Home at Last!

We are back in Searcy after a grueling trip. I have decided that the trip there and the trip back are the hardest parts of going to Zambia each summer. The Ethiopian Air flight left Lusaka Thursday afternoon. All had an easy morning with some shopping for last minute stuff at Arcades and at the airport. Check-in was smooth for most (Meaghan's walking stick had to be checked, but the others were able to carry theirs on). Landing in Addis Ababa in a thunderstorm was a little unnerving due to the number of times we had to circle the airport. The Ethiopian Air flight to the States was smooth. The only distractions were the kids that were allowed to run wild in the aisles, continually push the call buttons, etc. Fortunately, they were not Americans. They all seemed to be Ethiopian with some connection to the airlines.

We waltzed through immigration and customs (a first for me) and headed out to get a boarding pass on Delta. That is where the stress began. Keri's flight had already left so we had to get Ethiopian Air to arrange a flight to Memphis. Unfortunately, our plane was full so they had to send her to National to catch a direct flight on to Memphis. We were to fly to Atlanta and then on to Memphis. Both flights were to arrive in Memphis within an hour so we thought we were set. She headed off and Ian and I went to meet the others. Storms in Atlanta delayed our departure and left us on the ground in Atlanta once we arrived. I had no idea what had happened to Keri but in the end, we arrived 10 minutes after her in Memphis. Gene and Reagan picked us up and I was too exhausted to even carry on a conversation. We arrived back in Searcy around 11:30 and went right to bed. I did notice, when we pulled up in the driveway, that Charlene and Kay(the lawn fairies) had mowed the front yard and created a flower bed around our mailbox. We really do have great neighbors.