The Return Home

Monday, May 28, 2012--Belfast to San Antonio via Newark

We had to get up early to have time to eat breakfast before catching the bus to the airport.  Unfortunately, there was a huge group of Germans at the hotel who had to be out about the same time we did.  When we arrived at the restaurant, we had to sit at a bar because all the tables were taken.  Then when it was time to leave our room, we couldn't get the elevator because of so many of the Germans going down to checkout.  We tried a stairway, but it led us to a door that said it would set off a fire alarm if we opened it.  Finally, we pushed our way through the 12 or so people waiting for the elevator on our floor and found another stairwell that would take us down to the lobby which was crowded with even more Germans.  Fortunately, checking out was a fast and easy procedure since we had prepaid for our room.

When we arrived at the airport which is quite small, there was a huge crowd for check-in with United.  It was a group of American college students, and instead of forming a line, they were just bunched in a large crowd.  Wes and I watched and observed them.  It was not an impressive sight.  Besides being in a clump rather than a line (and complaining that non-members of the group were moving in among them as openings in the group occurred), they showed immaturity in several ways.  It was like they had never learned to THINK, as they asked questions such as, "Are we going to be able to sit together?  Which way do I go not that I am checked in?"  Then when it was time to board the plane, they completely ignored the fact that boarding was by number placed on their boarding passes and just bunched up again so that no one with a number being called could get up to the gate to enter the plane.

The flight to Newark went much faster than scheduled.  We arrived 1 hr., 20 minutes early.  And, fortunately, there were no other international arrivals at the time meaning that we went through immigration very fast.  The only hitch was that to get to the place where the luggage had to be delivered for connecting flights took us outside of security so that we had to go through screening all over again to get to the concourse for our flights.  With our early arrival, we had about 4 hours before Wes' departure and about 5 1/2 hours before mine.  A friend had given Wes two passes for the United Club, so it was a perfect time to have them.  We went to the club and relaxed having drinks, eating snacks, checking e-mail, reading newspapers, talking, etc.

My flight to San Antonio also went fast.  We arrived about 30 minutes before scheduled.  The airport was buzzing though with lots of flights that had arrived around the same time of 10:00 p.m.  That meant that it was not easy for me to be in a position on the curb for Sue to easily see me when she arrived to pick me up.  I searched for cops working to say hello, but I couldn't find any.  And because they weren't there, cars had been left at the curb with no one in them, others were standing long times at the curb rather than moving on, etc.  Fortunately, Sue got in the wrong lane and ended up in the outer drive for hotel and car rental shuttle buses which made it easy for me to see her and for her to stop for me to load my luggage.

Wes and I both agreed that it was a good trip and that it lasted just about the right amount of time.  We weren't rushed, we got to see most of what we wanted to see, and it didn't get repetitive.  It was a good 18 days!