Written by Erika (August 23, 2009)
Lonny left Ethiopia with his coworkers Saturday, Aug. 22 at 1pm MST
(which was 10pm in Ethiopia),
They first flew 8 hours from Addis Ababa to Rome, Italy.
Then after a short break, they flew 16 hours across the ocean from Rome to Washington, D.C.
Then, they had to go through U.S. customs, which took a while,
After which, the airport regulations required them to go through security again, since they came in on an international flight.
But then, because of the long lines in security and customs, their baggage made their flight to Chicago, but the guys didn't (they missed it by abt 20 minutes).
So -- they were re-scheduled on a flight to San Francisco, CA,
(Which is crazy since they were trying to get to Utah!)
But all of them couldn't get on standby for the earlier flight,
So the others guys let Lonny go ahead since he had been gone the longest from home.
So -- he flew 6 hours to San Francisco,
Where he tried to catch a flight to Salt Lake City at 4pm PST,
But -- there were only 7 open seats and he was #8 on the list,
So he didn't make it onto that one.
He was ticketed for 6:30pm PST flight from San Francisco to Salt Lake City,
Which was delayed an hour,
Making his arrival to Salt Lake City at 10:00pm MST,
Where his adoring wife will pick him up at the airport. ;)
Then -- we'll drive an hour home, arriving after midnight on Monday, August 24th, TWO calendar days after he left Ethiopia!!
POOR MAN! This is all not to mention the fact that his body doesn't know what is day or night, so he's EXTREMELY exhausted...
Oh, and the kids have to get up early to catch the bus to school,
And I'm sure they will be very enthusiastic about seeing him right away, So you know he won't be sleeping in.
Just thought I'd let you appreciate your comfy bed tonight, LOL!
Erika
ps- Lonny's Email upon arrival at the Salt Lake Airport (where he had to wait for me for 40 minutes, due to a time miscommunication! ooops!)--
To all:
We left the Addis airport about 40 minutes late and it proved to be our undoing. By the time we arrived in DC we only had a little over an hour to get through customs and security then to our gate. We missed the flight by about 20 minutes. Ironically, my luggage made the original flight. United was great and already had us rerouted on an afternoon flight through San Francisco free of charge. They also put us on standby for an earlier flight. There was one seat available for standby. Evan and Brent both passed up their chance to go so that I could go. (Thank you Gentlemen) The first connecting flight to SLC was full but I made the second one which got me home by midnight. It is good to be home! It has been a long day(s).
Lonny J. Ward