Day Five...

Day 5 was another travel day. I had trouble sleeping the night before, and I was up very early. Jason ended up coming to the room at exactly 8:00, which is exactly when I had asked him to come. We talked for a little bit in the room and then ended up going to breakfast at McDonald's. Jason doesn't normally like breakfast and I like the McDonald's egg McMuffin with sausage and cheese, so we went to McDonald's. We walked and talked as we went. I ordered the food and we sat at the table. We talked for a while and I told him about when I first went to college and my experiences being alone in Cincinnati and the early days of my college career. 

As I finished eating my food, I noticed that Jason only ate his burger but not his fries. I asked him why, and he told me that he can't check into his new hostel until 3:00 and he's already checked out of his old hostel, so he has really nowhere to go for the next 6 hours. He said he figured that as long as he had food in front of him he could stay in the McDonald's in the air conditioning and they wouldn't bother him too much. I told him I thought that was pretty smart. I also encouraged him to get some hiking sandals and some flip-flops. The hiking sandals so he wouldn't have to wear his tennis shoes and socks everywhere and flip flops so that he doesn't get athlete's foot in the youth hostel.

My flight left at 1:00 and I wanted to be at the airport by 10, in case there was any issues. And so around 9:15 - 9:20 I told my son that he's a man of the world now and to be safe. The funny thing was throughout the entire meal I kept having to dab my eyes because for some reason the moment seemed so poignant. My youngest child is now out in the world on his own, with all of his freedoms. I know he's going to do amazing and I look forward to watching all of his Instagram videos that he intends to post each day. On the way to the airport I did see the changing of the guard of the tomb of the unknown soldier in Greece. We were stopped at a red light through the entire process, it was interesting but I was still very sad and I did not take any photos on this day. 

I got to the airport and the flight was  one hour late, the flight didn't even leave until 2:00, so I would have had time to stay a bit longer.

I flew into Philadelphia and had a Philadelphia cheesesteak and then continued my flight back to Austin. I arrived in Austin around 10:30 PM and Jen came to pick me up. Thus concluding my trip with my son to set him loose upon the world, alone.