Up at 5:00 am as the 5th  train of the night came through.  Roused at 5:40, changing directly into my Scout uniform (it’s departure day!)  Most of the adults were already up at 6:00, so just a few Scouts to roust.  44 degrees and mostly clear.  Another fairly efficient packup, with everyone stripping the vans of our extraneous stuff.  By 6:25, everyone was done or nearly so, and heading over to the bathrooms.  We rolled at 6:45, heading down to the store/gas station to buy drinks for breakfast.  I’m driving again; we hit the road just before 7:00, right on schedule.  12 miles to I-15 South, then 140 miles to Salt Lake City, at 75 mph most of the way - just a few minor construction zones here and there, slowing us to 55 or 65 for a few minutes each.  Bright sunshine, little traffic, straight clear highway, easy driving.  We took one rest stop to stretch our legs.  Ran into a Council employee from the Grand Teton Council; she liked our shoulder patch a lot, and I promised to send her one when I got home (which I did).

Approaching the airport, w stopped at Exit 318 to gas up the vans for the return.  At the airport itself, we missed the Southwest Airlines drop-off point on our first pass, so we circled back around.  Found a good spot right outside the SWA check-in counter, and we pulled over, dumped all our gear, and did a last scan of the vans for leftovers.  Ted and Mark took the vans back to Budget, while we re-wrapped our packs and marked everything "To BWI."  Left 1 mostly-empty Totelocker for Rick and Chris (who were expected to arrive around 12:30 or so), and went ahead and checked everything else in.  Everything went smoothly, although Ted’s letter was needed to get the approval for our empty fuel bottles and stoves (lucky thing we had it!)  Once we had that taken care of, we gathered everyone together for final instructions; Ted gave everyone $6.00 each and their release ‘til l:30, when they were to reassemble at Gate B13.  Al and I stayed at the check-in area with the "Wolff" Totelocker awaiting Rick and Chris.  I called Jenner (my housemate) to remind him to leave the back door open in case Fred S. forgot my keys (left a message).  Then I wrote some more diary while Al made and received a bunch of cell phone calls.

Rick and Chris showed up just after noon, and reported numerous local Scouts streaming out of the building wearing identical T-Shirts (they were returning from the National Jamboree).  I hadn’t realized that we were all travelling on the same day.  Managed to talk to a few of them later; they said the Jambo was great but also quite challenging.  Al left to get something to eat, while I helped the Wolff’s get packed up and checked in.  Afterwards, we headed through security and over to the food court, where we got some deli subs.  Another group of Jambo Scouts came down the escalator in full uniform (this group was from the Grand Teton Council).  The Scouts reported a great time; however, their leaders looked pretty beat.  Ted came by the food court at 1:00 and chatted with Rick and Chris for a few minutes on their Gannett Peak trek; then we all headed for Gate B13.  No one was there - but we could see some of our guys all the way down the hall in an "end-terminal," so our gate was apparently switched.

At our new gate, we held multiple conversations with other passengers who wanted to hear about our adventures, including a retired Air Force pilot who had flown more than 100 combat missions in Viet Nam.  Chris presented me with a T-Shirt as a parting gift (logo: "Sometimes the Road to Heaven Isn’t a Road at All," with a picture of a backpacker on a mountain trail; pretty cool).  We had a lengthy delay on boarding, with no explanation - finally got on around 3:00.  SWA Flight 1792, direct to BWI.  Then we had a even longer delay while they dumped cargo and fuel; apparently, we were too heavy for the conditions outside (you’d think they’d have this determined beforehand, wouldn’t you?)  Finally pushed off at 3:50, at which point they notified us that we might have to stop halfway back to BWI to get more fuel - but they weren’t sure yet.  Mark called Heidi with our revised plans, both the hopeful early arrival and the tentative later arrival.  Either way, it’s gonna be a late night.  Liftoff at 4:00 on the nose.  Fast, reasonably smooth ascent, just a few bumps.  I changed my watch back to EDST (Washington, DC  time).  Once again, we were "treated" to one of Southwest Air’s little "fast food" packages at 4:40, and drinks at 4:45.  No further meals, but drinks and snacks were provided on request.  The pilot announced that a good tailwind helped avoid the refueling stop, and also helped us pick up some time; now our estimated landing was 9:55 instead of 10:15 - but there were still thunderstorms in the BWI area, so nothing was certain yet.  I talked with everyone but Al (who was asleep) while wandering for about l l/2 hours during the flight.

We finally descended into BWI around 9:45 - no signs of thunderstorms that I could see.  I think we came straight in, without any circling around; probably in deference to our lower than average fuel state.  Easy landing, 9:53, nice job.  Exited to find a bunch of parents outside the gate, and we all headed down to the baggage claim area.  Oddly, we ran into a female Venturing Scout in full uniform - she was hoping we were part of a special group assembling to tackle an Appalachian Trail trek.  I had to let her know that sorry, we weren’t her group, and suggested that she contact the airport information counter to see if they knew anything (wish I could have helped her a little further).

At the baggage claim area, we endured another long wait, but finally our gear started coming through.  After multiple recounts, we finally agreed we had everything, and headed out the door.  All the Troop gear and my gear ended up in the white van, everything and everyone else headed home with parents.  Rob drove the white van and asked about the trip, but I was still zonked and only monosyllabic.  John Brennan drove the maroon van with Ted and those Scouts whose parents had not driven to BWI.  They had perhaps the closest brush with danger of the entire trip - a highly intoxicated driver weaving wildly between lanes on GW Parkway.  John finally sped past the car near Key Bridge, getting the van safely ahead of the drunk driver.  An accident with this idiot would not have been a happy ending, that’s for sure!  After a brief get-together at St. Agnes, everyone headed on home.  A great trip!