Home Jet Lag Sleep Blur Homesick

All a bit of a blur...leaving Wednesday night driving to Bilbao in a raging rainstorm. Beloved taking the car back to the airport and while he was away lightning strikes and takes out the entire city's electrical system. It was truly bizarre to see the hills and storefronts go completely black and then one by one get 'flipped' back on again.

We ate dinner at the hotel restaurant and had a delicious dinner of pizza, spaghetti and veggie tempura (for me). Did a toast to Spain and tearfully shared our most favorite memories. That...out of the entire visit...is one moment I wish I could capture in amber. Carry it around my neck close to my heart as a constant reminder of why we did this and what we experienced together.

4 am came early though and we had a brief breakfast and then Beloved, Bumpo and Tank took the first shuttle bus to the airport and then Doe and I waited for the next one ten minutes later.

Got into check-in. All of our bags were heavily heavily overweight. The apartment scale was markedly off. We're talking kilos. It was painful. This was me yanking stuff out on one bag and stuffing into an underweight bag to try and balance out the weight jumping back and forth in front of and behind the desk watching the digital scale go lower and lower. Finally Beloved just said "Enough" and we left our bags with our wallets a few hundred euros lighter and headed for the gate.
Flight to Frankfurt was lovely.

Leaving Bilbao at 7 am...

Nearly empty plane. Got a picture of the kids as we were taking off.

From Frankfurt we went on to Denver. 

I am assuming this is the Rhine???

Pretty little clouds on our way from Europe...

The flight to Denver from Germany was nearly as seamless as the flight from Spain. The only hitch was I did not have an aisle seat and the seating was a bit cramped for our liking. Yes we flew Lufthansa and the service was still incredible, but I would have given anything for an aisle. In the end I took of my boots and just walked around in me socks ;). My seat neighbor, Mark, was a cruise director from Tucson, and he was on the closing end of a rigorous itinerary. He started his trip from Saudi Arabia and was Hour 12 into his journey when we met on the plane from Frankfurt? He was a funny and kind gentleman, and did not complain much when I asked to get up and be released from my seat ;).

On the flight I watched all of these movies:

Rock of Ages

I actually had to turn this off before it was finished it was so awful. 

Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield. Enough said. One of my favorite movies of the year. Andrew Garfield is one of Doe's biggest 'crushes' and I can totally see why ;) 

I had seen this movie years ago but saw it in a 'new light' seeing as it was filmed in some of the same countryside we had traveled through. 

And last but not least...

I had seen Chris Pine in the action film "Unstoppable' which is one of the few recent action films I actually really enjoyed. I get distracted by him since I see an eerie resemblance between him and one of Beloved's former college buddies (I hope you take that as a compliment, Wil ;)  )...

But Mark, my seatmate, jabbed at this movie when it came up on the screen for movie selections and said "THAT is a WONDERful film. WONDERful film. You have to see it." Being a bit of an arrogant person at times I knew I did not want to 'succumb' to the recommendations of a stranger so I watched the other films first. 

Meanwhile, Beloved chose to watch this one. And he said at the end, intermittently giving me a thumbs up when asked how the film was throughout, he said "That was a great movie." He also shared that he 'nearly cried at the end'.

I now have total appreciation as to why. Wow what a wonderful film about what it means to be a family and what defines family and forgiveness and overcoming abandonment.

I sat there in my chair and silently wept as Frankie's story unfolded, scribbling quotes like "I will not give that man any more of my tears" and "I will not let him ruin the one good thing I have created" (well for me, three ;) . Because I related only too well to what she was going through. I think a lot of women my age have 'Dad issues', and if you are one of those 'lucky ones' (ha), i can't recommend this movie enough. It was sweet and hopeful and just lovely. The ending, while albeit predictable and formulaic, still managed to dredge the last remaining hyper-air-circulated teardrop out my eyes. In the end it was empowering.
It is a beautiful film. And Elizabeth Banks and Olivia Wilde were both stunning in their own fashion, and Michelle Pfeiffer really showed some bravado by appearing on-screen aged and vengeful as Pine's mother. 

I am asking for a copy of it for Christmas this year :) 

Anyway...after the film I was able to rest for a few hours and then blessedly fast we were back in Denver. I spent the next 4 hours in a fog...retrieving the bags (thank God for all of the orphaned luggage carts left standing by the luggage pick-up---) finding the shuttle bus to take home and making it back to the homefront...to find our Riley 

and Mollie waiting. 

There's No Place Like Home.