Lakiamia's Diaria: The Vegas Edition, The Epilogue

Sadly, (or happily, depending on how you look at it) we have reached the end of my journey here at Cinderella 2005. But, the story doesn't stop there! Ideally, I would have liked to have been able to go home on Saturday without a hitch, just happy to have won my talent award and anxious to see Kirby. But, life is not that kind, is it? Plus, the whole week had been good times disguised by lots of hard work, so why break trend now?

Saturday morning was our last breakfast at The Feast, so we savored as much as we could, then went back to our room to pack everything up and get to check out before noon. We saw the Iwasaki's in line to check out, so we said good-bye to them and told them, "See you back in Ohio!" Several other pageant contestants rode with us on the shuttle to the airport, so we spent the time talking to them about their experiences that week. We didn't have any trouble weighing our suitcases this time, with the souvenirs gone. So far, so good! Our plane didn't take off until 3:30-ish and it was just past noon then, so we had a while to wait. Then, we found out it would be even longer because there had been a problem on the plane. (Either a mechanical problem, or one of the passengers had a medical problem, I couldn't quite hear the announcement.)

So I tried to find a coffee shop, but couldn't. I found a candy store, though! And anyone who knows me knows that when I'm in a candy store, I'm like, well, a kid in a candy store! I didn't just buy for me, though. I bought something yummy for everyone. I got Mom some peppermint patties and a tiny pizza that was made out of gummy things, I got Dad some almond bark, and for Rob I got a bag of chocolate coins with a mini deck of cards. He opened those up right away and he and I started playing some poker. Amazingly, my first hands were 2 pair, then a straight, then a full house. Finally, Dad decided it must be my lucky day so he gave me a couple dollars and sent me over to the slot machines...where I lost it all. Maybe my day wasn't so lucky after all.

Our plane arrived about an hour late, so we had to call my grandparents and tell them not to expect us to pick up Kirby until midnight or so. (As if it would be that simple!) The flight went smoothly until we got close to Denver, where the whole city was just laden with bad weather. There was quite a bit of turbulence at the end. Once we landed, we got off the plane, then waited for the crew to clean it up and boarded the same plane again! I wasn't too thrilled to learn we were taking the same plane to Detroit. There was something about it that made me uneasy. Well, our take-off was delayed again due to the storm. So we had to sit there in the cabin and wait for at least another hour to an hour and a half for the control tower to give us our clearance. Meanwhile, they kept giving us updates, like we now 25th in line for take off. Ugh! We didn't leave the ground until 9:30 that night. Mom called Grandma again while we were waiting to update her on our progress and tell her it would be even later than midnight. We were debating on just going home and picking Kirby up the next morning, but I was so desperate to see her, I didn't think I could wait. The only other option was to pick her up whenever we got into town, which would likely be 3 or 4 am, and would mean waking up my grandparents. But all I wanted to do was get home to my puppy!

The flight back to Detroit was even more rough than the one to Denver. The turbulence didn't stop there because we were flying into yet another storm system, and it was pretty bad. I've never been afraid to fly before, but this experience nearly scared me out of ever wanting to do it again. Mom was on the brink of a panic attack, especially when the plane did a sudden dip that felt like we just did a nosedive. The lady sitting next to me was freaking out, too. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights. When I tried talking to her, she was too scared to even answer me. I asked one of the flight attendants if this kind of turbulence was normal, and they said it was and it was mostly due to the storm. But don't you think they'd say that anyway? I don't know, maybe I've just been watching too much "Lost."

That flight couldn't end fast enough! When we landed, I wanted to hop outside and kiss the ground! It was 2:10 am, and we still had to get our baggage, ride back to the car, and drive another hour and a half back to Bowling Green before we could finally call it a night. We got to my grandparents' house around 4:30. I made sure I had the video camera on so I could capture Kirby's and my reunion right as it happened. Surprisingly, my grandparents were awake and sitting in the living room. (They said they'd gotten up to take the dogs out and decided to just wait up for us.)

Kirby and I were so happy to see each other! When I walked in the door, she barked at us at first then flew over into my arms, wagging her tail and dancing around like a crazy girl! She allowed herself a second to greet the others, then ran right back to me because we had a lot of catching up to do! We sat with my grandparents for a little while, swapping stories about our week, then said good-bye, thanked Abby for sharing her toys with Kirbs, and went home to see Brandy and the kitties. It was such a happy little reunion! Even happier since I could finally sleep in my own bed again. I didn't even want to think about unpacking until the next day...if that soon! I was anxious to see the video, though. I also can't wait to get my official photos and DVD high-lights in the mail, which won't be until October, they told me.

Well, kids, that's my story and I'm (mostly) stickin' to it. Also, I made up a little summary of my feelings about the week, a la Mastercard:

Pageant and hotel room fees: $2200

Round-trip airfare for four: $1300

Name brand evening gown: $870

Casual wear outfit from Cache: $250

Three-day car rental: $500 (plus gas)

Photo and DVD package: $250

Family passes to Grand Canyon National Park: $20

Competing in an international pageant while being able to cross 3 more states off my list: Priceless!!!