It's a wrap!!!

Our trip home, other than being a long, drawn-out affair, was pretty smooth, with only a few wrinkles. We got up and were mostly ready to go at our 7am estimated roll-out time. The trip back to the airport took about an hour and forty-five minutes, including a stop at Micky D's for some to-go breakfast.


We only had some slight drama at the Wausau airport. As we arrived and were hauling our bags over to the ticket counter, we overheard an announcement saying that our flight was overbooked, and if anyone had any flexible travel plans, to please contact the ticket agent. We didn't really consider our plans flexible, so we proceeded with our self check-in. The ticket agent then asked us if we would mind getting moved to a United flight, going through Chicago, that would get us back 3 hours earlier. We said that was great, as long as they could get everyone on the plane. They said they could, and we moved down one ticket counter to get checked in with United. The United agent then told us there were not enough seats on the earlier flight back to Charlotte, and we would be arriving even later than our NWA flight. We said no thank you, and moved back to our original ticket counter, starting the whole process over again.






We arrived in Detroit without incident, and starting figuring out what we wanted to do for 5 hours. The first order of business was lunch. We settled on Chili's. Amazingly, no one seemed to be in the mood for a beer. Certain members of the group were slightly tempted by the margaritas, but, upon further consideration, adhered to the team's strict "no margaritas" clause (also known as the "Nick clause").

So what do you do with 5 hours in the Detroit airport? Here are some suggestions:




Take a walk in the psychedelic mood tunnel. Groovy.







Run an escalator








Take a nap









Count the ceiling tiles, read, or pretend to read







Ride on the tram









Take another nap








Eat some ice cream (just don't ask for strawberries on top)







Go for some sushi and sake





As you can see, there's a million ways to have fun in Detroit. After a slight delay involving the gate agents not being able to open the jetway door (and one gate change), we were headed down the ramp to board our final flight. We all packed in snugly (I felt sorry for the poor woman who had the window seat with John and Mac. I saw her look of terror as she came down the aisle.) After another smooth flight, we touched down in NC.

The drivers headed for the cars, and the rest picked up the luggage as it came off the belt, there was more than one person heard saying, "Geez, I have to work tomorrow!" A little post-trip depression setting in? All the bags made it, and everyone said their farewells and headed their separate ways. There may have been a few tears shed...

The best welcome home: