Friday, June 1, 2018

Friday, June 1, 2018

Today is travel home day for Barbara, Clarence, Wonda, Sam & I.  It will be an all-day long---actually longer than that -- day.  Because we have crossed the International Date line to get to PNG and Sydney we will have to cross it to go home.  Therefore we will have "2" Fridays.  We left the hotel about 8:30 a.m. Friday Sydney time.  But, in Texas it is sometime Thursday evening.  We maneuvered our suitcases a few blocks from the hotel to the Museum Station of the subway train, where we boarded the train headed to the International Airport Terminal.  Arriving there just after 9 a.m. we had to wait for about half an hour to check in for our flight.  Then through all of the security checks to our gate.  Because we are traveling to the U.S.  we had to wait until just before time to board before going through the final security clearance at our gate.  On the plane we found that not all seats were taken.  On our row (Sam & I) there was an empty window seat so we had a little room to spread out.  The flight was scheduled direct from Sydney to DFW and scheduled to take about 14-1/2 hours to get there!! We left Sydney about 1:15 p.m. on Friday and arrived in Dallas about 1:15 p.m. on Friday.  Time travelers!!  Although it was a long flight Qantas is a great airline to fly on.  The flight crew came around frequently to offer water and food - meals and snacks.  Unfortunately, none of us slept well during the flight.  Barbara had a connecting flight to Wichita, Kansas but the Hawkins and us both had 5 - 6 hours drives to our respective homes.  Finally after immigration and baggage checks and shuttles to the hotel for our car we left the Dallas area about 3 p.m. making it home at 9 p.m.  The Hawkins sent a message that they also had arrived home just after 9 p.m.   Home with another successful Work & Witness trip completed.