February 7, 2013: Last Day in the Sun

The last day of vacation is always the hardest, especially when you know you have to leave the warm temperatures to go back up north to the snow and cold.    We got off the ship around 8:30 a.m. and had to stand in a long line for customs.  It was much easier to find our luggage this time.  On some other cruises, we have gone to this large room to get our luggage and there were thousands of pieces of luggage.  They were times where our luggage wasn't all together, so we had to find them.   On this cruise, we didn't have a problem locating our luggage.  

We took the shuttle to the airport which was only about 2 miles away.  We had about 3 hours before we had to leave.    It was interesting watching the people.   Some people dressed very stylish and others were just sloppy.

It felt good to have internet service again, as I couldn't get it on my cell phone on the cruise, without it costing me an arm and a leg.

We flew from Ft. Lauderdale to Newark, then to Grand Rapids.    Our flight in Newark was delayed about an hour due to a late incoming flight from Milwaukee.   
I had problems with my ears plugging up and hurting on this flight.    Friends on facebook said we should not drive back to Muskegon from Grand Rapids, as they were getting a big snowstorm.  We thought we were going to have to stay at my Aunt Charlene's house that night.

When we got to Grand Rapids, we drove out of the airport. It cost us $78 for parking.  Wow.    It wasn't snowing, but there was alot of snow on the roads.    I took East Beltline.   We decided to drive back to Muskegon, as it wasn't snowing too bad.    Once we got onto I-96, it wasn't too bad. It helped that there weren't many cars on the road, so I could pretty much drive where I wanted on the road.  

The roads were bad in Fruitport. They hadn't been plowed yet.   We got about 15 inches of snow with this storm.

Although I love to vacation, it was nice to get home to my own bed.   Maggie was glad to see us.   Betsy said Maggie wasn't eating much and curled up the first few days we were gone.  I think she was depressed and missed us.  Poor thing.