The journey home

I woke this morning at 5am, convinced I was going to sleep through the alarm. It was too late to go back to sleep then, so I got up and finished packing. It wasnt long vefore I was all set, so I went and stored my bags with reception, checked out and went round the hotel taking some pictures of the surroundings. It had snowed overnight, so everything was looking very pretty.

At 9.00 the hotel shuttle took me to the airport. Waiting for the plane I felt pretty strange...a bit like I did at before the last night of JCS. I'm so excited to be going home and seeing my family again...it seems like months rather than weeks that I've been away from them. But my excitement it also tinged with a little sadness that the whole adventure is over. I've had such an amazing time here, done stuff I'd never have imagined doing, met some really wonderful people and, I think, made some really good friends. And what lies ahead? More time on the road, actually having to put into practice what I have been learning for the last 3 weeks. How will I get on? More change!! What a time we're having....



The flight out of Bozeman was fine. It was quite empty, so there was plenty of room. It is only an hour and a half to Denver, so not too long to sit. Once at denver, it was a short stop...just enough time to ring home, then we baorded for the flight to Chicago. Again, it was a good flight...comfy and fairly smooth. We arrived slightly early at Chicago. It's a huge airport - took me about half an hour to find the International terminal - had to take a train to get there. I just HAD to double-check that my luggage was following me...I get so paranoid that it's not going to turn up at my ultimate destination...but everything seemed to be OK.

The flight to Manchester was OK to start with. It was nice to back on an English plane. I was seated right at the very back, next to a rather fat lady, so I was pleased to see that I had a spare seat next to me. I moved over after dinner to give us both some room. Once dinner was over (3 glasses of red wine later!....i wanted to make sure I fell asleep) I got wrapped up in a blanket (it was soooo cold on that plane) and tried to get to sleep. Unfortunately, my efforts were in vain...I just could not get comfy. So I tossed and turned all the way over the Atlantic! I must have finally dropped off brifely at around 6.00, as I woke with a start feeling really sick, not really knowing where I was...it was so wierd. I kind of stumbled up to an air hostess and she guided me down to the toilets. She said I looked a really funny colour! I wasnt sick in the end, and managed to get myself sorted out, but I was still soooo cold. I returned to my seat and drank some water, wrapped in 2 blankets. And that's pretty much how I stayed for the rest of the journey. I just know I'm gonna feel really bad today.

I'm now sitting at the train station, waiting for the train to take me home. I guess I won't have much time to post anything else today, so I'll make this my last one for today. As it stands at the moment, I cant really think straight about the future. I get the feeling something has begun now that has a momentum of its own and we're all going to have to make sure we're on the ball to keep up with it. It's going to be hard work, but if we can do it, I think it's going to take us wherever we want to go.