Last day: April 17

Girls woke up full of energy Sunday morning and we walked to Duncan Donuts for breakfast. While there, the girls discussed why they were called "donuts" when there are not any nuts in them. More deep philosophy on this trip.
We ran into Ed and Bev out on the street.



We walked along the ocean front one more time and came across this statue. The girls "point out" that this is the first Greek to arrive in the Americas. Or something like that.



We returned to the hotel and packed our bags.
A final view from the balcony ...





Saying good-bye to the room:



We checked out around 10:30 a.m. and then visited the concierge. It's not the same person that was faced with the 'oh yeah, then how many shells are on this beach' question. He helped us find a movie theater that's on the way to the Tampa airport.

Concierge left the girls with this nugget of wisdom: the word "concierge" is the rare exception to the rule "i" before "e" except after "c." 

Having more than a couple hours to get to the airport, went to see the new release of The Jungle Book.



Really good movie -- amazing special effects.



We were out at 1:45pm which was prefect timing to get us to the airport by 2:30.



In fact we got there before the rest of our group -- no missed flight this time!
Girls on the tram at Tampa airport:





Anna took dad's phone and snapped some photos of sculptures in the airport while Jane and dad checked our bag.





The check in and security process was SO much better here at the Tampa airport, very smooth. They stopped one of our bags to test that we had beach sand and not contraband. The girls got to learn how they take samples and test with special chemicals.



Jane used dad's phone to take a photo of our plane at the gate ...



Our flight took off on time. Jane enjoys takeoffs.




Anna and dad do not enjoy takeoffs.

Anna asks, "Dad, why are you so calm. I thought you said you hate flying."

Dad: "Well, you see ...I have these special pills."





During the flight, a flight attendant made an announcement of a boy asking a girl to prom. They happened to be sitting in the row across from us. She was embarrassed but said "yes." It was a fitting end to an eventful trip.

The trip home was smooth, and a non-stop back to KCI. Dad may have had a drink or two on the plane.

And we land in K.C. ...



No surprise: the parking shuttle showed up within one minute of stepping out to the curb. And the trip back to the parking lot took less than ten minutes. Damn that shuttle.

Thank you for checking out our trip journal!

Back to Saturday in the Sun: April 16


Start over: Departure Day: April 14