Home at Last!

Just a quick update to let you know that the SON-BEAM board members who were traveling back to Michigan have arrived safely. However, not without some more "character building" circumstances. It began in Quito when for some reason that no one could explain, Stan & Barb's boarding passes printed only through Chicago and not Grand Rapids. Then Ray was "chosen" to have his bag that was already checked in searched. That involved going outside and walking a long distance to watch someone look through his bag (it was actually my bag that they searched).

We did enjoy our LAN airline flight to Miami. The staff was very professional, the food was good, the movies were free, and the flight was not full so we had some empty seats next to us. We left Steve & Deb in Miami where they will begin some vacation time.

Once in Miami we found that Ray's bag had mysteriously lost its label and we could not check it back in after going through customs. Unfortunately the man we were dealing with did not speak English. (How ironic that after spending a week in a country where we did not understand the language, we arrive in the USA and were still not able to communicate because the worker could not speak English.) We walked a long, long way to get that bag relabeled for flight and get Barb's boarding pass and then found out that Stan had to walk back to where we just come from in order to get his boarding pass.

The flight from Miami to Chicago was uneventful and also was not a full flight, so we again benefited from empty seats next to us. In Chicago, both the American and United flights were delayed and we all arrived in Grand Rapids more than an hour late. It then took a very long time for the baggage to come off the United flight and you guessed it, more missing luggage. :( This time it was only Stan and Barb's luggage that did not make it. Hopefully it arrives soon!

We are looking forward to sleeping in our own beds and enjoying the comforts of home.

Thanks for following our trip and covering us with your prayers. Blessings to all of you.