Brrrrrr. It's Cold!

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Geo: 39.0516, -77.4831

The five-hour flight seemed quite long on this last leg. Perhaps it was the fact that they showed the final Hobbit movie, which we had already seen. I slept a little while Anna read the whole time. I'm ashamed to say I'm not sure what K did in Economy Class. Sorry.

The approach and landing was quite bumpy, as the winds at Dulles were high. I don't know if it was the wind or the fact that we were flying a Central American airline, but there was a round of applause throughout the plane after we landed.

We hit Dulles around 3:30pm, at the height of the internal arrival window for most European flights. Here, again, our TSA PreCheck proved a lifesaver. We were able to completely bypass the incredibly long passport lines at immigration, and "check in" at kiosks. Our bags were out in very short order and, though the Customs line was backed to the rear of the hall, we were again able to bypass the entire line with our PreCheck. It has been worth the investment on this trip alone.

We didn't expect the cold temperatures -- in the 40's -- when we left the terminal, but it helped bring us all back to reality. Within 10 minutes or so we had ridden the shuttle, retrieved the car, and were at the kennel to pick up Chip. I laughed when I walked up and told the man I was there for Chip. His reply, "Oh, Chip. Mr. Personality." He went on to tell me how much he enjoyed Chip and how he had not been at all intimidated by the larger dogs. He said, "for such a small guy, he thinks he's a great dane."

We were home and all but unpacked by 5:00pm. Anna was tired and wanted to shower and finish her book. Teenage girls take a lot of showers! K and I went out for a quick bite -- we both had a craving for a salad -- after which we went to see the movie "Woman in Gold," for which K had been waiting several months. When we finally got home from the movie around 10:00pm, we had to stop ourselves to remember that we'd started the day in South America, on the literal other side of the world. That realization in itself helped things start to settle in. We both agreed before turning in that this would certainly not be our last trip to South America.

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