June 19-23, 2003

"Mary-Landed"

In May 1999, my brother Clyde and his friend John Sprinkle moved from Tucson to Baltimore, MD. The move was no big deal for John, who had grown up in that area, but for Clyde, it meant leaving Arizona, the only home that he had ever known. It took a lot of time for him to adjust to his new home; wintertime was especially difficult, since he was so used to the mild Arizona winters. Eventually, he and John managed to settle down in Baltimore and stay there, rather than return to beautiful Arizona. Last year, they even bought a house - that, of course, was a proud moment for me, because my little brother was now a homeowner. Given my brother's taste for the finer things in life, I new that this would be no ordinary house. It was, in fact, an antique, built in 1901 and in need of a gay man's touch to bring it back to life. Over the next year, the two of them worked very hard to restore the house to its original splendor and beauty and to decorate it with fine antiques and crystal...just in time for us to pay them a visit. As John and I began to make our plans to visit Clyde and John in Baltimore, we decided that June would be a nice time of year for a visit. When I mentioned this to my mother, she indicated that she, too, was planning to visit them in June. Instead of paying them two separate visits, she suggested that we all travel together, so that Clyde and John would only have to take one extended weekend off of work, rather than two. John, of course, loved the idea, considering that most of our past family trips involved his family, not mine. I liked the idea, too, because we would have one extra set of arms and legs to take care of Mary! Better yet, it was Grandma - who better to come with us on a trip than Mary's Grandma? This would give the two of them a chance to spend several days together, rather than several hours, and they would have a chance to bond. So, with the dates set, I went on-line to Priceline.com and booked 4 airline tickets to Baltimore, MD, departing Thursday June 19 and returning Monday, June 23. I also rented a car, so that we would have transportation to get around the city, as well as a car seat for Mary. We didn't bother to reserve a hotel, since Clyde and John had insisted that we stay with them. But what were we going to do in Baltimore? It wasn't exactly a destination for a group of hikers like us. We knew that we were going to spend a lot of time seeing many of the tourist attractions in Baltimore and in Washington, DC, however, John also wanted to take one day for ourselves, to something - anything - that was out of the ordinary. So how about skydiving? He went to Dropzone.com and found a small drop zone called Skydive Delmarva in Laurel, Delaware, about a two hour drive from Baltimore. After e-mailing the DZ, he discovered that they would be hosting a Hercules Boogie that weekend. At that point, his mind was made up: he was going to go skydiving in Delaware! And I decided to go with him, just to visit Delaware and to see what Skydive Delmarva was like. There was just one big problem: how to get John's parachute and gear to Baltimore. John refused to check it as luggage, but he was afraid that he was going to have issues trying to take it through Security, due to the Orange alert level. Fortunately for him, the alert level dropped back to Yellow just days before our trip, so John decided to take the chance and bring his parachute with him on the trip. In order to ensure that my mother did not miss the flight, we arranged for her to take a shuttle from Tucson to Phoenix the night before our trip. I picked her up from Terminal 2 at Sky Harbor on Wednesday, June 18, and she stayed the night with us at our house, much to Mary's delight. Mary was so excited to have Grandma there that she didn't want to go to bed that night! The next morning, our adventure began. At 10:00 a.m., John, Mom, Mary and I drive the Jeep to Sky Harbor Airport. John dropped us off at Terminal 2 then parked the Jeep in long-term parking. (He ended up parking in the overflow lot, though, and had a longer walk back to the terminal than he had expected.) Once we had our luggage checked, we made our way to the security checkpoint. The lines were not long at all, but it still proved to be a long and stressful event for us. First of all, they made Mary take off her shoes and put them through the X-ray machine. Now, it was hard enough for her to part with her backpack long enough for them to scan it. Taking off her shoes was just devastating and reduced her to hysterics. While Grandma tried to console Mary and put her shoes back on her, John was pulled aside by Security to be grilled about his parachute. He was questioned by three different guards about the purpose of his gear. "It's a sport parachute," he explained. "I'm going to do some skydiving on my trip." He also had to explain that he did not own a Cypress - the automatic firing device that can deploy the reserve parachute if a skydiver is going a certain speed at a certain altitude. Although the Cypress is a life-saving device, it is nonetheless an explosive and is very much frowned upon by airline security. Parachutists who use a Cypress are required to carry a card explaining its function when bringing their parachutes on airplanes; however, they are still subject to much scrutiny. John allowed the security guards to inspect his gear. Meanwhile, another passenger had been pulled aside for screening after he had set off the buzzer going through the gate. I took a glance at him and noticed that he looked