Hey All!
We got home from Alaska last night around 7pm ----you know, Alaska is just NOT an easy place to get to or from if you fly out of Greensboro, NC!! We were tabulating and calculating just how many hours it had been since we had been in a bed, and it was something like 28 hours or more!
Get this…
We woke up at 8am Alaska time in Delta Junction, and drove 330 miles back to Anchorage to catch our 12:30am flight out, which was delayed til after 1am….
I just wiled away the time stitching on my hexagons in the terminal until we finally boarded. Don’t I look like I’d been up about 16 hours by this time? LOL!
We got to Seattle at 5am Seattle time, no time for breakfast, we had to rush to get on another flight!
We flew from Seattle to Houston, and then the ZOO started…I’m not sure if it was because we were so overly tired already, but we were laughing hysterically at one point.
Stupid Stupid air traffic control!! According to our pilot, they changed gates on us THREE TIMES upon approach, and had us pull into the INTERNATIONAL TERMINAL! from SEATTLE?!
Well, they usher us through corridors, down hall ways, over this, down that, and we CAN’T go through customs! No one has a passport..we just have drivers licenses? And they hold us up. And keep us there until they decide what to do with us. All 141 of us. Plus the pilots, the crew...everyone was stuck in customs!
Many people were missing connections by this time….what a huge disaster! WHY did they pull us into there?
They ended up escorting us, police and TSA guards directing us…BACK to our gate….back through all those DO NOT ENTER signs…
all the way back to our gate so we could be escorted through a DIFFERENT corridor that dumped us out somewhere near baggage claim, but NOT through customs. Why was there not an agent there to direct us this way when we got off the plane in the first place? Serious. It was SUCH a mess!
They had to check our IDs and boarding passes against the original manifest. Some people didn't HAVE their boarding passes anymore, all the trash got passed to the flight attendants as they were collecting trash before landing. I usually throw mine away, but luckily, this time it was still in my bag-- :c/
We grabbed some late lunch in Houston, it was about 1:30pm at this point, and we really hadn’t eaten anything since dinner the night before in Anchorage.
One more flight, and we were finally touching down in Greensboro.
SADIE was SUCH a happy girl to see us! She was doing tricks even WITHOUT treats she was so excited! LOL! I grabbed my camera and caught this little video:
It’s a narrow video, I was doing it from my phone, but I think you get the idea of just HOW HAPPY she is!
I have more to post on Alaska, but today is an unwind day for me. I need some time to unpack, do some laundry ((load 2 is running as I type)) and get things back in order.
I was looking at my past month’s calendar…from Iowa, to Minnesota, to Alaska…I think I’ve only been home 3 days in between! Crazy life, but I love it!
I had to lay out my hexagon section to see how far I’ve come on it….
Ooooh! Only a bit over 2 rows left to complete this section!
I’ll need ONE more section just like this to fill in the upper right, and two mirror image sections to fill in the lower right and upper left…and….and…..and…
THEN WHAT?!? What will I do for a carry around project then?! I almost don’t want to think of it! Will I do more hexies? Maybe. Will I move on to Applique? Maybe..or maybe I’ll hand quilt something small…or…????
But for today…I rest!
I can't believe you were smiling in the airport pic.
ReplyDeleteHow about making yo-yo's useing a yo-yo maker with sewtakeahike.typepad.com very easy portable. It could go on for a looong time.
Alene adge63@yahoo.com
Welcome home, as only a dog can do! : )
ReplyDeleteHexie project looks amazing. Has kind of a watercolor feel to me.
Have a good day at home, for a change.
I'm exhausted just reading all of that! When you get to the point where you are going to border the hexies... let me know. I want to pick your brain.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're home!
What an adventure! I just love the hexie project. I have been quilting mine for about 6 months now...feels like forever!
ReplyDeleteBonnie, What a mess getting through Houston, but getting home to Sadie made a nice finish to your long crazy journey. Gosh you must have even lost a couple of pounds without eating most of the how many hours..... You'll certainly have your hexi project done when you come out my way in January. Wonder what I'll see you working on then? Sandi
ReplyDeleteWow! That's going to be amazing.
ReplyDeleteMy jaw is on the floor on that trip through customs and back....someone may have lost their job for that! Glad you took it all in stride and kept on peicing! The hexagons are looking AMAZING, seriously a beautiful quilt.
ReplyDeleteI had a wonderful visit to Alaska with you! Thank you for taking us along and you must be relieved to be back home - with such a wonderful welcome. What is it with Houston? We fly over (from France)once or twice a year to visit our daughter and family and International arrivals is a joke. I know customs must be a mind numbingly boring job, but do the staff really have to undergo a charisma bypass before they are given the job? After a 10 hour flight a smile would be good. At least you are not still trying to find your way out!
ReplyDeleteSadie is cracking me up - but we're all glad you made it home safe and sound.
ReplyDeleteI love how the darker neutrals in that big corner section seem to have settled down in the lower left, with lighter ones nearer the star. Don't know if you meant to do that or if it was chance, but it looks like shadow and shading. Neat!
My take-along hexagon project just reached non-portable status, and I'm looking around for a new project, too. I know how you feel!
Leah Shannon
glad you finnaly made it home and I can see that Sadie was thrilled. Thanks for taking us along.
ReplyDeletelove the hexagonquilt. you probably will miss making them when you are finished. Mabe you should try some wool applique when you finish the hexies. It is quite portable an goes well with the shirting fabric.
glad you survived your flights home! that's the best part of any flight to and from alaska - the flight home! have had many flights to and from the east coast and anchorage and home to seward, but none have been as long as your 28 hours!
ReplyDeleteyour hexistar is gorgeous; i've never seen a hexagon pattern like it!
So happy your home safe
ReplyDeleteYou've made amazing progress on your hexies! I am impressed. It may still be a while before you need to worry about the next handwork project though ;-)
ReplyDeleteOMG! Sadie is hilarious! I'm sure she was thrilled to have you and Dave home!!
ReplyDeleteI bet you are thrilled to be home after that full traveling day!!
Welcome home, Bonnie!! Now get some sleep!!
ReplyDeleteBonnie, I just can't stand it - this quilt is going to be so gorgeous!!!!!! Welcome home :).
ReplyDeleteHi Bonnie
ReplyDeleteI think if I EVER!! got to do a workshop with you, I'd be as happy as Sadie
That was really a marathon trip home. You you got there safe. I bet seeing Sadie so happy made you all the more happy to be home.
ReplyDeleteThe hexie project just keeps getting more fantastic.
Just reading about your trip home makes me tired. You just have to wonder about those airport people don't you? First you get charged an arm and a leg,plus all kinds of extra fees, then they herd you around the terminal like a bunch of cattle. But, you made it safely home and that's the main thing.
ReplyDeleteYour project is really looking good!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back and again, thank you for taking us along to Alaska. Following your travels was fun!
ReplyDeleteThe airport snafu? So not cool especially on little sleep. They are sooo lucky it didn't cause anyone to create an "international incident"!
That hexie project looks like it's headed for some kind of record book status (that's a whole lotta hexies)! It's a real beaut. Now why do I think that it will not be too much of a problem for you to find another take-a-long project considering how many of us get inspired by yours (can you say Floribunda)?