Going Home, Sigh

06-16-2022 

We're nearly up with the sun!  We've agreed to meet at six for our last free breakfast before walking to the airport.  Ginger is leaving after us and was going to sleep in a little; but when we open our door she is with Marilyn so we get a little more time together!

These are the new airport sinks!  The water comes out of the middle and the air dryer
vents are on either side!

The breakfast buffet is quite nice and we all take advantage of the offerings.  Who knows when we'll eat again! We go upstairs, gather our luggage, and head out. We have to check in with Delta to drop off our bags and Ginger can't check in yet;  it's too early. We say good-bye but hope to meet up again before we fly. (I say a little prayer as my bag gets weighed and heavy a huge sigh of relief when it is only 21 kg! The cut off is 22.7) Everyone has to go through full security - computers out, but not shoes off.  Connie has liquids in her carry-on and they take both of her bags completely apart.

The lady who checked me in gave me a gate number, but the big board says TBA, so we settle in to wait and soon Ginger joins us! Yay, a bit more tine together. Get gate is TBA, too, but it comes through first and now we really do have to say `a bientot.

Such pretty, and comfortable, seating at the gate.

Specifically for hearing and visually impaired, wheelchair users and I'm not sure what the last one is!

We're off to the gate my lady had originally said and we settle in to wait. It's about a seven hour flight and there should be two meals served, so we won't starve!  We take off a little late and the initial part of the flight is a little bumpy, so meal service is begun and halted and begun and halted to the point that my seat mate says they are just teasing us because we can smell the food but never seem to get any!

Finally it arrives and it's a lovely chicken dish that they call curry but isn't spicy at all, just the way I like it! it has kaffir lime coconut sauce and jasmine rice. And there's ice cream for dessert, and a red wine of indeterminate origin and variety.

It tastes a lot better than it looks!

I dip into several movies before settling on "DejaVu" with Denzel Washington.  I've tried tp watch "Death on the Nile" but it won't load.  There's an announcement that their system is acting up and they restart it;  but it doesn't help me.  Oh well, Denzel is always a treat, even if the time travel bit is pretty far fetched and the science is questionable.

Again, ignore the visual element;  it wasn't bad.

Shortly before we start our descent into JFK, a snack of BBQ chicken pizza twist and passion-fruit mousse is served and quite soon we are on the ground.  The signage at JFK is good and we find our GOES kiosks quickly and turn in our magic papers.  I ask the CBP man about my interview and he points out the room, very close to where we're standing.  There are about seven people in line ahead of me and I'm told that each interview takes about ten minutes.  I don't think I have that much time since our layover is only about two hours total. (If only I could see into the future!)

Anyway, we go to baggage claim, collect our bags, and take them right outside that area to where we can drop them off again at the Delta conveyer belt.

On to our next and final gate.  This is where the drama begins.  Our 3:40 flight becomes 4:40, then 5:10, then 7:10.  At some point they tell us that we don't have a pilot and they aren't sure where he is.  If he's home we have to allow him two hours to arrive!  When he shows up there is applause as he heads for the plane.  Nothing happens for a while and the natives are getting restless.  That's when we learn that our flight attendants were given to another plane and we have to wait for more to show up! They are currently on another plane that is arriving at a different terminal, so even when they land we still have to wait for them to get to us.  They, too, are greeted with applause and finally boarding can commence.  We finally are air borne at 11:15!

This plane's system is working and I get to watch my movie;  but I guess I slept through part of it because other people seem to have gotten snacks!  Oh well, I really just want to go home.  When we exit the shuttle, Betsy and Linda Marie are about the only people about!  Of course it's two in the morning, so you wouldn't expect a crowd! How can it be that Betsy and Marilyn have never met LM? After quick greetings we all head upstairs to our waiting chariots, give our good-bye hugs and separate. LM is taking Connie home and Betsy is rescuing us. We transfer our bags one last time (for me, at least) and I drive us to my house where Marilyn's car has been residing peacefully in my garage, safe from the elements and falling tree branches.  It feels weird to be sitting on the same side of the car but to have a steering wheel in my hand!  But we get home safely, since no one is on the roads! Marilyn backs her car out of the garage, loads up her luggage, and the trip is officially over.  What a splendid time we had!!  And it's going to feel like 110 degrees tomorrow,  Yep, we're home!