Sigh - Going Home!

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Breakfast is at 8:00, so there is plenty of time for yoga and packing, and when we get downstairs Karen and Alex has a table for four...and Norm is at a table of his own, waiting for Ginger.  She goes to say good morning and Alex invites me to sit.  Karen suggests that since there will be more of us, we should move to a larger table.  I've already gotten my  té verde calienté and had to defend Duckie!  The maitre d' tried to put him in his pocket!!  

We set up a table for eight and settle in our new places, taking the empty cups back to our original table - always leave things like you find them!  The maitre d' comes back to bring our silverware and places mine in such a way that he can palm Duckie on his way!  Later the waiter tries it, too, and I wish I spoke Spanish because the maitre d' said a couple of things to me that were definitely funny and probably a little racy, judging by his laugh!  I laughed, too, 'cause that's what you do, right?

Breakfast is delicious, as usual, and it's time for the four of us who are going to Atlanta to geet our suitcases and load up the taxi.  Norm says good-bye, since the remaining members of our party has politely refused his offer to show them more of the city.  They are just going to have a quiet day before leaving tomorrow morning.

Tempting fruit presentation

Yummy biscuit!

Last huevos at la Mexicana!

At the airport the first official we encounter seems to be in a happy mood!  He asks me if I"m sure I want to go back to Tampa!!  And he sends us, essentially, to the head of the line to drop off our luggage!  That done we locate our gate and settle into a cafe to order a drink or type, and to order take out since there won't be much to eat on the flight to Atlanta. I order flauta since they aren't messy and won't smell.

So much beautiful wall art!

Duckie was sulking because he didn't want to go home!

I think this piece of artistry is the ATL car park!

Rosa helping me type

And Floofen is very pleased that I'm home!

We're in line to board when Karen's name is called.  She's the lucky person who was randomly selected for extra security! That done, we all find our seats and are ready for take off.  I'm going to finish watching "American Fiction"!  And I see "Barbie" which is as good as people said and I even get to start "Oppenheimer"! Delta sure has some great movies!  And the treats are chips AND cookies and I have a glass of apple juice.

In Atlanta there is no GOES machine so we all go through passport control;  but it's really quick.  From there they separate us into connecting flights and final destination, so Ginger and I split up.  I collect my bag and follow the herd to turn it back in, as usual.  What is different is that I don't get to go directly to my next gate.  Instead there is a huge line of people going through security again!  And it's the pre-check line! The good news is that it moves very quickly and I only have to ride the plane train one dtop, from the E terminal to F.  I'm there is time to eat my flauta before boarding.

The weather was terrible between Guadalajara and Atlanta, but we were able to skirt most of it and arrive pretty much on time.  I wonder if we'll be as lucky flying to Tampa!?  We board about ten minutes late and then sit on the runway for quite a while.  It seems the device that pushes us away from the gate is defective and there's quite a to-do over getting another one.  But it all gets straighten out and I know that Betsy is following all the action, so I'm not worried about her hanging out at the TPA forever.

The weather keeps the cabin crew from serving anything;  but I get to see all the rest of "Oppenheimer", so I'm happy!  It finishes as we are taxiing to our gate and presto chango, I'm home!  Betsy is there to greet me and my bag is one of the first ones on the carousel!  Back to Betsy's, then home, and I'm in the garage at one o'clock and in bed twenty minutes later!!  What an amazing adventure.  Those four minutes were like nothing I've very experienced before.  And may never again!  Although ... Iceland/Greenland is coming up?!?  Who knows???