The ship wanted us out of our room by 8 AM. Our new room stewardess rang the doorbell and then walked right in. I think she thought she was being efficient, but I thought she was being rather pushy. I will get out when I am ready, thank you! As much as I want to get off the ship and go home, this has been my room for the past four months.
We had a final breakfast with Lillian, Adrian, Duncan and Melinda and said our goodbyes. It was time to pick up our luggage and repack the stuff we used overnight. A short taxi ride to the airport and here we are, early for our flight to Frankfort. We were so early that we couldn't check our bags for 2 hours. This is not a user friendly airport and trying to find a decent place to sit comfortably was not easy. Wi-Fi is not free either. We did run into several people from the ship.
The trip home was fairly straightforward. There were a few delays, but nothing serious. The flight from Venice to Frankfurt was running late but the pilot made up the time so we arrived on schedule. Unfortunately, we had to sit out on the tarmac while we waited for a gate, making our tight connection to our next flight even tighter. Racing through the Frankfurt airport from one concourse to another on a good day would've been tough enough especially when pulling carry-on bags. It's a little bit tougher when you have aching knees, but I was very glad for the moving sidewalks which did help.
After a 10 1/2 hour flight that was packed, we finally arrived in San Francisco. We went through customs and immigration rapidly using our GOES Pass, which is worth it's weight in gold. No waiting in lines! We retrieved our bags and then had to recheck them, and then headed to another part of the San Francisco airport in order to get our flight to Palm Springs. It was a very long walk, which I actually took in a wheelchair because by this time the knees were really unhappy. After a brief flight to Palm Springs, we arrived around midnight, got our rental car and headed home. The evening was balmy and the temperatures quite delightful.
We got to the house and we were expecting it to be cool and comfortable. What we got was a hot house with a broken air conditioner that supposedly had been fixed the previous week. No sleep for 24 hours, hot, and hungry makes for a very unhappy girl. After taking stock of four months worth of mail, the disruption caused by renting our house for the four-month absence, and trying to find things that are not where they're supposed to be, I have to admit I was a bit agitated. But thanks to the marvels of modern medicine, we were able to get a few hours sleep before having to face the broken air conditioner, unpacking suitcases, and putting our home back in order.
Upon arising at 7 AM, Michael and I had different agendas for the day. His was to get the air conditioner fixed and I was to get my nails fixed and see the doctor about my knee. The doctor gave me an injection and said he would inject the other part of my knee in two weeks. However, he looked at me with those big brown eyes and told me, "you have arthritis." So my options are to continue with injections or to face having to get a new knee. Since I don't have the time or the desire to be out of commission for any length of time this summer, I am going to opt for the injections. Keep your fingers crossed that they will buy me some quality time.
In regard to the air-conditioner, the patient has been diagnosed as terminal. Due to a series of foul-ups, the air-conditioner that was supposed to have been completely replaced and fixed by last week before we got home, never got done. Since this was Friday, you know that nothing will happen over the weekend and with temperatures over one hundred plus degrees, it is been a very uncomfortable and long weekend. Instead of taking care of business at home, we have been going to the movies and out to dinner and any place that has air-conditioning. Thankfully, the evenings have seen the temperatures in a more comfortable range for sleeping.
WELCOME HOME!
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