I was awakened by the 7:30 wake-up call. After showering and eating breakfast, I finished packing. At 9:15 I walked up to Syntagma Square with my bag in tow and boarded the bus two minutes before it departed for the airport. It took half an hour to get to the airport and then an hour of standing in line to check in and discovering that my flight was delayed by an hour and a half so that I would miss my connecting flight to Charlotte . I bought Elena a cool Olympics t-shirt and then waited until the booked-up flight departed. I slept for a while and then watched “Ocean's 12” and “ Sweet Home Alabama ”. The 10½ hour flight took just about forever, but we finally made it to JFK. Another 45 minutes passed before my bag came off. I then was searched at customs. I dragged my bag two terminals down to Delta to find that my new flight departed from La Guardia. I missed the shuttle bus so I forked over $30 for a cab. It got me to my terminal. I checked in and went to my gate. I finally had a moment to call Joan but her phone was off so I could only leave a message. Sigh……

The flight to Charlotte was fast and easy. I dozed for a few minutes but was still tired when I arrived. I quickly got my bag and a shuttle to the remote parking. I was surprised that the parking charge was only $63. I got on to I-85 South and was home exactly at midnight. Joan was asleep so I rapped on the window to wake her up to let me in. It was great to be back home! I took a shower and we went to bed. I was asleep instantly.