Packing is always exciting when you come back. The collapsible mesh laundry hamper ($5.00 at Walgreens) that lives in the suitcase permanently is still appreciated as a wonderful concept and money well spent. The motion-detector battery operated nightlight appears to have given up the ghost. At $10.00 from the Sportsman's Guide, it's done at least half a dozen cruises and other trips, so it's been a good deal, too. The older you get, the more important it is to be able to find your way around the bathroom in the middle of the night. Preferably without waking up the other people in the room.
I turn all the clothes that are dirty wrong-side out, so it’s easy to sort the laundry when we get home. In this case, it’s also pointless since by now most everything is dirty even with the two laundry jobs that have occurred since we left. We’ve each abandoned a pair of shoes here, and as is our norm an assortment of raggy underwear has reached the end of its useful life and will be left behind. What we're wearing home could safely be worn to the emergency room without embarrassing either of our mothers should the need arise. Luggage didn’t get lighter for us, though (we’re still pushing 50 pounds in each of those large suitcases, the maximum allowed by US Airways without a penalty), but our carry-ons are much lighter than they were. All the reading material that came initially, either for work or to be read, “when we get around to it,” is relegated to the big luggage now in recognition that we’re unlikely to read it on the way back home. This wasn't really a "reading" trip for some reason, probably because there wasn't a lot of pool time built in like on a cruise.
It’s been a great trip – the longest we’ve ever taken together, and we haven’t killed each other and even still enjoy traveling together. That’s more than a lot of people can say after sharing a hotel room for 3 weeks, so we’re in good shape. Although we’re both ready to go home, it’s not homesickness. If there were another week or two, we’d be fine with that as well.
This isn't the last entry yet. We've got some more pics to put up, and with two VERY long plane rides ahead of us I'm sure that something will come up that ought to be included. Besides, we've still got commentary on things we noticed to include.
