Homeward Bound

We dropped off our luggage with the bellhop this morning and headed to Universal.  We didn't need to leave the hotel until 12:30 so we hoped to get in a few more rides before then.  We stopped at the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit first.  The boys had ridden it several times and wanted one more turn.  I chose to sit out as it had a 90 degree vertical trip up to the top of the roller coaster.  They enjoyed it very much and from there we stopped at The Mummy.  I hadn't been on an indoor roller coaster in years, but was glad that I tried it.  The turns in the dark definitely made this a thrilling ride.  We stopped in Krustyland one last time to take a turn on The Simpsons ride.  This was our fourth trip on it and we enjoyed it just as much as the first time.  The last ride of the morning was The Hogwarts Express as we took it over to Islands of Adventure.  We had hoped to ride on The Forbidden Journey again, but it was packed and we needed to head out before we would have been done with the ride.  On our way out of the parks we walked through Islands of Adventure talking about all of the fun that we had had these past five days.  It occurred to me as we headed back to the hotel just how lucky I really was as I don't know when I will get to spend so much time with the three boys together in such a fun atmosphere.

Our LYFT arrived almost as soon as we requested it.  The trip back to the airport was a smooth one.  We had time to check our luggage and eat lunch before walking through security.  That was the only negative part of the day.  It was absolutely packed taking almost forty minutes to get through the lines.  Thankfully, we still had plenty of time before our plane started boarding.  The flight was an easy one and we landed twenty minutes before our scheduled arrival time.  I took advantage of the downtime to watch more of The Sopranos.

Our luggage was some of the first on the conveyor belt and before 6:30 we were in the Pilot and on our way back to Syracuse.  I let Cal drive and since traffic was light we were home by 9 p.m.  Doug had just arrived as well.  He had been at Meg's tennis meeting and the Knights monthly gathering.  It was great to see him.  I had missed he and Meg a lot this weekend.  They appreciated the souvenirs that we got for them - a Godfather shirt and Marauder's Map puzzle for Doug and a Minion nightshirt, Ireland bracelet and a Spongebob water bottle.  None of us made it up too late.  We were sad that our vacation had ended, but glad to be home.