Day 5: Traveling Home

Saturday, July 17, 2010

I was up at 6:00 to head to the airport for my 7:55 flight. Since I was only 5 minutes from the airport, I figured I had plenty of time. When I got in the car, the gas needle was not on full, even though I had only driven about one mile from the gas station. So I stopped, again, and put $2.50 of gas in. Then I drove to the rental car return. It took the guy a while to check me in, and then I didn’t count on having to take a shuttle bus to the terminal. By the time I got to check in my luggage, the alarm went off that I was a late check in and they couldn’t guarantee my baggage would be on my flight.

The line for security was pretty long as well, and I had just enough time to buy a Diet Dr. Pepper and walk on the plane. There were two kids on that flight flying unaccompanied, and I could hear the boy in front on me. He ordered coffee with six creams, which made me smile. He was probably about 10. When we were walking off the plane, he said to the flight attendant, “Look how many things I can do with my tongue!” Fun times!

My flight leaving St. Louis was also expected to depart on time, and probably five minutes early. Once everyone was boarded, the gate agent asked if anyone knew Sean Johnson. No one did. Apparently he was a passenger we were waiting on. Luckily he came within about 10 minutes so we were still on time. He was probably weirded out because when he got on the plane, everybody said, “Hi Sean!” and greeted him as he walked to the back of the plane.

All my flights were on time and I walked into my door at 12:45 p.m. With 3 hotel nights, airfare, and airport parking all on points, it was a pretty affordable trip. Too bad about that $250 rental car fee for a one-way rental.

The stats:
• States visited: 8 if you count Missouri and Kansas
• Miles driven: 1073
• License plates seen: 44, including 2 Canadian provinces and Washington, DC
• Total cost of gas: $82.45
• Tolls: $15
• Food: $52.42 (no wonder I never spend all my per diem!)