July 24--Long trip home

While the flight from Anchorage to Minneapolis was pretty painless, as was the final leg from Minneapolis to Indianapolis, there was nothing easy about either flight. Since we left at nearly midnight, we all hoped that we would sleep on the plane, especially since we would be losing 4 hours with the time changes. None of us got much sleep.

To add insult to injury, Alan inadvertently left the Tony Dungy book he had been reading on the first plane. Of course, our connecting gate was nearly as far as possible across the Minneapolis terminal. Alan asked the gate agent to call back to alert them to look for the book, but the gate agent didn't seem to think that we had landed at the gate that Alan thought. So he started the trek back to the gate, but the cleaning crews didn't turn in the book. He had just a few chapters to go, but hopes that whoever gets the book enjoys it as much as he did (and enjoys the special note that Joyce wrote him when she gave him the book!)

Once back to Indianapolis, Alan's sister-in-law, Beth met us at the terminal, right on time and drove us back as far as Brownsburg. Alan drove the rest of the way to Lafayette (with a Lebanon stop for ice cream, of course), and then Forst drove the last leg with Louise to Mentone. After valiantly trying to stay awake for bedtime Indiana time, they all finally succumbed, knowing that all were back home in Indiana, and that a wonderful time was had with family in an amazing wilderness!