Travel Day Home from Turks & Caicos

I actually set an alarm this morning because I didn’t want to miss one last opportunity to walk the beach. I woke Erica up at 6:45 (Amanda told me the night before she was going to choose sleep over beach). We got out the door by 7:00 and headed to Long Bay Beach, the beach that was closest to our AirBnB and the first beach we walked on when we arrived last Saturday. The wind on the beach was incredibly strong (the beach is known for kite surfing) and we didn’t make it very far before I told Erica we should go back to Leeward Beach where we had walked the morning Amanda went diving. She agreed and 12 minutes later we were parking the car and on Leeward Beach.

It was windy on this side of the island as well, but not quite as bad. The water was more choppy then it had been on Monday and we couldn’t wade in the water like we did before to look for shells. It was ok though, we still had a really nice walk. It’s always nice to get steps on a beach before you have to spend a bunch of time on an airplane.

We got back to the house at 9:30 and took showers and packed up our stuff. Check-out time was 11:00 and we were pulling out of the driveway at 10:57. The road to our AirBnB was a gravel road and super rough. For the last few days they have been working on cutting back trees and brush and yesterday they started dumping big piles of dirt on the road for what I can only assume will be to level it and make it more even. That road could really use it so glad to see they are working on improving it.

We went into Grace Bay for last minute souvenir shopping. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular and did not end up buying anything. Amanda and Erica picked up some things and then we went to a restaurant called Turks Kebab for lunch. I had a Kofte Pita and Amanda and Erica shared a Gyro Pita and Greek salad. The food was good, but the Pita Palace in Milwaukee is better.

It was now time to return the blueberry muffin to Thrifty and get ourselves to the airport. We didn’t have any issues. Erica and I tried to get different seats at check-in, but the agent said there was a charge for the seat, so we just kept it as is. Funny thing is, I had an entire row to myself, albeit it was the second to last row on the plane. The line to get through security was long, but moved at a steady pace. No TSA precheck here so laptops, shoes, and liquids all had to be removed. The terminal in Providenciales is very small as they have limited flights a day and ours was the second to last flight. I got an extra bonus as I was randomly selected for an extra security screening before boarding. Once again I had to take off my shoes open my bag drag out my laptop and open my water bottle and get it all recombulated to walk on the plane. At least they had the back door open so I could board from the rear of the plane. That made it convenient for my second to last row seat.

Amanda had been upgraded to first class and was sitting in the first row and Erica was sitting somewhere in the middle of the plane. After we landed I received a text from Amanda that she was waiting for us by baggage and I was still on the plane! She has Global Entry and was able to breeze right through. I also just recently was approved for Global Entry and this was the first trip I was able to use. Oh my goodness!! It was soooooo easy and wonderful. I just walked to the Global Entry kiosk, took of my hat for the camera and smiled, and when it turned green I moved on. I was waiting with Amanda in baggage before I knew it. Erica does not have Global Entry and she went through the long line to go through immigration. I think it was at least 30 minutes before she joined us.

We had a couple of hour layover in Charlotte, so even after going through immigration and customs we still had about an hour before we needed to be to our gates. Unfortunately Amanda’s gate was in B and Erica and I were in A, but we were able to find a food court in the middle where we could sit and play a final game of Swoop before we had to go our separate ways. Erica and I ate the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that Amanda made before we left the AirBnB (so we could use up the bread). Amanda having sat in first class had been served a meal of an Asian salad on the plane. I won the game of Swoop in 5 rounds with a score of 68 (Amanda lost with a 252), but we decided to just keep playing off our existing scores since we knew Amanda would be leaving for her gate soon. We were able to play 3 more rounds before Amanda’s alarm went off. Final scores: Jess 110, Erica 275, Amanda 314. We gave our hugs goodbye and went to our separate gates.

Erica and I found a slew of 8th graders at our gate. We learned they were coming back from a Washington D.C. trip and were from the Chilton area of Wisconsin. They were a huge gaggle at the gate, but on the plane it was nice and quiet once it took off. We landed at 12:10a.m. and since I didn’t check a bag it made for an easy arrival. I said my goodbye to Erica and was home in a jiffy. Another great trip had come to an end.

Stats of the Day

Steps: 14,892
Total Miles Driven: 309
Cost of a Tank of Gas: $55.02