After a day and half of travel, I'm back in the States and jet lagged. Seriously, I keep telling myself to stay awake so I can sleep better tonight, but I don't know if that is as successful right now. I landed last night at 7pm and I had hoped that I would be able to get back onto the schedule, but going back in time is always worse for me than going forward.
So, my adventure in getting home. Good times, good times,
We celebrated our last day:
And then it was off to the Belfast International Airport with Suzana at 6pm. (She is the one in the middle in the picture above.) We got a lift from Margaret, whom I met at church. What a lovely lady, she bought us water bottles in order to prevent us from wasting money at the airport. Well, it was all going swimmingly until we met a collision on the motor way. Traffic was backed up and Suzana had her flight at 8pm. Margaret tried to get around it, but being the UK, there aren't a lot of options when getting to an airport.
She was a bit cheeky and used a side lane and we were able to make it around the collision. And dang, she floored it! She was worried that Suzana wouldn't make it, so she made sure we got there. We pulled up and it was pouring cold (very cold) rain. We ran in with our bags and Suzana skipped the queue to get her bag checked. Her flight ended up being delayed, so everything worked out well.
I went up to the EasyJet desk to check my bag and I was 30 minutes too early. What the chuff?? You can only check your bag in two hours previous to departure, what a joke. I waited in the check-in area for 30 minutes surrounded by teenage football teams.
I was able to check my bag and things seemed to be moving well. I got through security and got pulled for a "random" extra check of my Surface. Joy. And in UK airports you can't just go to the gate, you have to wait in the "lounge", which really doesn't exist; it is just a bunch of assorted chairs and benches throughout the airport. I waited for about 1.5 hours and my gate showed up. Lovely, off I go! (This is about 9pm.)
And then the dreaded announcement: "We're sorry, but flight EZ9182 to Manchester has been delayed 25 minutes."
25 minutes isn't bad.
Announcement 2: "We're sorry, but flight EZ9182 to Manchester has been delayed 40 minutes."
And there wasn't even another announcement when it got delayed again. I think they just realized it wasn't worth frustrating people more with their fake apologies.
So, around 11:15pm the flight takes off and I landed in Manchester at 12:09am. Oh, yes. I had to take a bus-tram thing to the Terminal, only to have the driver leave us outside to ask permission for us to enter the building. WHAT???
Well, when they deigned to give us permission, it was off to baggage claim. Luckily I didn't have to wait too long, even though it didn't matter. I was spending the night in the airport anyway. I got out to the front and tried to find my way to Terminal 2. The lift, escalator, and stairs were all out of commission. Seriously?? What type of airport is this? There was a threat of tears coming from feelings of exhaustion and frustration. I ended up walking across the parking lot to the train station and taking the lift up to the sky walk.
It was empty and rather eerie:
I nicked a cart that was abandoned on the sight and began my trek to Terminal 2. The first thing I saw when I got there was two policemen with M-6-like carbines walking around. Hum, this was going to be an interesting night.
This was my bed:
My phone was almost out of battery and being the UK, there are no outlets! I found one by a post near the Saudia flight desk.
If you look closely, you'll see the reflection of me lying on the floor on the right center:
Suffice it to say, I slept in 10 minute restless spurts from 1am to about 2:30am, when I just got too dang cold and found a bench.
My feelings on the matter can easily be made clear by my expressions here:
So, 2:30am and I haven't really slept. And I am hearing the floor being waxed and the workers starting to come. About 3:30am the Terminal was hopping! People must love to travel that time of morning in England, I guess. I was so tired, but so buzzed! I didn't really trust the people, so I pretty much gave up on sleeping at about 4:30am.
Around half 7 I checked my bag. Got tagged for extra security AGAIN! And more waiting in the "lounge":
My flight left around 10:45am. It wasn't bad and the secret to a decent airplane meal is to get the gluten-free option. It was actually edible!
I landed in Atlanta around 2:30pm and ran the gauntlet that is US Border Control aka Customs. When I got the the part where you had your passport over, the Customs agent asked how long I had been in the UK and why. When I told him 6 weeks, he said that 6 weeks was a long time for tourism. WHo was he, the purveyor of holiday-time appropriacy? Forget that! (I didn't actually day that, I just said I had friends and family there, which is true!). When I went through security, I got tagged AGAIN for extra security. I must have looked particularly suspicious yesterday.
And then more waiting in the heat of the Atlanta airport. I think you can see the humidity in this picture:
When you're used to 50 degree rainy weather, the sun and humidity was an adjustment.
FINALLY....after another 2 1/2 hours, I made it to Colorado, only to be greeted with a thunderstorm on the way into DIA:
And now it is time to prep for China. 2 1/2 weeks! I am sending the visa application to the Chicago Consulate tomorrow (more on that later).
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