Aug 6 – Amsterdam

Last updated on August 7th, 2019 at 06:00 pm

We made it home.  We got up at 6 am, Amsterdam time (midnight in Indiana), finished with last minute packing, met our taxi for a 35-minute ride to the airport, and arrived in plenty of time.

We weren’t sure which line to get in to check our baggage, but picked the ‘Priority Line’, and were through without any problem.  We went through customs (though the official had a hard time finding Alan’s ‘into the EU’ stamp), and were at the gate in plenty of time.  Going through the security in Amsterdam seemed pretty easy, compared to some places.

The flight from Amsterdam was long (about 7 hours), somewhat boring, and uneventful.  What more can you ask for?

Going through US customs was also fairly typical, but we weren’t sure how they would react to our flower bulbs and cheese we were bringing in.  We had reviewed our purchases, and knew they weren’t excessive, but we hadn’t gotten them all listed and organized.  Turns out, they have a system in place that asks most of the questions on a computer, and then you get processed fairly quickly.  After we collected our luggage, we weren’t sure whether to follow the crowds or go to the Ag inspection line.  Better safe that sorry, we went to the Ag line (much shorter), answered all their questions truthfully (Alan had placed the calla lily bulbs that weren’t certified for US entry next to the tulip bulbs that were certified, but when the inspector saw the certificates, and pulled them out of the suitcase to look at them, he ignored the other bulbs).  Hopefully we aren’t creating a pandemic!  The cheese seemed to be of no concern.

We had to redo our TSA inspection, and for the first time Alan’s knee seemed to get flagged by the machine.  Instead, the TSA agent inspected his shoulder instead.  Does he know something we don’t?

The last leg to Indianapolis, was also mostly without incident.  There was a storm in between, so we were delayed about 45 minutes in the plane, and Alan was pretty sure the new flight path formed a V: straight up and straight down.  For the first time in a while, our ears were affected by the pressure.

Brian, Alan’s brother, picked us up from the airport.  We had a nice dinner with Brian and Beth, and then it was on to Lafayette.  It was after 10 before we arrived, and since we had gotten up at midnight this time, we didn’t do much except unload the car.  We were welcomed by three cats who really seemed to have missed us, and didn’t seem too mad that we had been gone for three weeks.  We let the house cool down some and headed to bed, leaving unpacking and getting back to everyday life for another day.