very familiar. John recognized him right away: he was Joe, one of the tandem masters from Skydive Arizona! He didn't have his rig with him, so he didn't have nearly the problems that John was having. I guess it just was not a good day for skydivers going through Sky Harbor Airport! After ten minutes of questions and inspections, during which time Mary became very impatient and started crying again ("Come on Daddy!"), security finally let John pass. "Wow," I said to him as we made our way towards the gate, "if security is that tight here, imagine what it will be like in Baltimore!" John cringed at the thought. The first leg of our flight passed without incident - and, thankfully, without tears, too, because we had brought along suitable entertainment for Mary. In addition to his parachute, John also had his new laptop computer. Actually, it was his work computer - he was going to have to do some work while we were on vacation, so he needed to have it with him. The important thing was that it had a DVD player on it. We set it on the tray table in front of Mary and put in Monsters, Inc...and that made for one quiet airplane ride to Chicago! The next leg of our trip started out smoothly, with clear skies all the way to the east coast. Upon take-off, the captain announced that we would probably be landing about a half an hour early in Baltimore. Since our flight would be arriving late in the evening, that was welcome news for us. During that flight, however, the tower informed our pilot that there were major thunderstorms over Baltimore and that we would have to be diverted into Virginia, where we would be placed in a holding pattern until a hole opened up in the storm to allow us to land. The delay would be one or two hours. We were not looking forward to the long delay, as we knew that Mary was going to get restless and hungry very soon. Then, a miracle happened. A hole opened up immediately over Baltimore, and we were given clearance to land! Instead of landing a half-hour early, we landed at exactly 9:15 p.m. local time, which was when we were scheduled to land. What a huge relief! The landing was very interesting, as the plane had to maneuver between storm cells to get to the airport. There was a lot of turbulence and we were all forced to remain in our seats. The plane was rocked around so much that we couldn't really do anything except look out the window and watch the rain fall and the lightning flash across the dark sky. It could have been a very frightening scene, had I been afraid to fly! (I was grateful when the plane finally landed, because I had to go to the bathroom! It was hard to be 16 weeks pregnant and forced to stay seated!) Once we had our luggage, it was time to wait in line at the rental car counter. That, too, took longer than expected, so it was nearly 10:00 p.m. when we finally left BWI Airport. We were all hungry and tired, so on the way to Clyde's house, we stopped at a McDonalds for dinner. (Mary's Happy Meal contained Nemo, from the movie Finding Nemo - I think that made her whole day!) Then, after studying the road atlas and John's directions, we managed to make our way to the house. Clyde and John were waiting for us on the porch and were very relieved when we pulled up. After we exchanged greetings, they invited us inside their house, and Clyde gave us the grand tour while John carried in our suitcases. The house was much like I had imagined it would be, which was nothing short of fabulous. Although it had been painted and restored, I could still tell that it was very old from its architecture, with its tall ceilings and narrow, steep staircase and stained glass windows over the old fireplace in the sitting room. All of the floors were wood; in some rooms, the floor was old, and in some, they had laid new Pergo flooring. Downstairs, there was a kitchen, with appliances both modern and antique. The sink, for example, was very old and looked much like the old sink in the George Walker House in Paradise, AZ; but the refrigerator was brand new and had an ice and water dispenser. To the right of the kitchen was a beautiful dining room, with a giant cherry-wood table and matching china hutches, as well as an antique turntable. Over the table was a grand, crystal chandelier, which was the perfect complement to the room. Off of the kitchen, there was a laundry room and a half-bath all in one room. There was also a "greenhouse" - an enclosed patio with tall glass windows like a greenhouse. In that room, they had some patio furniture and a few knick-knacks, but no plants yet. Upstairs, there were three bedrooms: the master bedroom, a guest room (where Mom would sleep) that also served as their office, and a den/library - that was where we would sleep. The den contained a futon that became a double bed, a great leather recliner, and a full entertainment system with a huge television set, complete with a VCR and a DVD player and surround sound. They had a huge library of DVD's to choose from, including a selection of children's movies that they liked to play when John's nieces and nephews came to visit. Their masterpiece was the main bathroom, just to the left of the den. The bathroom had just been remodeled and was just spectacular. They had installed a pedestal sink and a new fiberglass bathtub that looked like an antique. And, instead of tile floors, they had put in Pergo wood flooring to match what was in the kitchen. It was very beautiful - I could tell that they had worked very hard on that room to make it their dream bathroom. Since it was so late when we got