November 23 - Wednesday; St. Augustine, FL to Altoona, IA
I slept well at the Anastasia Inn and enjoyed a nice continental breakfast before being picked up at 8:45 am by the Airport Limo. It was raining in the morning but cleared up before we arrived at the Jacksonville airport. The driver had two other pickups at Flagler College also headed for the Jacksonville airport; two first-semester freshmen co-eds going home for the holiday weekend; nice ladies - one from Boston and the other from New Hampshire. We arrived at the airport around 9:30 am and I quickly had my boarding passes and was through airport security. I noticed that one of the Jacksonville early morning TV shows was broadcasting live from the airport anticipating a high volume of holiday traffic with long lines at security. Also, when the driver pulled up he commented how very crowded the airport was and how long it would take to get through security. The Jacksonville airport is really pretty small and there were maybe a twenty cars dropping off/picking up in front of my terminal - not really much of a crowd. It took me five minutes to clear airport security - that's about the same as any normal day at the Des Moines or QC airports - maybe less. So, it seemed to me a lot of fuss by the media over nothing - but perhaps more than they are used to in Jacksonville.
The flight from Jacksonville to Minneapolis left on time at 1:40 pm and was very enjoyable and relaxing. We arrived in Minneapolis on time at 3:50 pm. The flight from Minneapolis to Des Moines also left on time at 5:40 pm and arrived in Des Moines twenty minutes early at 6:15 pm. Susi picked me up at the airport. It was great to see her again. I worried a bit after leaving so soon after her surgery. We had dinner at El Azteca in Pleasant Hill on the way home from the airport. When we finally arrived home, our daughter Jessica and her husband Matt were here. They are celebrating Thanksgiving with us tomorrow. Friday, Susi and I will drive to our hometown (Winchester, IL) for the weekend to visit with family.
The bicycle trip is officially over now. I still have to clean up two bikes, wash/clean all the gear and return Al's Burley Nomad trailer. All the equipment that was shipped from Houston arrived shortly after I left to rejoin the tour. I inventoried it last night and reassembled my Co-Motion Americano touring bike. Performance Bike in Houston did a very good job of boxing it up and protecting the bike frame and pieces/parts. Thanks to Susi's cousin Barbara for getting everything back to me from Houston. The Trek 1200 bicycle and gear I used to complete the tour should be here next week.
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