Purple Pat Posts Ponderings: Home Alone

It has been a long day. It began at 4:30 a.m., Friday, Amsterdam time which is 10:30 pm Thurs., Indiana Time. I arrived home at 6 pm, Indiana time so I think that was about 22 hours traveling. Long, long day!

We asked the night clerk to have a taxi for us. When Amber answered the wakeup call, she asked if the taxi had been called. The clerk said no. I carried some of our bags down and asked again if the taxi had been called; again, "no". So I asked more questions. Apparently the previous evening the arrangements had been made and it was "booked", therefore, no need to "call" this morning. Again, this English language can be confusing!

At the airport, the agent told me I had to pay for the second bag. I reminded her I was on a return ticket from Africa and entitled to two checked bags. Her computer did nor recognize that and she was insisting I pay 55 Euros for the second bag (that's $80 or so). I tried to convince her but she wouldn't budge so I pulled out my debit card. Her machine would not accept it and she directed me to a different concourse to pay. By now Amber is checked in and did not have to pay for her second bag. I questioned the agent again and she said "oh, she has frequent flier status". I began digging for my Delta/KLM frequent flier number. By this time a supervisor appeared. My agent is in training and didn't know how to override the system. I do get two checked bags because I am on a return ticket from Africa. There was much conversation in Dutch but the end result is I didn't have to cough up the 55Euros!!

Our flight has been changed to 7:50 from the original departure time of 8:15. We headed for security. I had bought a rosewood, hand carved walking stick in Nairobi. It was in the duffel from NBO to AMSTERDAM but now wouldn't fit in the new purple suitcase so I carried it. An agent at security saw me with a "cane" and pulled us out of the line so I wouldn't have to stand too long. Then she directed us to the priority line for the ex-ray, etc. I told Amber that we would "milk" this cane business!! And I did!!

Sidenote: I received an email yesterday, you know...the ones that everyone forwards. It said in part that in lieu of the expense of an office call at your physician's, you could just fly and get a free ex-ray and breast exam....People, this is no joke. We were "examined!"

When we began boarding, I joined the priority lane. The clerk said i didn't have a priority ticket but I showed her my "cane" and she said "that works". So Amber and I were able to get on ahead of the pack. This time our seast were not so good. We were in the middle seats in the middle section. Later I found that one section of the plane had an electrical malfunction. The lights and monitors did not work. I was not able to read long as they dimmed the aisle lights and I didn't have my own. I couldn't watch a movie or track the progress of the flight. So I listened to my iPod and slept.

We arrived in Detroit and went through immigration. When they saw that we had claimed "seeds, agricultural" products, they asked what we had. Both Amber and I told immigration it was tulips. They told both of us that it was no problem. We collected our baggage, saw a confused African man taken away by security, and proceeded on to Customs. They saw our tulips listed and sent us to a secondary check. Those TSA agents confiscated our bulbs. We tried to talk them out of it but the woman was adamant. We should have looked online for things that were prohibited. If we wanted to bring bulbs, we needed to get an authorization form. She didn't tell us where that was available and no one at the Flower Market had mentioned it. So she kept the bulbs. And mine were nice! Yellow and purple tulips and purple calla lilies. She told me it was a good thing I declared them because there is a $300 fine for bringing in illegal items. Frankly, I doubt if they would have opened my bag and looked if I hadn't listed them. She took two bags full and asked if I had any more. I have a few but just told her no.

We were told we could make it to our Indy flight so we hurried through another security check and toward Concourse C, gate 39 or something. It was a 20 minute walk/run. We missed it by 4 minutes. Now we were rebooked and sent to Concourse A, gate 77. We stopped and ate and then walked the whole length of the airport again!! Our last flight was uneventful.

We arrived at 3 pm, worn out! Amber's husband, Jeff, the kids, Madison and Cooper, and my friend, Amber's mom, Donna, were there to meet us. All of our luggage arrived and we were on our way home by 3:30. I was home by 5:30, showered by 6 and just have this to finish and the mail to look through. Then rest!

Here's a few random pictures.

This is the kind of vehicle we traveled in for the safari.

This is the room at Fairmont Safari Club. I tucked Amber in one night and told her she was a princess!! That made me the Queen Mother. This is tent camping at the ultimate!!