And home is Carolyn from her travels

Home is the sailor, home from the sea, and the hunter home from the hill (Robert Stevenson). And Carolyn, home from her travels. The return trip is 17 hours, putting me home at 2AM German time on July 4th.  Because of the terrible fires we had in Colorado Springs, there were no fireworks for my return, which meant, for the first time ever, it was quiet on the night of July 4th, and my much needed sleep was uninterupted, surrounded by three happy dogs and two happy cats.  Even my phantom cat, Butter, that no one ever sees, came out and slept with us on the bed.  Yes, a bit crowded, but one bunch of happy critters. 

A bit about the flight.  I have always flown United. But, boy, have they changed.  My main complaint is that if you don"t care where you sit, great.  The planes were a 2/5/2/ configuration and they assign seats in economy and in the middle of the five seats.  So if that works for you for a 9 hour flight, all is well, those seats are included in your already high airfare.  BUT, if you want an aisle or window seat, there is an additional fee. The window seats are $59 and the aisle seats are $109.  I wanted aisle seats, and those are consided an "upgrade".  So my return flight cost $250 to change the ticket date and $168 for aisle seats.  that part aside, the trip was easy, sort of.  It takes an hour at Washington Dulles to go through customs, and I had a 2 hour layover, and the flight boards 30 minutes prior to takeoff, so that left me 30 minutes to find my new gate and get something to eat. I did it with a few minutes to spare. I saw two movies over the Atlantic: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and Flynn.  Both good.  I didn's sleep on any of the flights home, so I was pretty exhausted getting here.

There's no smell of smoke in Colorado Springs, 347 houses burnt to the ground all in one subdivision.   Most of the smoke has cleared so the mountains are visible.  Very hot but it will cool down into the 70s over the weekend.  I've unpacked, put away, rearragned, taken naps, gone to bed early and watered the lawns. Life is good.  I had an incredible time in Europe, going to Prague, Paris, Ireland, Austria, Switzerland, and of course, all around Germany.  They have a simpler life style there than we do here, I'm going to try to bring that home.  More photos to follow.