Tuesday, September 24 –Epilogue-The joy of jet lag–wide awake at 3:45AM! Tried to go back to sleep and gave up after an hour. The good part of that was an early start on the drive home.

Did put in our claim for our MIA baggage–apparently, it spent the night in Oslo. Hope it had more fun in Norway than we did. It is supposed to get on the next flight to Newark and then will be sent to our home. We shall see…

The next step will be applying for the compensation provided by EU for both of the airline issues we ran into this trip. Fingers crossed, we will be made whole for the hotel rooms and transfers we lost along the way.

Fortunately, we had packed separate bags for our Philly visit at the start of the trip, so we had some clean clothes and toiletries for the overnight.

It was a beautiful day for a drive through NY and VT–fall is definitely on its way here. Better yet, no passport control, security queues, or baggage claim carousels to deal with.

Got home in time for lunch and a huge thank you to Maryann for stocking our fridge with provisions, Mary for collecting and sorting our mail and Michelle for mowing our lawn. Our Claremont crew is the best!

Despite a couple of rather unfortunate 24-hour periods of airport misery, this was a wonderful trip, filled with great food, learning opportunities, and plenty of memories. I still love travel and hope to venture forth again in the future. If anyone wants any insight or advice, please hit me up–I have gotten my best travel tips from experienced travelers and would be happy to pay it forward.

Until next time, I leave you with a hodgepodge of photos from a long day in the air!

Total Trip: 544,964 steps;249.1 miles