there, the first thing we did was get Mary ready for bed - she was already rubbing her eyes. Uncle John brought a twin mattress for her to sleep on into the den, and he covered it with special Lion King sheets. Mary loved it and excitedly pointed out all of the characters to us. After Mary fell asleep, we spent a little more time chatting with everyone before we decided that it was time to go to bed. John and I were simply exhausted from our day's travels, so we bid everyone good night and went upstairs to bed. We awoke on our first full day in Baltimore to a cool and rainy morning - certainly not a day for sightseeing! Nonetheless, our plan for the day was to visit Baltimore Harbor. Rain or shine, that was what we were going to do. Equipped with umbrellas and windbreakers, the six of us piled into two cars - Uncle John rode with us to provide us with directions, and Mom rode with Uncle Clyde - and we left on our short drive to the Harbor. Having gotten such a late start that day, we arrived there around lunchtime, so we decided to eat first before touring the Harbor. Although the rain kept us from doing much, we did make the most of it by taking a water taxi out to Fell's Point. We enjoyed the ride, as it gave us a chance to see some of the historic buildings and landmarks in the Harbor, such as the Domino Sugar factory. We could have stopped and toured the Fort McHenry National Historic Site, but we decided to skip it this time. Once at Fell's Point, we spent some time walking up and down the streets, looking in the different shops and marveling at the number of bars to be found! (It is a college town, after all!) A person could get quite plastered there. There were a few toy shops along the way, and we made sure to peek inside to see what they had. At one store, we found a new toy for Mary - an Elmo doll, which immediately became Mary's best friend. She carried him around with her for the rest of the trip. After our tour of the Harbor, we took the scenic route back home. Uncle John directed us through Johns Hopkins University and through a mix of upscale neighborhoods and slums. Along the way, he provided us with a fully guided tour, complete with history and interesting facts about the buildings and the area. We arrived at home in time for dinner, but since no one else was hungry but us, John and I decided to take Mary out for dinner. We found a nice little seafood place nearby, where we had a delicious meal. When Mary was done eating, she decided to play with the little boy at the next table; he was wearing an Elmo T-shirt, so Mary had to show off her new Elmo doll to him. That night, after Mary was asleep in her Lion King sheets, we all stayed up late, gathered around the kitchen table where cocktails were being served. We talked until sometime around midnight, until no one could stay awake any longer. Before retiring, John announced that he might have to postpone his skydiving adventure at Delmarva, depending on the weather conditions in the morning. If it was sunny, we were going to Delaware. If it was raining, we would go to Washington DC instead. So, the next morning, as soon as we woke up, the first thing we did was look out the window. Once again, it was rainy and cool, so we decided that we were going to spend the day in DC. I was very excited about going to Washington DC, since it was going to be my first time visiting the Nation's capitol. Of course, since we only had a limited amount of time to spend there, we were only going to be able to see a small piece of the city. We chose to spend our time seeing the Air and Space Museum and the Museum of Natural History, as well as Union Station and the Capitol Building. That would be enough to fill our day. The drive to Washington DC took us about 90 minutes total, and to get there, we took the Baltimore-Washington National Scenic Byway. Like the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina, the Baltimore-Washing Byway was maintained by the National Park Service - and, like the Blue Ridge, it was certainly a scenic drive! The parkway was lined with trees, and everything was bright green...probably from all of the rain! Once we arrived in Washington DC, Uncle John instructed us to park at Union Station, a historic train station that had been wonderfully restored in the last decade. Inside, there were dozens of shops and restaurants and, of course, an Amtrak train station that was bustling with activity. We had to wait about a half an hour for Clyde and Mom to join us, so we made the best of it by shopping. Specifically, John looked for a bookstore in which he could buy the new Harry Potter novel! It had just been released that morning, and John and I couldn't wait to read it. In fact, we couldn't agree on who would get to read it first. We finally decided that we would take turns reading it by switching back and forth each day until we were done reading it. I would get to read it the next day, while we were at Skydive Delmarva...of course, that meant that John would get to read it on the plane... As soon as Clyde and Mom arrived, we went to the food court for lunch. Located on the first floor of the train station, this food court had dozens of small stands, much like that in a shopping mall but on a much larger scale. They had everything you could imagine, from Texan BBQ to Greek gyros, so it was hard to choose one place to eat. After lunch, we left Union Station and began walking towards the Capitol Building and the National Mall. On the way, we stopped at the Columbus Memorial, just outside of Union Station, to