The Eagle Has Landed

Don't any of you worry...the flowers are safely in Portland with me! It was quite a day. My wake-up call was at 4:45am CST. I headed to O'Hare for my journey to Portland (through Minneapolis), with the flowers in tow. I checked my giant suitcase, so that freed my hands up a little, but it was still tricky to figure out how to get those bad boys across the country. To get through airport security, I had to dump the water out of the vase. My solution to keep the flowers wet throughout the day? Wrap the stems in a wet washcloth. A washcloth that I took from my guest room at the Q Center. Don't freak out though...I told them I did it when I checked out. I also said I would bring it back next time I came. They laughed and said I could go ahead and keep it. Sweet...free washcloth.

They had to go through the airport x-ray machine on their side, which was a little nerve-wrecking. But Jose, the TSA agent, waited for them on the other side and protected them until I could make my way through with all my other crap. That was a fairly big hurdle to clear. Throughout the rest of the day the flowers went in bathrooms at 3 airports (ORD, MSP, and PDX), drank Starbucks water, sat in 4 different chairs, got endless compliments, made their owner a spectacle, and rode on 2 airplanes. Here is photo evidence...they rode in 1st class on one flight (in a coat closet), and in the exit row on the other (on their side under a seat):

I only got 3 hours of sleep last night. Please excuse how awful I look in this photo.

The flowers also rode backseat in a rental car (upgrade again - brand new Jeep with only 34.7 miles on it):

Maybe carrying those around all day was a little like having a child with me? Possibly good preparation for parenthood some day. (but not entirely...note that the flowers were not buckled in)

They are now comfortably sitting on a dresser in my hotel room in Lake Oswego. They look great after all they've been through! And they're continuing to bring cheer to me. Most definitely.

Never a dull moment, right?