Waiting for the quest to begin

Sitting in O'Hare waiting for the Iberia counter to open so we can check in. Left the house at about 4:45 to fly out of EC and don't leave from here until 4:40. Good job, travel agent! They couldn't even check our bags all the way through so we're sitting by baggage claim with all our luggage. Nowhere to go, nothing to do, nothing but plastic seats. Ug. Strangely, I still found a way to take a doze with my Bucky and a metal railing. Don't ask! Nancy came over for July fourth and brought Ike. Talked and caught up, went grocery shopping (there was no food in the house!)and went to Best Buy to pick out iPad accessories so I can bring it on the trip. She left around 8 and I decided right before 10:00pm that I wanted to see fireworks. I went down to Phoenix Park and they were really good! Yesterday I slept in, puttered around in circles, and Mom came to my house so that we could both fly from EC. Did errands, packed, and Nichole came over. Finished packing around 1:30am so I'm pretty sleepy! Not late this morning, and so far I've read 1/2 of Shirley MacLaine's book called "The Camino." Paid bills, just need to find somewhere to mail them from, and I'm going to submit a grant application from my new iPad with the help of a Boingo Hotspot! Off to Madrid and then Lisbon- here we go! I've got blister packs, Gu, trail mix, hiking shoes, rain gear, sunblock, and my backpack- let's do it!!