Day 31

Hello!

This will be my final post. I figured I'd write one last one to wrap it all up!

I woke up at 6am Paris time (12am Orlando time) and began my travels an hour later. I said bye to Katia and Ana Maria and started the day with an apple pastry from the bakery across the street. Then we headed down into the metro to ride it to Gare d'Est then Gare du Nord to hop the train to Charles de Gaulle airport. It went very well!

We made it to the airport at 8 or 8:30 and were at our gate by 9:30. You know how it's always a good idea to have snacks on a plane? Especially a nine hour flight? Well I always wait until I get to my gate to pick that stuff up, but the only places to get food around our gate were a little cafe and a souvenir stand. So I got a small bag of peanut M&M's that I had to ration in between airline-provided meals. Other than that, though, the flight was awesome. The plane was huge and barely filled in the back of the plane where I was. So I got a row to myself! I could lay down, put my feet up, and just do whatever I wanted to be comfortable. It ruled. Especially since there was a TV screen right in front of my face. I watched The Great and Powerful Oz, Life of Pi, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and part of Beasts of Southern Wild, plus an episode of Baby Looney Tunes and Arrested Development. Plus the food wasn't so bad.

After that great flight, we landed in Charlotte, NC. Coming down for the landing was awesome - there were rain clouds around us, so I watched as we descended from the high white clouds to the dark grey clouds, and I saw where rain was falling. As soon as we touched down, the rain started falling on us. I called my mom and dad first thing because I could. Then we got off the plane, said bye to Rosie, and went through customs and security again. The TSA people there weren't the sweetest. We got to our gate and I immediately got a pretzels and hummus and realized how much I missed it.

As we waited, I talked to a few women around me. We boarded late and one of the women was right behind me so we talked a little more. Then I talked with the two people in my row a little bit, because our flight was delayed nearly an hour. The president was leaving Charlotte right around the time that we were, so all the planes were held while Air Force One took off. We finally took off and from there the flight seemed super short. I really just did sudoku for an hour and a half.

When we landed those of us who were still together went to get our luggage, said goodbye, and went to the curb to be picked up. As soon as I saw Tanner and Kelly pull up, I started crying. I knew I would. I was just so happy to see them. I sobbed. It was awful.

We got home, Greg opened the door, and I began to unpack in the living room. I was delirious at this point. I had been awake for like 19 hours at that point. Then I threw laundry in the wash and showered and the four of us went out for Chipotle and frozen yogurt. I drove for the first time in a month and we all made it home okay! Then I unpacked more and passed out at 10. That wasn't the best idea. I woke up at like 4:30 this morning and ended up getting up at 5:30.

I miss Europe but I'm so glad to be home with my friends and my bed and Netflix!