Home at last

My flights back to the US were relatively uneventful, until after we landed in Raleigh. The RDU Airport Terminal C has been under reconstruction for some time, and just opened the day we landed there, so our flight was one of the first ones to be parked at that gate. Apparently they had not worked all the kinks out of the new terminal yet... The pilot taxied to the terminal, but had to wait on the tarmac for a while until the ground crew got in position to help direct him to the parking spot. After he parked the plane and cut the engines, the people operating the new ramp couldn't figure out how to work it. There was about a one foot gap between the ramp and the plane, and apparently the operator couldn't get it to move any closer. The pilot threatened to make us all sit back in our seats so he could move the plane to a gate that worked, and there were people on the plane with connecting flights who were worried about making their connections. Almost a half hour after we landed, they finally found someone who knew how to reposition the ramp and let us unload. Janice, Laura and Brian were waiting for me just outside security.

When we got home, Laura had made this welcome banner:

It sure feels good to be home!