Let me begin at the end . . .

We had a wonderful, albeit short, visit to the States. We saw family and friends, packed and moved a lifetime of stuff, and attended special events. The posts to follow will reflect the happy times that weren't nearly long enough. I'm still sorting through lots of pictures and wish I'd taken more.

Our trip to the States was completely uneventful and we enjoyed a short visit to New York City on our way to Shreveport. More on that later.

Our trip back to Belgium was quite eventful and we thought it'd never end. What should have been a 24 hour trip turned into 2 and 1/2 days. The usual flight is from Shreveport to Atlanta to Brussels. That's it.

Due to stormy weather in Atlanta, we took the scenic route from Shreveport to Atlanta to Toronto to Amsterdam to Brussels. And not all in one day. We got to spend one night in Atlanta followed by the next night flying to Amsterdam. You know how you see those people on TV who sprint from their arrival gate to their departure gate only to miss the flight by minutes? Well, that was us - TWICE! We literally got to the gate in Atlanta and again in Toronto and could see our plane out the window and they WOULD. NOT. LET. US. ON! Both times! It was unbelievable, really.

We spent hours in the "livid" line at the Delta counter trying to get on another flight. Who cares where our luggage ends up. Just get us across the ocean. When the airline reps tell you that your luggage will follow you - that's not entirely true. It may follow you, but it won't take the same route and it most certainly won't arrive with you. We are still awaiting the "arrival" of some of our luggage.

Here is what we got to see of Amsterdam. I think on our next visit to Amsterdam we should get to see some of this close up.

We spent hours and hours in the Delta Lounges. This is dinner the first night.

More Delta Lounge food. You can imagine my dismay when I discovered these cheetos were really carrots : /

And here is our visit to Toronto. I've never been to Toronto and I hope the next time we visit there we can get out of the airport. This is our plane - with the door closed - and they would not let us on it!

This is just a few of our many boarding passes. I couldn't even find them all. That paper at the top indicates "interrupted travel". I'll say! And you see we flew so many times I used up all my dramamine!

And as Jim noted, this is the "I got screwed by Delta" line.

So, now that that's over, I can move onto the happy parts of our trip!