The Boys Are Back In Town

We finally made it home yesterday. After 38 hours of flying and being in airports we are wiped.

We started out with breakfast at Andre and Corné's. It was great to have that before we left. Thank you so much guys. After breakfast, they dropped us off at the Kimberley airport. Faith came to the airport to say goodbye before we flew out. Kimberley to Johannesburg was a short flight. We had a super long layover in Johannesburg. Once again, Mugg & Bean's "Endless Cup of Coffee" was taken advantage of.

On our flight from Johannesburg to London, Kyle was upgraded to first class. We don't know why or how, but we do know that while Mark and I were coach, Kyle was being fanned and fed grapes in his fully reclinable seat within his own little cubicle. He also had three course meals and probably would have been allowed to step outside the plane for a smoke if he'd like. The worst part is, Kyle couldn't fall asleep. He just couldn't. Not really for any reason. Mark says, "I had the same problem, but it was because I was doing this": he's sitting upright and bobs his head up and down as if falling asleep and waking up to plane movement and noises.

After the first main flight and Kyle had told us of all his luxuries, I came up with the bright idea of sneaking into first class on the next flight as we are boarding the plane. Kyle and I get onto the flight after our layover in London. Mark was in a boarding group ahead of Kyle and me, so he had already gotten on the plane when I officially decided to try this juvenile plan. I tell Kyle, "There are two open seats in the back of business class. Let's take those." "I don't know man." Kyle responds. I say, "If we do this and it works, it's a great story; if they catch us, the worst thing would be we get sent to our assigned seats." So we do it.

We claim the two business class seats in hopes that everyone in business class has already boarded. We begin to be waited upon with choices of water, juice, champagne, being handed menus, and given our own pair of Bose headphones. We were living it up. The plane takes flight and we begin to flip through movies that are playing to see what we want to start with first. As this is happening, a flight attendant approaches our row and asks for our boarding passes. We'd been found out.

After fumbling over words and trying to calm the flight attendant, we make the retreat to our assigned seating. Kyle called this, "the walk of shame". Both of us caught Mark having a good laugh at us as we made our way back. At least, we got to enjoy business class for about 45 minutes.

After landing in Chicago and making our way through customs, we had to go to baggage claim so we could recheck our bags for our last flight. Apparently, Kyle's bag didn't make it to the US. It's still in England. At least, that's what we are assuming. Hopefully it shows up with in the next few days.

We are back at Kyle's house. It's 4:20am and I'm dealing with jet lag. So I decided to write this. We went to the California taco truck guy and got dinner. He very well might be from Turlock or nearby; there is a (209) number on the freezer for the ice cream at his shop. The burritos were awesome. Good find Sue and Larry, and thank you for dinner.

Right now, I am sharing a bed with Kyle and he is snoring violently loud. And the snore changes. It's different noises every few minutes. Well, at least someone is getting some sleep.

I guess that's it. The trip is over. We are back to real life. Here's a little outro song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQo1HIcSVtg

P.S. Below are some people we stayed with in Kimberley. We were initiated into their tribe.

P.S.S. Even though this blog is coming to an end, here's one that won't be ending for a long time. Plus, it's great! Click the following link to check it out: JEB KENNEDY