Our rides are like putting together a puzzle. Some may see a completed puzzle and wonder “Why didn’t they just buy the picture? It would have been so much easier.” Some may see the puzzle and notice the imperfections created by the pieces that have been cut out. But others love puzzles. Liz almost always has a  puzzle in progress – I think she loves the process. I think she loves the feeling of success each time she finds a piece. I think she loves the feeling of accomplishment when the final piece completes the puzzle.

Yesterday we finished our puzzle. Our Airbnb host met us at 3:45 AM to drive us and our bike boxes to the airport. She was so kind and a lot of fun to talk to on the way there. It was a short drive. The clouds were obscuring a lunar eclipse.

We were at the airport before 4 AM and quickly made it to the French sector. (Geneva airport spans two counties.)  At every door or secure entry way we’d pull the bike boxes off the cart, and pull them through sideways, making special effort to ensure we didn’t end up on the wrong side of a one-way passage with half our luggage left on the other. 

As we expected, we were early. The person at the airport information desk on Monday had said to arrive by 4, but gate agents weren’t arriving until 5. However, being early made the drop off easy for our host, as the normal line of cars hadn’t yet formed, and Natalie and I both prefer the boredom of waiting over the anxiety of running late. So we waited without complaint.

Like last year, we had upgraded the first leg of our flight to business class. It was short so the upgrade was inexpensive. This seems to help with the check in process and we didn’t have to pay extra for our bike boxes. It also gave us access to the Air France lounge to grab breakfast and wait in comfort for our plane to start boarding. 

Both flights were uneventful. Neither of us slept much on the plane, but when flying west it seems easier to just make yourself stay awake and then go to bed at the normal time at your destination.

The final pieces of the puzzle fell into place as we landed, retrieved our luggage and bike boxes (which were tagged for priority treatment due to our business class first leg), and bypassed any immigration lines due to our Global Entry cards. We were efficient moving through the airport. We had two elevators to navigate. I’d quickly take one bike box off the cart and put it in front of the opened elevator door to block it open, slide the next box all the way in, grab my cart, Natalie would push her cart with our other luggage in, and we’d pull the bike box blocking the door open into the elevator. The whole process probably took about 30 seconds at each elevator. We made it to the curbside pickup at about the same time Bryan arrived with our truck. It was great to see him and we were so grateful to have the final logistical piece fall into place perfectly. We drove home happy and grateful (and a bit sleepy).

Our dirty clothes are in piles in the laundry room. Our bike is in pieces in the garage waiting to be put back together. Our fridge is full of food we bought at Costco in the evening. We are comfortably resting with memories of our previous three weeks. This puzzle is complete.