Lisa's in Philly!

(In picture left to right: Jake, Tara, Lisa, Nick & Chris) This morning a small group assembled to see Lisa off on the first leg of her journey. We left for the airport in plenty of time to allow for parking lot construction, baggage check-in and security screenings. You'll be impressed to know that Lisa did indeed fit all of her items into the two bags plus a backpack carry-on! The official weight? 78.5 pounds! Who would have thought we could squeeze in another 1.5 pounds!

The airport was pretty quiet, so we took our seats just outside of the coffee shop to spend as much time as possible with Lisa before she departed. Much to our surprise, (and we still don't know the cause) the airport gate area was evacuated and all passengers were instructed they would have to go back through security screening! The bomb-sniffing dogs were out in force, arriving airplanes were stopped on the runway and the usually short line for security screening became the longest we've ever seen! No problem, we took advantage of the extra time to sit in the line with Lisa while we waited for the "all clear" sign.

All in all, Lisa made it through screening and her airplane was only delayed about 30 minutes. She made her connecting flight in Dallas, and I received a call confirming her successful arrival in Philadelphia. Just received a call - she's all checked in to the hotel. One casualty of the day --her large duffel bag that was purchased to hold her large-frame backpack came back all wrapped in duck tape with the infamous note "inspected." So -- all of the little extras that had been tucked in to the duffle bag will need to be relocated to the backpack or suitcase. The joys of traveling.

Next on the agenda for Lisa is an intensive 2-day orientation - and --Lisa's all time favorite - immunizations! ;-)