Nanao to SFO

Our parting at Nanao Station was of mixed emotions: sadness that our time in Nanao was ending, but excitement that we were headed home to tell our families and friends all about our adventures.  The train to Kanazawa was uneventful and we made our transfer to the Thunderbird easily; however, our train to Kyoto was somehow delayed, causing us to miss our next connection.  We took the next Haruka express train from Kyoto to the Kansai Airport, but we lost 45 minutes of our time-cushion to the delay.  More time was lost when the luggage shipping company sent us hiking across the terminal to a different pick-up point.  To make things worse, one bag was missing, only to be found at the counter we went to initially!  While we were packing our backpack souvenirs into our large suitcases we heard the final check-in call for our flight - the counter would be closing in a couple of minutes - HURRY!  We got everyone checked in, through security and immigration, and out to the gate with about 10 minutes to spare before the posted boarding time.  Whew!  No stress...!

The flight home was a quick 9:30 hours and we were met with a rousing welcome by the parents.  Hugs, thank yous, and good byes until our final party on Saturday night!