26 hours and counting..

3-27-13 Wednesday

26 hrs and counting...

Car, wait, bus, bus, taxi, wait, plane, walk, tram, wait, plane, shuttle...

Once I did my shopping I did one more trip around Shen and went back to David's house. My bags are packed and now I just wait.. We watch tv to kill time and told a few last stories. Sean comes over .. He is my ride to the bus stop at 4 in the morning. I tease him, but in a serious way. I let him know if he doesn't wake up I will take his truck keys to the bus location and he can find his truck there in the morning. He reassures me he will wake up. What a kid.. Promising to take his aunt to catch the bus in the middle of the night. Off to bed I must go.. Dreaming of seeing my honey again.....

1:00 am came way too fast... David had to wake up to get ready for work. I dazed in and out of consciousness telling myself it was time to wake up. At 2 am it was time to say goodbye to my brother... That was hard to do. Granted I was tired and my emotions were mixed but saying goodbye to such a wonderful person whom I've grown even closer to over this week together. We laughed, we cried, we drank and we were sober.. But what an awesome bond we did share this past week. This was this first time as adults where we got to spend one on one time just to connect and share with no one else to judge our raw emotions and grow as brother and sister. Lots of hugs and many tears but off to work he must go.

It was a little early for me to get ready to go but I feared if I laid back down I might fall asleep so into the shower I went. I packed my bags, ate a piece of cold pizza and woke Sean up. I guess the suggestion of me leaving him stranded without his truck was enough to make him wake up.

At 3:45 off we went to the bus stop. They said to be half hr early just in case the bus arrived early. Now we wait..... Sean and I talked about him going off to boot camp this coming summer. I could tell he was excited and nervous about his upcoming adventure. I told him about my brother leaving for boot camp and how excited I was to see him again. We talked about the opportunities it will bring beyond Shenandoah and the fears that come with it but also the joys. We talked about his friends and school and his parents and his dreams. It was very nice to talk to him.. in the cold, half awake..while waiting for my bus. 4:10 came and went, 4:20 I was starting to get anxious.. 4:30 I was saying a few curse words that I shouldn't say in front of my nephew. I was nervous, upset, and tired. Did I miss my bus? My connecting bus was in less than an hour now.. I don't know if I will have a connecting bus. I have that gut wrenching pain in my stomach.. Nothing is going to stop me from getting to see my husband tonight! I start drilling sean on if he thinks his truck will make it to Omaha. He doesn't think it would, but hey, I'm willing to try. I told him I would take the heat and write him a note to miss school. But then if we get there we would still have to find our way to the bus stop. I was starting to freak out.. Where is my bus? Poor Sean had to be the rational one of the two of us. I called my brother almost in tears frantically trying to come up with a solution to find my bus. He calmly told me in a voice sounding much like our dad to be patient and not to worry the bus probably got stuck in traffic in Kansas City and not to panic until 5. Don't panic?! How is that possible? This is my way home.. Ok deep breath. 4:45 came and went.. My nerves are shot but I have a little faith my bus will come. With every headlight sean and I would look but it would be a semi driving thru town. Breathe... 4:50 the time is ticking away. Minutes before 5 my bus finally arrived. I gave Sean a hug goodbye and thanked him for helping me thru this past hour. Me getting on the bus early in the morning was like a scene in a movie; bus driver gets out and takes my bags as I longingly look back and say goodbye. The door closes behind me as the bus starts to move along. I find a seat in the dark and put my hand on the window and way goodbye.

My gut still hurts and I have no clue what will happen once I get to Omaha since I know I will not catch my original bus going to Des Moines. There is a smell of sweaty old man hair gel. I try to relax but it's just not possible yet ... Not until I have the relief of knowing when my next bus will leave. I have plenty of time to get to Des Moines which is reassuring to me but it's the unknown that is very hard.

