Friday afternoon was beautiful and sunny so after work (we got off at 3pm - hour early for long weekend) I went for a run/walk, then grabbed a coffee at Tim Horton's in Clarkson and walked home through the marsh. I was out of the wind in there but the treetops were constantly thrashing. The occasional twig came down but I figured I was fairly safe from bigger branches since this had been going on all day. The trail was icy and the creek was high and fast from all the melt but the sun was everything. I feel like I can make it through a few more weeks until spring, no matter what winter has left to throw at us.

Ryan's flight was coming in between 8:30 & 9:00pm. Thanks to the internet, you can find out every detail about a flight's progress, including minute-by-minute changes to departure & landing time. I was buffeted all over the road by the 100km hour winds as I drove to the airport. I kept my mind off what the approach and landing would be like. If it was that bad, they would have cancelled all kinds of flights, right? I watch the planes coming in as I drove up the last stretch of the 427 and it was interesting.

I texted Ryan to let him know I was in the airport. Since the last leg of his flight was from San Francisco, it was doubtful they'd be delayed too long in customs. His flight had landed but still no text (found out later that his phone had been disabled). I looked up from my book just as he walked through the exit - tanned, thinner, looking great. Not jet-lagged or travel weary at all! He was shocked by the cold as we walked through the parking lot but he said he didn't mind - he was happy to be home.

He'd flown straight from Alice Springs to Melbourne to catch his flight and hadn't eaten in hours so we went to the Crooked Cue for a meal. He told me some of the stories from his trip, especially the last stretch through the outback. About halfway through, I could see him start to lose focus. The hours of travelling were finally getting to him. The only souvenir he'd bought was a leather hat for the outback so I made him put it on for a photo. He also got me a bunch of RipCurl stickers for my board/boat/blade.

When we got home, he wasn't quite tired enough to go to bed so we decided to watch a movie. Everything available was pretty intense - Inception, Machete etc - too much for someone baffled by 24 hours of air travel. We settled on Toy Story 3 as something mindlessly entertaining. It's actually pretty clever. Of course he barely made it halfway through before he passed out.

I'm so pleased Ryan's home again and that he had such an amazing experience.