Hard to believe it's over. We're now in Humboldt, Iowa, a town Pop has been declaring all day to be "the best place in the world!" He and Gram are both excited to be home.
After checking out of our hotel this morning, we spent some time at Holland Motor Homes where we left the Born Frees. It was a little sad saying goodbye to my 24 footer. I'd really come to enjoy life on the road - the freedom to pick up and move whenever you want to wherever you want!
Gram and I grabbed some breakfast at Coco's Bakery Restaurant while Pop talked shop. And then the real adventure began.
I had some misgivings about getting through security at San Diego's Lindbergh Field - not because of my recent run-in with TSA, but because it's been awhile since Pop and Gram have flown. It turns out my fears were not completely baseless.
Gram got pulled aside and frisked (as she always does) because both of her hips have been replaced with metal ones. "[S]he's more machine now than [wo]man ..."
Pop got pulled aside and frisked because he didn't empty his pockets. It's not that he missed an item or two - he just didn't take anything at all out of his pockets. Not his cell phone, pen, keys, pocket knife, nail clippers, deck of cards - nothing.
He's flown enough times that he should know better. Gram posited that he does it for the attention, but I have a different theory. I suspects that he thinks the pat down is like a mini-massage you get for free if you set off the metal detector! It's like a contest - you hide some metal in your pockets, lights and bells go off, and then you move to a special area where you claim your massage prize!
I did get slightly perturbed with TSA for two things. First of all, they wouldn't let him keep his pocket knife. I realize they have a strict no knives policy, but the blade on this thing was a half inch long at the most. It was a tiny little knife attached to a key ring that one of his daughters (my aunts) had given him as a gift. Pop also had some nail clippers, and that little thing that you clean under your nails with was longer than the "blade" on his pocket knife ... and they let him keep the nail clippers ... I agree that it's not a good idea to have people bringing knives on planes, but come on!
The other thing that was slightly annoying was that the only people I saw being pulled aside and frisked were old people. But I guess I shouldn't be too critical - someone has to protect us travelers from the 70+ crowd. And TSA is doing a good job - after all, when was the last time a plane was hijacked by a geriatric? Proof positive that their system works.
Once we got on the planes, we had good flights - nothing much to report. I will explain these photos, though. Whenever I'm killing time in an airport terminal, I take pictures of the people sitting across from me. No one has complained yet, so I keep doing it!
In Omaha, I picked up our rental car and after a three hour drive, here we are in Humboldt, Iowa!
Jenny suggested I keep a running total of our miles traveled - I should've, I just never got it done. But I do have a grand total for you! All told we've driven 4,627 miles in our 32 days together! We've been in 14 states! And I don't even want to hazard a guess as to how much we've spent on fuel :)
It was a great trip and we were able to meet a lot of neat people. I'm glad we made it!
Sometime this weekend, I'm going to try to get Pop and Gram to give me some of their reflections on the trip to share with you!
4 comments:
Close call with those nail clippers...He's had them since our first trip to Canada, and before those he had a pair for 15 years. I think they're his version of a rabbits foot.
I can hardly wait for your next adventure! Perhaps a career in writing?!
Simon: Yeah - haha! You definitely know how highly he values those nail clippers!
Anonymous: A career of just about any kind would be good ;)
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