Traveling Back

October 31, 2019-Traveling Back

It must be Groundhog Day. We left Korea on October 31, at 7:30 pm and arrived in Mnpls on October 31 at 5pm. In fact, according to our air tickets, we arrived before we left. We actually almost didn’t leave. We had plenty of time to walk around different markets shopping for last minute items. It was fun trying out chestnuts and brown sugar filled donuts. After all the healthy Asian foods and vegetables, a few fried sugary bites couldn’t hurt. We had no trouble finding the market but must have taken a wrong turn going back to our hotel. By the time we realized we’d walked to far, we were waaaay too far. We asked for directions to Hotel Lotte and were given help. We asked twice receiving concurring information . We did make it to Hotel 

Lotte, but it was the wrong one. Luckily the doorman recognized our dilemma and sent us off to the Lotte City Hotel. We were back in time to meet our car to the airport, but it was an emotionally and physically challenging way to start our return trip.

As we approached the airport, visibility got worse. The yellow dust had moved in from China in earnest and we could barely see the planes landing and taking off. Security went smoothly except that our fingerprints are hard for the computer to read. Once that was organized , we were good to go. Three movies, four meals, and 11 hour later, we were in Mnpls. Amazing how easy an eleven hour flight is after a 14 hour one.

Our rental car was waiting and we headed for Hinckley. We made good time and didn’t have to contend with rush hour traffic. An hour and a half later we were at Wendy’s and Julian’s. There has been progress made on the house renovation and Julian has taken more steps towards independence. 

Tomorrow there will be backhoes at work. Uncle Mike and a neighbor will be enlarging the pond and breaking up a beaver dam. Evidently, the beavers weren’t discouraged after last year’s demolition and have erected a major complex. We all are sad about D-day, but the dam causes road and driveway flooding. In this case, I don’t think the beavers were there first. The dam is in a man built culvert.

Toby