Woke at 6 AM with the alarm set at 6:05. Picked up the preprinted checkout under the door of our room and loaded up the rental car with our suitcases. We got going nicely but the GPS was not sure of where we were yet but I used the instructions it generated which were available in a list until it found our way. This was weird, I guess the Hertz GPS is not as good as my Magellan even though Magellan comes up on the screen indicating they are the manufacturer. Traffic was very light this early leaving Richmond. The tunnel had 2 lanes in and 2 lanes outbound. We got to the border and there was only one other car in front of us. We allowed 45 minutes but it took less than 5. There were no questions about plants or food or weapons. We had some Gesneriad giveaways in our carry on bags that we picked up at the convention. Once in the US we stopped at the first McDonalds for breakfast. I was carrying $20 in Canadian money which McDonalds accepted as $19 USD as payment for our breakfast. I had pancakes, Libbie had the
usual egg and sausage biscuit. Fifty or so miles later we stopped again for more coffee and picked up a couple of cinnamon buns at McDonalds for $6.48.
Humorously, I asked for a Danish. The girl asked, "what's that?". Once in
Seattle we were about an hour ahead of schedule so we stopped at Seattle Center, the park with the Space Needle. We walked all around it and did some pictures, then used the restrooms inside the visitors gift shop at the base of the needle. Luckily we found free street parking one block away. Next stop we drove by Pikes Place Market along the waterfront. It seems like all was just getting underway - the streets were empty and a lot of shops closed. It was all for the Fourth of July.
We got gas 12 miles from the airport and found our way into the parking garage without incident for the car return. Unfortunately, American Airlines was a long ways down from the return counter and the terminal was very crowded. We tried outside but the sidewalks and roads were just as clogged with people. Next challenge was the security lines which were very long, but it is the busiest travel day of the week so it was to be expected. Got to our gate, A9 in plenty of time for our 12:15 flight.
The flight however was about 15 minutes late taking off. We changed planes in Dallas. We only had less than 30 minutes and unfortunately we were dropped at gate C32 and our flight to Raleigh was in A14. Took the SkyLink to the next terminal, visited the bathroom, bought crackers and trail mix in one of the gift shops and boarded without any waiting. Our seats in row 8 were given to a fat guy who needed 2 seats putting us at the bulkhead. I was very happy with the ability to stretch out. Excellent seat. We arrived in Raleigh about 15 minutes late. The parking lot shuttle was right outside baggage claim taking us to our car. The bill for 7 full days was $28, a nice deal. Home arrival was midnight. What a surprise, the Ben Meadow order from 3 days ago was on our doorstep.