(Almost) Arrested Development

Who could have know when we all piled into the “Silver Bullet” commercial transport vehicle what adventures awaited us. After tossing our bags in the back we headed to our first stop - Starbucks, granted only a block away, but still, our first official stop. Al plugged in “the guy” (AKA Garmin GPS) and we were off, well until we hit Tracy and there we hit the infamous commuter traffic and slowed to …well let’s just say we could walk faster! Despite the traffic, we managed to arrive at SFO before our flight, actually about 6 hours before our flight! We unloaded the van, thanked our wonderful driver and said our goodbyes…wait why is the airport police officer pulling up behind the van and signaling for Al to move away from the van? For some reason, he seems to believe that Al is running some type of illegal shuttle service. Why else would a Lebanese man drive a 15-passenger van with commercial plates! Can we prove we are related, meanwhile, sir (Dave), please get out of the van and step to the curb. Once Pam convinced the officer that Al was indeed related to 5/6 of the present company, that we had not in any way provided him with compensation for driving us (does sushi count?) and that they had a big van because they had a lot of kids, he reluctantly agreed not to pursue the possibility of a huge underground, Lebanese shuttle cartel.

Free from possible prosecution for illegal shuttle solicitation, we positioned ourselves to be the first in line- not a difficult feat since even the cleaning staff had not yet arrived. We were able to secure Jim a seat on the flight which would allow him the ability to walk upright once we reached Italy. We ate a quick lunch and then headed for the security check line. Jim placed his carefully packed bag of liquids (and when I say carefully packed think “Jim packed”) in the bin. All of us passed through without issue…wait, where is Jim? He is having his liquids “tested”. Tested? For what? He evidentially passed the liquid “pop quiz” because he was finally allowed to proceed. Well, only until the next check point where he was pulled out of line and quizzed about the purpose of his trip, how many Euros he was carrying and what he planned on doing with them. Did something about him hint at mafia, bagel smuggling or perhaps they had heard of the illegal transportation accusations? Eventually he was allowed to board the flight and we were off.
In Frankfurt, the top notch security team nearly confiscated Jan and Debi’s knitting needles (it’s ok, fellow knitters, the Addis are safe). But we’re on our way…wait, where’s Jim? He’s been pulled out of line for a “Wanding”… why is everyone picking on Jimmy! We all finally board the last leg of our flight, land in Rome, gather our luggage, and head off to find the Leonardo Express…no easy feat. Just go straight and then up, well really down and the straight and then up and…well you get the picture. We did get six seats together…where’s Pam? Oh, there she is under the suitcases! When were arrive a Termini, Uncle Jim is there to meet us, help us secure the rental car and we are finally heading for Nettuno. The trip has begun!!