Returning Home to America

All good things seem to come to an end, and our journey to Uganda was no exception. On Friday, January 4, we returned to Entebbe for the night, staying at the Central Inn. It was clean and relatively comfortable. Naturally, there was no air conditioning, but there was an oscillating fan. The fan was a wonderful touch.

We arose early the next morning for our last meal in Uganda with Betsy and D’rae. They would be going to Kampala for a couple of days awaiting the arrival of one of Betsy’s close friends who would be arriving late Monday evening. Following breakfast, the hotel’s shuttle loaded us up and took us just a couple of kilometers to the airport. We said our goodbye’s and took our place in line. The Entebbe airport is like other international airports – there are lines that must be maneuvered before you can get to your plane.

We navigated the long lines of fellow travelers and arrived at the gate to await our boarding time. We did not have to wait long, but there was about an hour delay in the plane’s arrival and therefore our departure. We boarded the plane and settled in for a flight of something over eight hours.

Shortly after boarding, the captain greeted all of us and announced there was a change in our flight plan. Do you remember the Kenya elections and the fuel shortage on our journey to Jinja a few days earlier? It’s still there. The captain announced that since Entebbe airport did not have any aviation fuel, we were going to have to make a pit stop in Nairobi, Kenya to refuel. Nairobi is east and south of Entebbe. Our eight hour journey was going to be a bit longer. By the time we arrived in London, it was thirteen hours from when we boarded the plane in Entebbe.

Once we landed in London, we needed to proceed through immigration and Customs because we were going off the airport for lodging. Though our hotel was right outside Heathrow, it took us almost two hours to get to it and into our room. It had been a very long day! But, oh, how comfortable the bed was that night!

Our journey to Chicago was uneventful except for a little delay. Through immigration, through Customs, and we were headed back to our car. Now, where did we park and in what lot?

It was great to get home! Back to the familiar. Back to the ordinary. Okay, not so ordinary. The temperature was about 60 degrees outside, but the furnace had quit working inside. Our house was about 52 degrees. Earlier in the week, the temperature had been in the single digits, and we don’t know when the furnace broke down. At least, there was a good friend who talked me through troubleshooting in, and Monday morning we were back on line with a working furnace. But on Monday the temperature rose to 67 degrees. Who needs a furnace in weather like that? Oh, yea, it’s still January and snow is forecast for later this week.

Thank you, God, for watching over our journey to see Betsy and for watching over our home while we were away. God is awesome, and His world is beautiful.