Back in the States

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Geo: 30.3122, -95.4559

It was hard to sleep last night knowing we had to be up early for our 9:50 flight. I was awake at 3:30 and could not go back to sleep. Yesterday, the hotel desk clerk said we should be at the airport three hours before departure. As it turned out, we got there and through all the lines and screenings well before 7:30 when they first opened the hall leading to our gate. I never know who to believe about times at airports. We could have slept a lot longer and still had plenty of time if we had left the hotel at 7:30 rather than 6:30 as we did. Global Entry did save us some waiting time on one of the lines. We have pre-cleared customs and immigration so changing planes in Chicago is easier than it used to be. I like that we can go through U.S. customs when leaving another country rather than when arriving. It is easier to deal with when not tired from being cramped up on a long flight.

The flights were fine. We left Dublin thirty minutes late, but arrived in Chicago on time. ORD to IAH was on time. It took a while to collect luggage then get the shuttle so we got to the car later than I planned and thirty minutes after the time I told them we'd leave the lot. They must have a grace period and didn't charge any extra.

Yesterday, Paula messaged that both she and Bill were sick. We decided that it was just best not to try to go to their house tomorrow morning. We had already checked in and it was past the time we could cancel the hotel near them, so we just came on up to Conroe for the night.

Philip did okay driving today. Resuming driving on the right side of the road wasn't too hard.

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