That's about all the Spanish I remember after my USA getaway. And I know I have been a terrible horrible blogger lately. But now that I am back on Cartagena time... my blog post schedule has opened back up.
I have lots of stories and pictures to share from the last 3 weeks {I took nearly 1000}. Don't worry, I will not be stuffing 3 weeks worth of words & 500 pictures in one post. I will spread it out for your viewing pleasure {
First, prepare for a bit of text. As promised... my missing Samsonite.
So, Saturday August 20th is where my USAdventure began. early.
I would be completely lying if I said I didn't have some anxiety about my first solo international trip. As my flight was scheduled I had a 6 hour layover in Panama and about 90 minutes to get through immigration & customs in Houston before catching the last flight of the day out to Knoxville. This 90 minute situation sort of consumed my thoughts and I had visions of ending up in a hotel in Houston... so close yet so far away.
Apparently, that is not what I needed to be worried about.
When I arrived in Panama, I realized that there was an earlier flight into Houston, than the one I was originally scheduled for. I was told I could get on the flight if they were able to locate my checked baggage and get it onto the flight. Minutes before the flight was ready, my name was called and I was boarding. I was thrilled about this as I now had plenty of time to get through immigration and was going to be sitting in a very familiar airport enveloped in English conversations.
When I arrived in Houston, I got through customs no problem. Until I had to re-check my baggage. I should also note that Matt is always the baggage guy when we travel. I am basically told to stand in one spot and guard whatever else we have brought with us. So, looking for my 2 black Samsonite bags, among many others was a bit of a foreign act.
This act became all the more foreign when I only had 1 black Samsonite bag. I asked an airport employee what was the process at this point and he told me to proceed and file a lost baggage claim at my final destination.
At this point, I was so damn happy to be in America I wasn't all that worried {side note: even though I was in America, I couldn't get rid of my Spanish just yet. I literally walked around the airport acknowledging people with 'Buenas' and told the airport security people 'Gracias'.}
I bought an US Weekly, bellied up to the bar with a glass of wine and sat alone with the biggest grin on my face, listening to other peoples conversations. Why? Because I could.
When I arrived in Knoxville, I still only had one black Samsonite bag. The kindest Continental employee helped me and what he discovered was that my second bag was never scanned in. He thought it may end up on the flight out of Houston the following day. I was convinced my flight switcharoo in Panama was the culprit, but he seemed to think that was a non-issue.
Next day. No Samsonite. Which also meant, no underwear, swimsuit, blow dryer, straightener, tennis shoes, sandals, and lots of other clothing.
After this madness was dealt with, my brother was there to pick me up and take me to 'The Pour House' where my dog & the rest of my family was waiting. Bella remembered me and we had a very dramatic reunion on a boat dock, meeting in the middle.
Early Sunday morning my mother and I headed to the nearest store to stock up on items I needed to get through the next few days. Since we were on the water at the Pour House this ended up being Walmart. And I couldn't go to the store and not return with a gift for the Bella.
One of the things I had planned to do was take pictures of The Pour House, to show a little before and after. But that item did not get crossed off the list. Those 3 weeks went much faster than I anticipated.
Bella LOVES being out there... as long as she doesn't have to get in the water {more on that another day}.
Bailey is still the wise dog who knows exactly what the Pour House is for... relaxation.
Bella likes to copy her.
And Lola being the girly-girly she is, isn't so much a fan. So, you can find her.... under the bed.
My parents should be quite proud of the 'little house on the water' my mother has always wanted. It's pretty incredible how much it has changed from the time they bought it. We spent a lot of time during my USAdventure there and it was pretty spectacular.
I've already shared a bit of the fun we shared when my favorite gals Kathleen & Misty arrived in TN, but it was so fabulous it deserves more than one post.
After bruising our pride by losing a dance off against Miami on top of the bar {yep, 3 almost 30 year old girls got on top of the bar at Coyote Ugly, in front of my parents and participated in a 'dance-off'} we then had the bright idea to take part in a shot-ski of Patron. This ended the night.
The rest of our weekend was pretty uneventful. Except for an unfortunate event that occurred late late late Saturday night {actually it was early Sunday morning}. After dancing for several hours and drinking some concoction referred to as 'sleepy sleepy night night' we decided to move our music to another area of the house to not wake those who had called it a night. During this relocation, an ipad {mine} was the victim of an accident. She is now in Lake Norris. May she rest in peace. And my husband was kind enough to give me my birthday present early this year.
We rounded out the rest of the weekend with floating
sleeping
& reading fashion magazines.
Even though Bella begged these girls to stay, Monday evening they boarded a plane back to Chicago.
They provided a great addition to my USAdventure and I am so thankful that they made our weekend in TN happen. We may have a tradition on our hands now.
I still have about 980 more pictures to share {wink, wink} and promise you will see more in less than 3 weeks.
But first, I guess I should finish explaining my Samsonite situation. After 5 days of calling the 1-800 number and no tracking of my luggage I proceeded to fill out a Lost Baggage Claim which required me to list every item that was in my luggage, a description, where I bought it, when i bought it and all items over $100 required a receipt. Seriously. After that was faxed in with all the necessary paperwork, I called the now memorized 1-800 number for Lost Baggage and they informed me it takes 45-60 business days to process the claim. The Samsonite Situation is not over.
