Back in the US of A

Well, I'm back. I spent my stopover night in England with my cousin JD at Lakenheath Air Force base, which was fun. We got Burger King (which I haven't had in years) and watched movies and went to a pub for dinner. Now, when you go into a little hamlet in the countryside that consists of 6 houses ad a pub, you don't expect those few buildings to contain the extraordinary, but we found it nonetheless: The pub serves Tex-Mex. I'm talkin chips & salsa, chimichangas, the works. So my last night abroad, in the English countryside, I had chicken enchiladas for dinner. They weren't bad, either! JD and I told the server we were both from Texas and to send our compliments to the chef, and the owner himself came out all excited to meet real live Texans, hehe. It was great. I also got to see the bases where my cousin works as well, and as I'm the first family member to make it over for a visit, so I took a couple pictures of F-15s and the like.
We woke up at 4am to get me to Stansted Airport to catch a bus to Gatwick, and ended up spending 2 hours on the road barely moving because the M-11 (the equivalent of I-25 or I-35) was closed for 50miles due to an overturned lorry. I got to the airport to find that the bus wouldn't get me there on time, so I took 2 trains and the Underground but made it in good time. The flight was of course uneventful, but when we landed in Charlotte, NC for connection they confiscated the 2 bottles of Spanish wine I'd had in my checked luggage as gifts for my mom because I'm not 21. I wanted to cry or to scream at them, but settled for telling the woman it was total bullshit. She offered to let me keep the bottles, like that would make me feel better. Luckily they didn't see the scotch, because if they'd poured out a $60 bottle of scotch I would've taken someone's limbs off. Nevertheless, I was pissed for all 3 1/2 hours of layover I had there. The world looked up after that though. I bought an ice cream just before boarding and they gave me one twice the size I'd ordered, and then I got onto my next flight to discover I'd been bumped up to the extended leg-room section for free, in a window seat, so I managed to doze for a few hours. That was nice.
I met Annie and Megan at the airport, and we made the drive back to Boulder and I slept like I haven't slept in a month. It's good to be back, and I look forward to sharing more pictures and stories with all of you in the coming weeks. Thanks for all the love and support, and happy travels!