After an alarm snafu for the 6:15 a.m. flight, the Southwest ticket agent was kind enough to book me on their next flight for free and refunded my pre-paid baggage fee. Yay for Southwest.

TSA was a riot. I am only traveling with a carryon size suitcase and my backpack. Traveling for 4 months worth of medicine in bottles would take up too much room. So, I decided to put all of my meds in a baggie with pictures of prescription labels. I was slightly concerned, but since none are controlled substances, I went for it. I knew the backpack would get flagged because of the cooler for my eye drops. TSA agents quickly check those because they see them all the time. The fun part began when they pulled out one of my big envelopes with my important papers because they saw something black. It turned out to be the pictures from the early 1900’s that my grandmother had taken – they had been mounted in a photo album and I couldn’t bear to part with them. Those two TSA agents spent at least two minutes asking me about the photos and who was in them because they were so enthralled. Then the next person came along and we had to stop. My grandmother, ca 1914.

My visit with friends and relatives has been wonderful. Both cousins have invited me to stay with them until my passport arrives. Convenient, since they are on opposite coasts!