take family photos - and yes, even Elmo got to be in the pictures. (As far as Mary was concerned, he was now part of the family.) To get there, we walked through a tree-lined park next to the Senate buildings. The park was filled with frisky squirrels that came right up to Uncle John and ate pieces of pita bread right out of his hand...just seconds before Mary chased them up a tree. It took us about fifteen minutes to get to the Capitol Building and another ten to make around way around the construction to get to the front of the building. From there, we had a nice, though cloudy, view of the the National Mall and the Washington Monument. We stopped there to rest and to take pictures; then, we continued on towards the Air & Space Museum. The lines at the museum were surprising not long at all, despite the fact that I had to wait in the line to have my bags searched, due to tight security. It only took us a few minutes to make it inside - we even made it through the line faster than Mom and the Uncles, who did not have any bags to search! (John and I snickered at them, of course.) Once we were inside, we all decided to split up and meet back at the front entrance in one hour. This would give us a chance to see what we wanted to see, at our own pace. John and Mary and I went one way, while the others went at their own pace in another direction. Of all of the places to visit in DC, this was definitely my favorite place, given my fascination with aviation and space. Mary, too, was completely awestruck by all of the airplanes on display and made sure to point every single one of them out to us. We named them off for her as she pointed them out. For example: "That's the Spirit of St. Louis," we told her as she pointed to one of the more famous planes, to which she replied, "Wow!" We toured as much of the museum as we could and learned about aviation throughout history, from hot air balloons and zeppelins, to the first flight in the Wright Brothers' plane, to the first Arctic flight, to the first space flight and the moonwalk, the first gliders, and so on. There were helicopters, satellites and telescopes (including the Hubble space telescope)...everything you could imagine! I think that John was a little disappointed, though, that they did not have anything about skydiving or about the skydiving world record that was recently set. Throughout the whole museum, we found only one picture of a parachutist. Oh, well! After our fascinating tour was over, we walked down the National Mall to the Museum of Natural History, where Mom was hoping to see the Hooker Emerald and the Hope Diamond, both of which were absolutely stunning. Although we didn't spend as much time there as we would have liked, we did take some time to explore some of the various rock formations and gems that were on display. Mary was very fascinated with the meteors that were displayed there; I think that she wanted to take one of them home with her, as she tried to pick each one of them up. "It's too heavy!" she said. "Well, that's because they're stuck there," I told her. "You can't pick them up!" By the time we emerged from the Museum of Natural History, the morning gloom and the rain clouds had moved on, revealing blue, sunny skies - skydiving weather, as John called it. Although it made for a very pleasant walk on the National Mall, I could tell that John was beating himself up for postponing our trip to Delaware. Instead of walking all the way back to Union Station, Clyde and John suggested that we take the subway instead, as it would take us right up to the train station. So, we walked about a quarter of a mile to the nearest subway entrance. We purchased our tickets at the self-service machine and then proceeded downstairs to the platform, where we waited for the next train to arrive. Now, the subway was nothing new for me and John. He had grown up in Chicago, so he had taken the subway there many times. I had spent nine days in Paris in 1997 and got around the entire city by using the Métro, as it was the cheapest and fastest way to commute. Mary, on the other hand, had not yet experienced the subway and was completely fascinated by the trains as they zoomed through the tunnels and came to a screeching halt next to her. "Here comes the train!" she shouted over and over again, and over the din, we could hear her laughing with glee. Our subway trip, despite having to make one connection, was brief - much faster than walking - and took us right to Union Station, as promised. We made our way through the station towards the parking garage, and after paying our $12 to the attendant, we started driving back to Baltimore. About halfway home, we hit a traffic jam on the Baltimore-Washington Byway. We weren't quite sure what the hold-up was at first, but we soon learned that it was another storm that was creating the massive slow-down. It was a furious cloudburst that dumped a lot of rain on us as it quickly passed over us. Then, as it moved on behind us, the traffic jam cleared up instantly. We arrived at home around 5:30 p.m., at which time, John and I got ready to go to dinner. We had already arranged for Mom and the Uncles to watch Mary for the evening so that we could have a nice, quiet dinner to ourselves. (That was yet another advantage to traveling with relatives!) They were excited to do so, as they were going to have time to spend with her without her pesky parents getting in the way. While we were busy getting ready, Uncle John had a visitor pop in to meet us: his mother, Joan - a very nice lady who had made a lovely quilt