To Italy and Beyond: Last Flight, But Not Home Yet. July 14th

One more flight, but not directly home. We flew out of Atlanta so that is where we are headed to at 4:00 o'clock in the morning. Get there early I always say.
Straight to the Delta counter where we are told all people with boarding passes can just check their bags. we wait our turn in this line and when we get to the counter are told that the boarding passes issued to us in Italy by Alitalia are no good. get out of line and print the same thing with Deltas name on it.
Back to the rear of the line and when it is our turn, we are told that the bags that we have with us, were checked through to Atlanta. "But I have the bag here madam" "Look at the luggage tag"
Nope into another line. Special Services. Get to watch a couple repack their bag because they have to many. I think they ended up paying $189.00 to have their underwear travel with them.
But because we are early we make the flight, which flies around one storm and then another. Quite a smooth flight. Basically down to Memphis and hang a left. Saw the morning sun reflect off of the Gateway Arch in St Louis.
Patty picks us up and we are off doing chores and having lunch. we get to her place in time to start dinner. Always a treat to eat at Patty's. fresh vegetables right out of the garden and always fresh eggs. We spend three nights there, eating and drinking. And of course, picking vegetables and selling vegetables and even celebrate a friends birthday.
On Friday Morning, We fire up the old Genesis and start the 7 hour trip back to Hampstead. By this time Mary Ann has developed a sore throat, so it is a quiet ride home. we get home around 5:00 PM and it has survived our two month absence. Weeds in the garden and one of my Chang Seng statues has fallen over. I can fix that next week. Good to be home, but I would not trade the last two months adventures for anything.