We're home safely

We made it. Tara and I, Claire, Chase, Kyle, Caity, Belle, Whitney, Cassie, Dani, Ivy, Brynna and Amelia survived the 25 hour journey with only a few hassles. Our only complaint was that the airplane food was awful. Sleeping was the rule, no matter how hard we tried to stay awake. At one point, I couldn't see any of the girls because they were sleeping on each other. It was very sweet.

Our journey started with a great send-off from Sanvino (and the hotel staff) after some last minute on-the-spot repacking to avoid overweight luggage charges. Fortunately, I had received a great soccer bag as a gift, and several of the girls made use of it. Somehow, though, I got stuck with many pairs of cleats and shin guards (when I got home, Michele practically feinted from the smell!!) Many of our hosts and I think all of the Sanvino players accompanied us on the bus to Fukuoka airport. There were plenty of tears and hugs when we finally arrived and had to leave our new friends at the security checkpoint. As we waited at the gate (our flight was delayed because of a mechanical issue), there were plenty of sad faces. Nobody was ready to leave yet!!

But once we were underway, we were all eager to get home. Our first flight was short, and we had plenty of time of last-minute shopping in Narita airport and a quick lunch. Then came the long flight across the Pacific - Dani and Tara got upgraded to business class - lucky them - but to be honest, coach was comfortable enough. There was a collective hurray when we finally got off the plane in Los Angeles. We cleared immigration and customs quickly, and then had nearly 3 hours to kill in LA, so we took an 8 minute forced march from the international terminal to the United Terminal (at the opposite end of the airport) because we needed the exercise at that point. Then it was sit and wait, Starbucks Frappacino's ruled, and some of us even napped. Finally, we were boarding our last flight and it was off to Denver.

No surprise, parents were waiting for us, and Michele even brought an American flag to welcome us home. There were lots of happy faces and hugs. Before we headed off to baggage claim I made a point of calling everyone together and letting our parents know how great our girls did and how proud they should be of them. I certainly am - I go with these girls on another trip in a heartbeat.

So that's it for our soccer exchange, though the memories and impacts of this trip will last for years to come, I'm sure of it. Thanks to everyone who made this possible, and to all of you who followed our trip on this blog.