Coming Home

Have I ever mentioned how much I love traveling? Three main reasons:
1.) I love airports
2.) I love hotels
3.) I love visiting new cities!!!

Okay, so I mean it quite literally when I say I love airports. Sure they are a pain sometimes because of all the waiting you do, whether it's in the security line, or at the terminal, or even on the plane before take-off. But there are so many wonderful things about airports too. Everything you could possibly need (food, magazines, medicine, t-shirts, candy, etc. etc. etc.) are readily available. And its prime people-watching territory! My favorite is watching people arrive from flights, and reconnect with their family. Of course seeing uniformed military is the most amazing, but I love watching all of the "welcome homes" that take place at the airport. There is so much love shared among people, as they come home from a long journey away.

Secondly... I love hotels. I especially love big hotels where conferences are held. I love the traffic on elevators. This last week I was on the 21st floor. At 5pm every evening, there was a reception for all attendees on the 6th floor, which meant all the elevators were busy and full for a good half hour. It's so fun who you meet in an elevator, and the interesting conversations that can ensue in a short 30 second trip down 14 floors. One lady, approximately 70 years old, was getting cranky that more people were crowding into an already full elevator, so she made a rule that you couldn't get on our elevator unless you had alcohol to share. It was nothing short of hilarious. I love that hotels are also pretty accomodatable, in the fact that I had a king size bed all to myself, with what felt like 147 cloud-like pillows. The restaurant downstairs had amazing food, and the lobby bar even had post-season baseball on. It was pretty amazing. (Not to even mention the conference... that will have to be an entirely separate post for later!)

Lastly... I love traveling to new cities. I'd been to Austin as a child, since I have family there, but I hadn't been to Austin by myself, with spare time to go explore. Of course this conference I went to took up most of my time there, but I did have 2 evenings to do my own thing. On Monday night I met up with an old friend from High School. We had delicious Tex-Mex food, drinks at the Gingerman, and went to Music Monday's at the local theater, which was showing a documentary on the Mellotron, entitled "Mello-drama." (yeah I'm not kidding) Oh and did I mention the theater served beer during the movie? Wow. The second evening I ventured out for was with a new friend and fellow conference attendee. Grant from Fort-Worth was one of the only other young people there, and also a baseball fan. We watched Texas win the ALDS, which qualifies them for moving on to play my Yankees in the ALCS. Although I'm a Yankees fan, it was so exciting to watch Texas win against Tampa. It was mayhem!!

So... in a mere 4 days I got to spend time in a few different airports, I enjoyed time at the Downton Hilton in Austin, and I got a chance to explore the City a little more. But you know what the absolute best part of my trip was? Coming Home.

It all goes back to the beginning of this post when I said watching people come home in airports is the best part. Well, it's the best part for me too. I arrived back in Tulsa at the airport, gathered my belongings, and drove an hour back to Muskogee. But after all that excitement and the wonderful time I had being away, the BEST part was having movie night at home with Daniel and Zoe. It sounds silly, but I can't even describe the peace and joy I had, just being back where I belong. Better than the airport, better than the hotel, better than the awesome conference, better than the amazing people I met, better than playing in Austin... being home.