Our flight was a bit bumpy (the pilot had warned us before we even took off), but otherwise uneventful. Toward the end he told the flight attendants to go to their jump seats and told us the final service wasn’t going to happen. That really was no biggie since I’d already decided I would tell them I didn’t want anything.
And so we landed. Got outside. And met up with my sister. (THANK YOU, Carolyn, for picking us up!)
Once home I did my typical unpacking. Has to be done immediately or I don’t rest well. Things got put away, and then mail was opened. I don’t open everything, but I open personal mail and packages, and that meant mostly Christmas cards (and even one birthday card), a book about Maria Callas (sent for free so I can read and review), and a few other things.
Dan wasn’t feeling great, so he hit the hay early. I’ve now managed to stay up until 10:35 our time and, to be honest, it does not feel like it’s 1:35 AM, which is what it would be in NYC. So I guess that’s a good thing. Maybe I’ll adjust easily.
So it’s over ‘n out for our wonderful adventure.
I guess it’s time to plan the next. 😊
Many thanks to readers who went along on our journey!
We easily boarded our flight and, for the first time in a while, I could put my backpack right above my seat. For a while, in fact, I thought the bin would only be visiting with my backpack, but close to when we departed a woman crammed her larger suitcase in. She couldn’t quite get it to fit so her husband pulled my bag out and fit hers first. I was a bit concerned that they were going to move my pack, but they did manage to shove it in. (I’m glad my camera was in a protective case, though!)
Being in Polaris seats one first has to figure out how to deal with two blankets and two pillows. Oh the suffering! (JOKING, I promise.) We were in row 9, though, which are bulkhead seats (and I’m now realizing I use that word but don’t even really KNOW what a bulkhead is. Hah!). And since they are lay flat seats you still can store your personal item in front of you, and there is MORE room both for our feet and for things to store on a bit of a shelf and pillows and blankets went there for a time. Some people say row 9 is bad because it’s close to the bathrooms and kitchen. I actually like it and would happily choose the row again. So hooray for us.
I was surprised, though, to see signs on the bathroom on my side:
I figured INOP meant “inoperable”. The door was locked, and I thought, “So much for THAT bathroom.” Welllllll … what it really meant was, “You can’t use it, but all the flight attendants will.” Go figure. Still, no worries using the bathroom on the other side, and Dan implied they deserve their own bathroom. (I just always figured they HAD their own somewhere on the plane.)
Dinner was served. It was “meh”. We’ve decided that, from now on, we might just eat a good meal at the lounge before we leave and skip the flight’s meal. It’s always too much food anyway.
Then it was time to rest. Seat turned to bed, and I managed to sleep. (This photo is from a bit before I got back up, as you can probably tell since the plane image at the bottom shows us close to our destination.)
The flight went quickly. Breakfast came about 1 1/2 hours before we landed. I really wish they’d serve the meal according to where we were going, rather than where we came from. Ah well. Breakfast at 2:00 PM … whatever. And too much food. Again.
After deplaning, in the Z area of terminal 1, we headed to B. But how to get there? We went to the help desk and he verified what we thought we saw … we had to leave the secure area and walk walk walk … then took a tram. There was B. But then we had to go back through security. Slow security, even while barely any people were going through. We had to take out all electronic devices, liquids, and our cameras. Heh. My camera was at the bottom of my very full pack! But finally through things went, and I had the full body scan. I guess something showed up so a woman gave me a pretty darn thorough pat down. You’d think she might have said, “You are so fit for a woman of your age!” But no. Nothing. Gee …. Of course I was then able to move on.
But then?! I couldn’t figure out how I managed to fit everything in my backpack when at home. It was pretty hysterical. Dan helped and, yes, HE managed to get it all in. Oh, and I left my phone in the tray. Someone saw it … whew!
Now we are, finally, in the lounge, where we sit around for another hour or so. We thought we’d have tons of time here at the airport, but with the getting so confused about how to get to B and the slow security I’m rather glad we had all that time.
