So we arrived back from our tour around Georgia on the Wednesday afternoon and we were all flying back to the UK on Thursday evening. In my mind this meant that I had plenty of time to pack everything up. I was going to post all my books, along with other bulky items I could fit in the boxes, back home to free up space in my luggage. I had already collected the boxes and necessary customs forms prior to the Georgia Tour so was sure that all I had to do was tape up the boxes and send them and then pack my clothes - if only life was that simple!
On Wednesday evening I discovered that I needed an extra box to fit all my books in (you wouldn't believe I only went out with 3 books and a Kindle!) but thought I'd be able to do that early on Thursday morning. However, after getting my third box and getting home, I then discovered I needed extra customs forms from the post office as there was insufficient space to detail everything I was bringing back - so I decided to get these after collecting Mum and Dad from their hotel. We also had to check-in for our flight and print off our boarding passes which we did at the university library before returning to the post office. All of this ran smoothly - but that was about to change.
Driving back home from the post office we hit a bit of traffic which was not unusual for Atlanta. However, as we approached our apartment complex along the main road we could see blue flashing lights in the distance - before our turning. They had blocked the road and were turning all traffic around. This was no problem I thought as I knew the route around our complex to approach it on the same road but from the other direction. Unfortunately, when I did this I found that they had blocked the road from that direction as well. This was when I started getting a bit panicky! We only had about two and a half hours until we had to leave for the airport. Finding a workman I discovered that there was a gas leak - or at least a suspected gas leak somewhere along the road. We approached a policeman who thankfully had a computer open with a local map upon it and there was a route through the neighbouring housing estate which would come out near our complex and was accessible for residents. We followed this route and turned onto the main road once more, this time in the middle of the closed of section. Mercifully the road was empty as, despite driving over 1,700 miles around Georgia, I suddenly found myself driving on the left hand side of the road!! It took me a moment to realise - despite my parents questioning why I was driving on the left! Finally, we arrived back home.
We then had a very short time in which to pack all my things up and clean my part of the apartment before leaving for the airport via the post office where we had to post by boxes. Thankfully, by then, the road was reopened and there was no-one in the post office (at least not before we arrived - there was quite a queue after). We managed to get to the airport, drop off Mum with our bags, return the hire car and get through security in plenty of time. However, it did make for a stressed final day in Atlanta, Georgia and the United States - not as I had imagined. Maybe in the future I'll take the advice from my Dad and get my packing done a bit further in advance!
Before I knew it we were on the plane and it was departing from Atlanta to take us back to England. My American adventure was at an end and I was no longer a British Methodist Abroad - I would return to being just a British Methodist! However, do look out for one final post coming soon....
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