The trip, I think it's day two we have been in airports tooooo long.

We flew out of Chicago as 10:25am. They had to scan my purple bag twice. I don't know what they were looking for. Gretchen and I got to sit in the 1st row seats. Bill moved to the back to even out the weight of the plane. That was scary enough in itself. We got to Columbus about 11:30am and sat to wait for the DC Flight. We got lunch sandwiches and chips and something to drink. They announced that the plane was delayed waiting on a pilot. Then they came over the speakers and said that that pilot was unavailable. Gretchen thinks he had flown too many hours, I think he just didn't show up. They were calling in another pilot. Wait again. Gretchen is getting more and more anxious. This time they spoke it was to inform us that the second pilot could not get in because of the weather, probably stuck in a snow drift. Gretchen came unglued. Bill called the travel agent. I sat with Gretchen to peel her off the wall if necessary. Thankfully Bill got through because by the time he got to the counter all the seats were booked. We will fly out at 6 am on Monday. Ethiopian Air leaves at 9:30am. We hope and pray that it works out be have to get there, get the tickets and our bags, get across the terminal and onto the plane in less than 2 1/2 hours. Gretchen called her WONDERFUL friend Jamie and Drew. They live about 45 minutes from Columbus and were willing to come and get us, let us stay at their home and take us to the plane the next day. This all on top of just arriving home from Ethiopia themselves with their new son Mamo. It was jetlag city at their house. We had a great time. Chinese carrout, showers, rest and above all our clothing was washed. Of course Bill left his there. At least he won't get patted down again because he has a hoody on. We were in Chillothe (sp) Ohio a bit farther on our long journey. It was nice to meet the family and I think that Bill and Gretchen slept well that night. Which was a good thing. Chillothe Ohio is the biggest speed trap in the USA. Just a bit of trivia. Drew drove us to the airport on Monday morning. Had plenty of time to wait and met a lawyer for the air controllers. Her name was Jennifer, we told her our story and she told us her's. She gave Gretchen her card in case we didn't make it out of DC. She'd come and get us to stay with her. The kindness of strangers. We arrived in Dulles at about 8:38am Ethiopian Air boarded at 8:45. We still had to get our luggage and boarding passes. We found 5 of the 6 bags. This time Bill and I worked and Gretchen stood and watched the luggage. Jennifer even helped us out, she wasn't meeting a plane just going home. It was getting late so we gave up. The bag lost was a donation bag, of course it had the blankets we were going to us while we were in Africa for Yohanna. It was Nathan's bag sorry Nathan. Bill went for the tickets and we brought the bags. Only one was over weight ant the others were under so they DIDN"T CHARGE US, YEAH. We RAN to the shuttle, taking things off as we rode so we would be ready for security. Got through Security ok, Bill and Gretchen got through first. They had their shoes on and ready to go. We were off on a dead sprint. I was sock footed and G asked if I wanted to stop and put on my shoes. I said no just run. So we got on the tram and I got put back together. Heart already beating outside my chest. As soon as the doors were open we were running again. I could hardly catch my breath. Then I threw a shoe. Leave me behind I felt like yelling but Gretchen was bent over trying to catch her breath. "Here's your PT Bill you run on and tell them to hold the plane." I hobbled on as quickly as I could. Remember I have 2 stents in my heart and I am old and fat. Then I saw Bill stop dead in his tracks. Oh no the plane is gone, I thought. No the plane hadn't even left because of the snow. Whewwwwwwwwwwwwwww We were able to sit for about 15 minutes. Take a breather and get something to drink. My mouth was like cotton not only from the running but from the motion sickness patches. At 11:55am DC time we were in the air over the ocean. We are in the 3 middle isle seats. A young lady agreed to move so Gretchen could sit with Bill and I. G's tickets were different because she had planned on flying to Columbus on Thursday to meet Jaime and Drew at the airport but that plan fell through so G was going to have to sit in the back of the plane. Gretchen told us she had gotten stopped at security for a soda bottle of coke in her bag. Now we are all criminals flying together. Drew told us that what ever we brought home from Africa be sure not to mention kilo, that term is not flier friendly. Use pound.