Mirek and Hana arrived safe and sound. Their flight into New York was early, and their Delta flight out of New York was an hour late. But all went well and their Delta flight picked up some time and was only about 12 minutes late when it arrived here at the Salt Lake International Airport.

Anne and I weren't sure how the airport worked now that there is all of the new security in place, so we made sure we arrived early to check things out. We didn't want our guests arriving before we got there and wandering around concerned about us. So we arrived about 40 minutes early and checked out the airport. As we suspected, we could advance past the metal detectors because we did not have boarding passes. So we waited for them at the bottom of the escalators, near the baggage claims area.

Their flight arrived about 9:12 p.m. We spotted them first as they rode down the escalators. Mirek with his small Czech flag, looking around, trying to spot us. They look just like in their photos.

There were handshakes and happy greetings all around. We gave them each a small American flag and they gave us their small Czech flag. We all caught our breath, then walked to Baggage Claim Area 8 where their bags were being offloaded.

There was just a bit of a language barrier at first. I think mostly because of all of the excitement with meeting each other, their long trip, and, for them, a whole new world. But if Anne and I spoke slowly, Mirek seemed to understand very well. Hana did a pretty good job to, and when one doesn't understand they discuss it in Czech, and between the two of them they generally come up with a good word choice.

As we went to leave the terminal Hana became concerned that they might need to show their papers to some authority. But we explained that in the U.S.A., once you are in the country, that is not necessary.

We loaded their luggage into the back of the Trooper and drove them home, pointing out points of interest along the way, such as the Mormon Temple, which is well lit and stands out against the other buildings of the downtown area. We also encountered just a bit of rain as we drove along. The Moon is getting close to full, and so once the sky cleared enough they could just see the mountains to the east. They thought the air felt warm. It was in the 70s, and a bit humid, especially for this desert.

At home we unloaded their things, then showed them around the main floor, gave them some bottled water to drink, talked just a bit, then showed them to their room. Anne explained what was what in the their bathroom, and we left them to prepare for bed.

It was probably after 10:30 when Anne and I turned in for the night. Mirek and Hana took showers, and before long we were all asleep dreaming of the day's adventures and the trip ahead.