New Adventures: Home at last!

Before I left for the airport, the guy that cleaned my room stopped by to tell me goodbye and gave me 4 pens and some spray to put on my pillow to help me sleep. He was so sweet. Then it was off to the airport with all of the luggage for the 5 of us. We barely had room for us. The drive to the airport was crazy, it was midnight and the traffic was unbelievable. Cars all over the place, what is normally about a 1/2 hour drive took us little over an hour. Luckily we still had 2 hours to get checked in as things don't happen quickly here. I was a little surprised at the security. Men have to go through a scanner, but women had a separate line. We had to go behind a curtain where there were 3 women and they wave a scanner down the front and back of your body, but not down your whole body. You didn't have to take your shoes off either. Very interesting. A couple of girls went to the bathroom and came right back out and said they would wait for the airplane. I guess it was pretty bad! I took their word for it! Was only able to doze on the plane ride from Jeddah to Paris, as there were several crying young children. I was surprised there were that many children on board as the flight left at 3 am. When you arrive at the Pairs airport, you have to go through security again before you go to your connecting flight and then once again before you board, you are questioned about your luggage. The airport is full of high-end stores: Gucci, Prada, ect. I found a few souvenoirs from Paris, as I'm not sure I will ever get a chance to visit Paris. Enjoyed a chocolate croissant, yummy! For a moment I thought I might get to stay a little longer in Paris. The plane was full and one of our group couldn't get a seat assignment. I was willing to give up my seat if the airline was going to offer any kind of deal. But no such luck! I was at least able to take a couple of naps on this leg of the trip and watched a couple of movies. We arrived at the Minneapolis airport at 1 pm (9 pm Saudi time). We are talking one tired lady.
I was greeted at the airport by my husband and oldest son Jason. Jason even welcomed me home with some beautiful flowers. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful son. We then went out to eat and my daughter and 3 granddaughters joined us. It was so good to see them. It was fun to share some stories of Saudi Arabia with them. The girls asked to come over to the house afterwards so they could play with me. How could I say no to that. We had a wonderful afternoon painting, making bracelets, going for a bike ride and most of all just telling each other what had happened over the last 3 weeks. When I asked the girls if I should go back to Saudi Arabia, Annalyse quickly told me no but then later when she asked if she could get another Barbie that was shown on the box of the one she got and I explained to her the only place I could get that was in Saudi she said maybe I could go back next year.
Well Annalyse, that may be a possibility. If I am given a chance I may actually go back. Who knows what the future will hold but in the meantime I am glad to be back on American soil!

Thank you to everyone who followed along on my blog. I hope you enjoyed hearing about some of the stories of Saudi Arabia. I know that it was good for me to journal about some of the adventures of the trip.