The bus pulls into Omaha and off to the ticket counter I went. To my surprise and relief, there was a bus going to Des Moines in 10 minutes and there was room on it. Yeah! Riding a bus has an interesting crowd. Not bad, but different than my normal comfort zone. I could count how many white people were on my bus with two hands. Also the luggage used didn't consist of any suitcases. In fact, there was a guy behind me that had his stuff in a trash bag only to find out trash bags are no longer allowed on a bus. I almost offered my spare cloth grocery bag but looked behind him and saw another lady with the same problem and thought that one bag might cause more of an issue than no bag. I feel privileged to have all that I do. I am uncertain of the outcome of their luggage but for me, my new bus just arrived.

Riding to Des Moines I watched the sun come up over the flat farmland. I saw the old farm houses with the clickety clack spring doors in the front. I could almost hear the roosters crowing. I felt more at ease with knowing I had 2 more hours to a taxi to the airport. I attempted to fall asleep but a newborn baby in the back of the bus had alternative plans for me.

Once we arrive in Des Moines I go to the phone with the direct line to the taxi. I request a taxi and wait... A taxi arrived and off to the airport I went. It was a typical wild taxi ride with someone that spoke limited English but he found his way to the airport.

As I got out at the airport I started to cry... I made it to my plane; now I have to wait several hours in an airport to even check in for my flight. But I made it!! What a relief! I found my way to the food court and started to work on my blog. The Des Moines airport is very clean and traveler friendly. There are many spots to plug in your cell phone and laptop. The chairs you sit in even have outlets right next to you. Another thing that was pretty cool were their bathrooms. Ok so this will sound odd but as a female it was very nice; They have automatic plastic seat covers. I had never seen that before but you push a button and a brand new seat cover swirls around just for you. Shall I remind you now that I had several hours to kill with a lack of sleep. :)

So fast forward thru the security line and next few hrs of waiting.. My plane arrived and off we went to Vegas. It was odd traveling to Vegas knowing I would only be staying for a few hours and wouldn't make it to the strip downtown or have Vegas stories to tell. I was sitting amongst a group of guys traveling to Vegas for a bachelor party.. I felt a bit out of place but it neat flying over the states I had recently driven through.

Ah Vegas... We're not in Kansas in anymore.. Jeff and I have been to vegas many times before, but today was different. Today I am all by myself pulling my suitcase and walking for what seemed like for miles to find my next gate. I must mention that the bathrooms are much different than the Des Moines airport. Instead of the fancy toilets, they have signs stating "Please do not put needles in the trash." I'm starting to miss Iowa even more.

After my never ending hike to a different airline and different section of the airport I was able to sit. I really wanted to fall asleep but I had visions of sleeping through my connecting flight so instead I struggled to stay awake.

Hours pass and I call Jeff to confirm my family is in Reno waiting for me. Throughout my journey Jeff and I have been counting the days until the full moon. As I turned around looking out the window at the planes there was the biggest full moon. It was a harvest moon and it was very clear. Tears fell. Tonight I see my honey again.

Finally my plane is here and I'm very excited to board. I didn't wait for my isle to be called... Oh no, I was in the pre-boarding line. I don't know why I needed extra time but after hours in the airport I was ready to be on that plane. I found my seat and had a big sigh of relief.. I'm almost there. I close my eyes thinking I would try to rest a little. As the stewardess asks me if I want a drink I see something really neat. There's an English teacher sitting catawampus (Iowa term) from me. During the flight she is grading papers. The papers seem to be long but well written. She takes the time to write words of advice and praise on each paper. Now I couldn't fall asleep.. I had to tell her thank you. Here I am so extremely tired but for whatever reason I just have to tell her thank you for making a difference in someone's life. I didn't want her to feel like I was watching her (although I was) so I waited until we landed. As I told her thank you I said its people like her who gave me the passion to write. She was very pleased with the thank you and rather shocked. I am happy I stayed awake.

Once my plane landed I was on the last part of my day. I had to get to the shuttle before it left. Keep in mind my body is tired and sore ... But my mind says to keep pressing on. I make it to the shuttle and I swear it was the longest ten minutes to the hotel.

When we got to the hotel all I had to do was find Jeff. he was at the sports bar and I was like a mad woman racing through slot machines trying to find him. I totally respect those who go weeks or months without seeing their spouse... It's the hardest thing to do.

Tonight I get to rest in the arms of the one I love - what a wonderful place to be!