Tuesday, September 26th - Flying Home.

After a good night's sleep we were up and out of the hotel around 6 a.m. Driving the by now familiar route from Carson City to Reno, Chris dropped us off at the airport by 6:45 a.m. and started his drive back to Los Angeles. Our early arrival gave us plenty of time to check our luggage and relax in the lounge before our flight. I used the time to start catching up on our journal, which had gotten way behind while we had the busy days visiting with Chris. But the Reno airport was also filled with gambling machines of every description, so Monika naturally begged a dollar bill from me to try her luck. Her luck evidently wasn't so good this time as she was back in 15 minutes sans the greenback. She now had to contend herself with trying to take pictures of planes as they took of into the morning sky.

Our Delta flight departed right on time and we spent the next few hours winging our way to Delta's hub airport in Atlanta, Georgia. After reading the New York Times and eating our "snack" (raisins, crackers, cheese spread, and a cookie), I continued to work on our journal while Monika worked on a crossword puzzle. The Times crosswords become more difficult from Monday to Friday, so Monika figured she could handle a Tuesday version, which she finished in half an hour.

The Delta flight from Atlanta to Baltimore Washington had the same Boeing 757 as the flight from Reno to Atlanta, so we were surprised to find that I had about 4-5 inches less leg room. We finally figured out that the previous flight had used a more modern or reconditioned version of the 757 in which the legroom had been increased, whereas the second leg of our journey to Baltimore was on an older model. It's amazing how much difference those few inches make, however. I had to spend the two hour journey to BWI with my legs awkwardly straddled, and I was very thankful the flight was that short. We took a Super Shuttle home from the airport and were grateful to be in bed by 11 p.m.