for Mary when she was born. Although I had been corresponding with her for nearly three years, it was the first time that I had had the chance to meet her face-to-face. Our visit with Joan was brief, as we were getting hungry. While the others feasted in KFC for dinner, John and I drove to Carraba's Italian Grill and had a wonderful dinner - wonderful, because it was just the two of us for once! Those few hours alone were just the sanity break that we needed. That night, after we returned from dinner and put Mary to bed, we all congregated in the kitchen again to have cocktails around the kitchen table (okay, I didn't share their cocktails...) We didn't stay up too late, though, because we were planning to leave first thing in the morning for Skydive Delmarva. The next morning, as planned, we awoke at the crack of dawn and quickly got ready to go, so that we could be out of the house by 7:30 a.m. We had a long drive to Laurel, Delaware, ahead of us, and John wanted to get there in enough time to make at least two jumps at Skydive Delmarva. The weather in Baltimore that morning was questionable - it wasn't raining, but the skies were still overcast, with patches of blue trying to poke through. That did not mean that it would be overcast in Delaware, though, and we hoped that, as we drove, the weather would improve. Before we started our journey, we stopped first at IHOP for breakfast. Then, we made our way out of town, towards Annapolis and the Chesapeake Bay. To get there, we took US 50/301 northeast to Annapolis. Once in Annapolis, we crossed over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. (I pointed out that we had now crossed over a Bay Bridge on both ends of the country - we had already crossed the Bay Bridge in San Francisco in August 2001.) After crossing the Bay Bridge, we arrived in Queen Anne's County and drove through the Narrows - a narrow strip of land jutting out into the bay. There were many marinas and trendy, upscale bayside houses in the area - it looked like a typical New England setting - but as we drove inland, it all disappeared, giving way to farmland and wide open spaces. Driving through Delaware was, to me, not much different that driving through Georgia, except that the architecture of the farm houses was different. Much of the land along the highway was scattered with lush, green farmland and quaint little farmer's markets set up along the roadside. Every now and then, we came to a small city, in which we would find fast food chains and gas stations, but once we passed through them, we were once again back in farm country. "What a pretty little state!" I thought. We soon arrived in Laurel and followed the directions we had been given until we at last arrived at Skydive Delmarva, a small drop zone located in the middle of farm country. Skydive Delmarva was nothing like the "resort" that is Skydive Arizona, nor was it as large as Skydive Elsinore or Skydive Lost Prairie. It did have a couple of hangars, some creeper pads, and a small shack for Manifest. It also had a Twin Otter, rather than a Cessna, so it was equipped to carry loads of up to twenty-four people at a time. The first thing John did was sign in at Manifest to have his gear inspected and to buy jump tickets. He then asked if they had a load organizer around, so that he would have someone to jump with him. Manifest indicated that they were just getting ready to put the first load up into the air, so she called the organizer over to meet John. (Load one? But it was already 10:30!) The organizer was a young college girl called Sam, and she probably had about 600 jumps total - she was probably the most experienced jumper there. After John introduced himself and asked if he could get on a load with her, she inquired, "So, what is your jump experience?" "Well," John replied, "I have about twenty-six hundred jumps, I'm on a four-way team and we train out in Eloy, I just came off of the Arizona Challenge, and I was on the three-hundred way world record..." Sam's jaw hit the floor, and from then on, she and the other jumpers on the load - all of whom were much less experienced - beheld him as a sort of "Sky God". In fact, Sam found herself almost intimidated by him. Although she was excited to have him there, she just could not organize the skydive with him on it. "I can't organize you!" she said humbly. In the end, John ended up organizing the skydive for her. He came up with a nice four-way for them to do, so they walked the jump on the creeper pad then geared up in time for the first load to go up. Soon, the Twin Otter taxied to the loading area, and about sixteen skydivers boarded the plane, ready to make their first jump of the day. The Otter took off on the grass runway and began its climb to altitude. Up above, the skies were trying very hard to clear, but large patches of clouds kept rolling in over the drop zone, and steady, cool wind kept blowing. They were going to be lucky if they got to make this jump. The skies did clear enough for the skydivers to make that first jump, and they soon all landed safely in the landing area. The group who had jumped with John were all cheering as they landed, stating that that had been the most incredible jump they had ever done! They thanked him over and over for coming out to Skydive Delmarva to visit them and couldn't wait to jump with him again. After packing his gear, John went to manifest for load number two but discovered that the load was already full. The rest of the group pouted with disappointment but were hopeful that they would be able