Still, our flight doesn’t leave until 10:05 and it’s only 5:30. Lots of time to waste.
We began our day (once we got out of our room) with a bit of breakfast right across the street. They had lots of healthy things, and great vegan options for Kelsey.
Speaking of Kelsey, it’s her birthday! Happy Birthday, dear daughter ‘o mine!
From there we went back to the hotel so Kelsey & Mel could get their luggage, check out, and head home. We said our goodbyes, and Dan and I, who asked for a late checkout, hung around the hotel for a time.
Lunch was across the street, at the same spot where we ate when we arrived on Saturday. Then it was time to catch a Lyft to the airport.
Turns out the airport was quite close, AND it was nearly deserted when we arrived so there was no line for security and we got to the United club lounge in no time.
Question: why did we not just get lunch at the lounge and save money? Answer: because we simply weren’t thinking!
Oh well.
We sat for a good long time, enjoying a few drinks and snacks, and then boarded the plane for a very non-eventful, direct with no issues
After the flight home we picked up the car from the long-term lot, and got home with no traffic. Realizing we had no food for dinner we went to Halal Amigos for dinner and of course, while “only” ordering a burrito, I ate too much!
I’m sorry, but I neglected to take any birthday photos of Kelsey. Rats! I guess my brain was on disconnect.
Just a few shots from Monday’s flight home. It was fun to have a window for a change, although of course then I feel rather stuck! Now of course these aren’t exactly exciting shots, but hey … snow!
The final photo is my watch saying we’d arrived. Um. We actually hadn’t quite gotten to the gate when I received that message!
I will post more photos from the flight … maybe. We’ll see. But it was a rather uneventful flight, aside from a few little annoyances.
Because I checked my bag at the last minute which meant it was one of the last to be put on the plane it was one of the first to get delivered. This is one reason I like to do it that way when they ask for volunteers! Then my sweet sister picked me up (Thanks, Carolyn!), and we headed back to San Jose.
We went out to dinner and even treated ourselves to ice cream cones. Okay, really frozen yogurt cones because those MUST be so much healthier! HAH!
Anyway, who knows if I’ll get to photo posting or not, but for now? BED. Ciao!
My plane flight was fairly non-eventful, although at one point they felt the need to point out where the barf bags were! Yes, a bit of turbulence. Nothing that bugged me, though.
In addition, for some reason we were never offered food. Perhaps because of turbulence again. It very well could be that they told us, but I can’t really understand much when the do the loudspeaker thing. It’s not loud, and it’s not clear. Go figure.
Boarding was a bit of a pain. When they say I’m in group two what that really means, as far as I’m concerned, is group six.
First they do people with disabilities, and then they add (not necessarily in this order), people of high standing (maybe platinum members?), groups with young children, and military folks. Finally group one went in and then we go to go. By the time I got to my seat in row eight there was NO room in the overhead bins close by and I had to hike back a bit to find an empty spot. I really wish they’d have a rule that said, “Use the bin above you,” but of course they can’t do that.
In any case, I got my luggage stowed, and went back to my middle (sigh) seat. The man to my right was an arm rest hog, but so be it. I sat quietly, got some rest, played my jigsaw puzzle and basically relaxed.
It was great to get in to Manhattan — it took nearly an hour from EWR.
I got to my room (VERY basic, but I don’t need anything fancy), relaxed, and waited for the boys to tell me what was up.
I met Jameson and Meghan in the hotel lobby and we ambled a bit, finally ending up at a place where we met Brandon and Lia. Foot and drinks were enjoyed, and it really was a great time. I’m SO happy to see them all. It’s good to see that Brandon and Lia are doing okay despite dealing with the fire at their apartment. Soon they will be able to move to the place right across from their uninhabitable place and I think that will be a good thing.
After eating and talking a lot Brandon and Lia said their goodbyes and Jameson and Meghan walked me back to my place.
What a long day. But who cares?! It’s just so great to see everyone!
Tomorrow I will head to the Bronx, view the mess of Brandon and Lia’s, and then go to Jameson and Meghan’s area.
