December 10, 

Well here it is! Tomorrow begins Chapter Two of our life world journeys… simply living, just someplace else!! We are going South.

The day started with a great breakfast. My mom made us bacon! We each had a bacon-tomato sandwich which we enjoyed. It was our last meal with my mom and her husband. Last night we had some awesome steaks that her husband prepared. Bacon and steaks are two things we will miss. We will also miss sunrises and sunsets. But most importantly, we will miss being with family and friends… here in Kansas and out in the LA area. It has been really good to catch up with everyone!! In a way it restores and replenishes the soul.  Anyway after we ate, we finished packing up. We have two carry-on backpacks and two bags we will check. So we are a little lighter starting out on this venture, and after February we will be significantly lighter- due to losing some cold weather items. We finished packing and relaxed a bit, waiting to go to the Wichita Airport. Then Jeff discovered our flight was delayed… and delayed again… lastly, delayed a third time. Really!?! The triple delays caused our connection in Atlanta to be a problem. So the app changed our flight into Miami to another, later one! Thankfully there was another flight.

We finally left my mom’s and arrived at the airport. We all said our goodbyes – my mother cried – and went in to check in… here was another glitch, we had to pay for our bags. It seems that Delta frequent flyer points don’t link up when you pay for baggage with points. So we had to pay for the bags and the attendant gave us a receipt. We went through security, to the gate to sit and to wait. Jeff  took advantage of the time  and called Delta – getting over frequent flyer points returned! Again thankfully this worked.

We boarded around 1230, and the plane backed out at 1255 with takeoff at 1256. On our way! It was a good flight and we got snacks and beverages. The plane landed in Atlanta early!!! We had time to change our flight back to the earlier one – the original one to Miami at a service desk. So we rushed over to terminal B from A via shuttle. We arrived and they were boarding zone 6 of 8!! That was the zone we had been reassigned to! Made it in the nick of time! We were both given a middle seat, with Jeff directly behind me. The plane backed up by 1725, with takeoff at 1735. We were given snack and beverage service again, but the service was cut short due to turbulence. It was cut off just two rows behind us. We landed around 1900 in Miami. To baggage claim but we knew it was in vain – our bags did not make it (Jeff knew from the app). So we scouted out the check in area we needed for tomorrow, then ate our sandwiches and grapes that we had packed from mom’s this morning. 

Around 1940 we caught the free shuttle to our Hotel, and arrived just before 2000. We were checked in and given a nice King size bed. We unloaded our backpacks and ate a few more grapes and chocolate. At 2030, Jeff took the shuttle back to the airport to retrieve our delayed bags. I stayed at the Hotel and put together this blog… getting back into the swing of it anyway. Jeff returned via the next shuttle with our bags and we went to bed as our real trip begins early tomorrow.