I'm back in ye olde Iowa after a thoroughly uneventful travel day, which almost felt like a vacation because it involved french fries and not answering work emails. I woke up this morning and made coffee, took care of final house tings, trimmed my bangs (the most important part of my preparations), showered, finished packing, etc. Then I drove to the airport, which I used to go to so frequently that it was almost annoying, but since this is only my third plane trip in the last fourteen months, it still feels fresh and novel. Okay, maybe not fresh, since I'm still paranoid about catching covid (especially because I don't want to bring it back to my dad - or my mom for that matter). But definitely novel.
I got to the airport early enough to have lunch, so I treated myself to a caesar salad, french fries, and a glass of sauvignon blanc (that + the dramamine I bought in the airport ensured my survival on the v. turbulent ascent out of Denver - dramamine for the motion sickness, sauvy b for the nerves). The Denver airport restaurants are mostly reopened, perhaps at reduced hours, but capacity has been cut, so the tables were spaced out enough that it felt pretty safe. Then I strolled to my gate just in time to board, stowed my carry-on, and spent the whole plane ride (with the exception of five minutes of ascent when I thought I might panic vomit) reading THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO. So far so good - I'm about halfway through and I am enjoying it, although too soon to tell if I'll end up recommending it.
When I got to Des Moines, Des Moines airport proved to be as delightfully easy and efficient as always - between the point when my airplane touched down on the runway and when I was sitting in my rental car was less than fifteen minutes, and that was with the plane taxiing to the gate + me walking slowly to preserve my almost-healed strained calf muscle + a stop at the bathroom.
So, I made it back to southern Iowa with no drama and just in time for supper. My parents can get a perfectly prepared whole smoked chicken from a neighbor for $8, which is absurd (per my citified price estimates) and v. delicious, so we had smoked chicken and salad and baked potatoes. Then I took my dad for a drive to find him some cookies, which we don't usually have around because my mom and I can't have gluten (but my dad certainly does, and his foot situation is cramping his style of getting gluten on the sly when he's out and about in his normal routines). It was a really nice night for driving around and looking for cookies, even if cookies are hard to find in rural Iowa - the sun was just setting when we set out, and so we drove around and examined things (and managed to score some rice krispie treats that weren't great, + some brownies that may be made without any real adherence to food licensing rules but are apparently pretty good).
After that, we got home and talked to my mom for awhile, and then it was time for them to go to bed and for me to sit in my recliner in their basement and watch tiktok videos. That seems like such a cliche, but it was a good break. And now I need to sleep - we're going to Des Moines tomorrow for another procedure (on my dad, not me, obvi) so hopefully that goes well. And hopefully [censored] and I don't have to spend more than a few hours sitting in a car staring at our favorite tree in the hospital long-term parking lot, but we shall see. Goodnight!
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