we would. Took us a bit to get from where you entered the parking lot to where I needed to be dropped off, though. After that was figured out, I said goodbye to Shea and TJ, and they told me to thank Tom for letting them borrow me⁷.

Picking up my tickets to go home wasn't nearly as nice as getting the eastward tickets had been⁸... There was a nice long line, which went around two corners. I went to the end, and after standing there for awhile, and inching forward, an employee came, pulling all those with etickets to go stand in a shorter line. OK, great! I followed her. When I finally got up to the front (for this line, while shorter, wasn't short) I learned that you needed to have a major credit card in your name for ID purposes. Guess what I didn't have? So back to the first line. By the time I got there, I was in the exact same place that I'd started at!

Luckily, as it got closer to the flight time, employees came and pulled folks out of the line to the shortest line, the one for those leaving in less than an hour. I thought I'd have lots of time, but by the time I got to the boarding area, it was only a few minutes before they had us board. So this was the first time that Sodit would have been very appropriate!

The first flight was from La Guardia to Dallas/Fort Worth. That leg went fine. And, technically, the second leg to Sacramento was fine, too. It was just delayed for nearly an hour⁹...

So I finally got back to Sacramento, and didn't see Tom, but I was pretty tired, and so figured he'd spot me while I was getting my suitcase. After watching the baggage carousel for awhile, I grabbed my bag. Still no Tom. So I went to the nearest chair and sat. Then I was paged... Tom was not happy...

Turned out that when I spoke with Tom before I went to bed, I neglected to tell him the flight number - I'd just told him to pick me up around 5.30... And he didn't know what airline or which airport I was coming from... So he had no idea (until I told him) where I was and what had happened. I believe his exact words were, 'Next time, just tell me the flight number...' To which I replied that next time¹⁰, he'd be with me, so it wouldn't matter...

I don't think I even bothered to eat once I got home - I'm pretty sure I went straight to bed, bright sunlight and all. After all, I'd only gotten 4 hours of sleep, been up since 7, and my body thought it was 10, even if it was only 7 pm by the clock...

I'm not the only one that took pictures! Mine are here, Tac's (most of them, anyway) are his here, Amy's, Shorty's, and Lady Scott's are here, and Alexandra's are here. Id, Mr Christopher, and Shea were taking photos too, but I've not seen them, and I don't think they're online¹¹

Pennsylvania 'Duck' Meet; Part One
Pennsylvania 'Duck' Meet; Part Two
Pennsylvania 'Duck' Meet; Part Three
Pennsylvania 'Duck' Meet; Part Four

Amy Pawloski

14.11.02 Front Page

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