to get onto load three with him. Load number two went up in the air about a half an hour later. However, while the Otter made its climb to altitude, the clouds rolled in again, covering every single patch of blue sky. The cloud cover forced to Otter to drop its load at about 5,000 feet. Only three or four jumpers decided to exit from that altitude - the others landed with the plane. And so, with that, we had to wait and wait and wait for load three to go up...and after we had waited about two hours without a lift on the weather hold, John decided to make the ultimate sacrifice, in hopes that the local jumpers would have a chance to make another jump that day: he left the drop zone. It was already getting late in the afternoon, and we still had a long drive back to Baltimore (during which time we hoped that Mary would take a nap). He also had to take a work-related conference call and had planned to take that while we were driving back to town. So he said goodbye to all of the jumpers at Skydive Delmarva and carried his gear back to the car. We don't know if they ever got to make another jump that day at the drop zone, but the skies cleared up after we left. On the way back to Baltimore, John and I decided to stop at one of the farmer's markets along the side of the highway - I just had to buy some fresh strawberries and cherries, and while we were there, we also bought some fresh fruit preserves to bring home with us. Everything was incredibly fresh and sweet - I must have polished off half of the cherries and strawberries before we reached Baltimore. When we arrived at my brother's house, we discovered that the door was locked and that no one was home. Once John finished his conference call, we called Clyde on his cell phone to find out where they were - we knew that they were going shopping that day, but we thought for sure they'd be home by now. It turns out that they had decided to go back to the Harbor and shop at Fell's Point, and that was where they were when we called. They had been delayed when they tried to take the water taxi back to the Inner Harbor, because the police were fishing a dead body out of the water. Lovely! Rather than wait for them to return, we left and went to dinner - and when we returned, they were all home, waiting for us on the porch. We spent that evening sitting on the porch, enjoying the first warm weather that we had had all weekend. In fact, the weather was so nice that the fireflies had finally come out. John, Uncle John, and Mary ran around the yard trying to catch them, but they always disappeared before they could be caught. The next morning (which, by the way, was a simply gorgeous, sunny morning, if you can believe that!), the house was abuzz with activity, as we prepared to fly back to Phoenix. Our flight was leaving at 2:00 p.m., but since we still had to get lunch, fight Monday afternoon traffic going through the toll bridge, return the rental car, check our luggage, and get through security at BWI, we decided to leave the house at 11:00 a.m. Fortunately, we made it to our gate with...oh, twenty minutes to spare! With security being as tight as it was at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport, all of the lines were long, no matter where you went. All of the ticket counters were jam-packed with people, and so was security. We expected a huge hold-up going through the security checkpoint, knowing that John's parachute was going to set off bells and whistles again. However, all they did was ask, "Sir, what is that in the bag?" "A sport parachute," John replied, ready for the third-degree, but the guard merely said okay and let him pass. My jaw hit the floor. That was amazing! Our flight back to Phoenix did not pass without incident. For one, we had a very difficult time getting the airline to give us seats together. They had, in fact, separated Mary from us, putting her with Grandma in a different section of the plane. We pleaded with them that, for the sanity of the other passengers, they had to put our seats closer together. Otherwise, they would have a screaming child on their hands all the way to Denver. They were finally able to get us seats close together towards the front of the plane, and that worked out perfectly for all of us. After we boarded the crowded plane, we were delayed at the gate because one of the runways had been shut down temporarily and would not be open for a couple of hours. The plane was too heavy to take off on the shorter runway, so we were going to have to wait until the longer one opened up again. That didn't sit well with the passengers, so another solution was offered. The airline offered special vouchers and money to seven passengers willing to give up their seats in order to lighten the plane enough to take off on the shorter runway. It took some convincing, but finally, seven passengers opted to make the sacrifice so that the rest of us could reach our destination on time. As a result, we made it to Denver with forty minutes to spare to catch our connection to Phoenix. What a relief! And so, after spending five wet and cool days in Baltimore, we arrived back in the Valley of the Sun, where it was a dry one hundred ten degrees. We could feel the heat as soon as we stepped off of the plane - indeed, we were home. Mom stayed one more night with us, and then the next morning, I took her back to the airport to catch the shuttle back to Tucson. She thanked us all for taking her with us on our trip, for she had had a wonderful time with us all.

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