Remote Weddell Sea Explorer

True to their word, at 5:00a, the crew opened the aircraft doors and we began deplaning from our EZE-IAH flight.

Going through immigration was the easiest it’s ever been with Global Entry. We didn’t even have to take out our passports, or use one of the DIY kiosks. Instead, we got in the Global Entry line, walked up to a camera that took a photo, turned around and gave our last name to an immigration officer, and got the wave to continue.

Collecting bags at the first point of entry is such an antiquated process when there is customs service available at your final destination. In this instance, however, we didn’t mind as we wanted to see if we could jump on the 7:15a flight to DEN. Turns out that we could, although the only seats available were clear in the back … a window and a middle seat … two rows apart. It was sad to give up our exit seats, but oh well. Short flight anyway!

Having re-checked our bags, we turned the corner to go through security. OMG! What a disaster! No TSA Pre✓at that particular check-point. A long, slow-moving line. It was 5:35a. Boarding for our flight was at 6:25a. Would we make it?

Long story short, we did. But it was a stressful 25 minutes … and then we had to hot-foot it to our gate in Terminal C.

More …. when I get home!

At 🏠 ….

It’s now 8:00p MST. We landed at DEN almost 12 hours ago.

My body is still on BsAs time, however, and thinks that it is 11:00p. “Bedtime,” it says to me. But I want to stay up for another hour to better synchronize to local time. Best to keep occupied. What better way to do that than to write about the end of today’s story

The UA agent who switched us from the later flight to the 7:15a flight had suggested that we might be able to switch to better seats at the gate … adding, “Passengers often miss this connection.” As it turns out, we were able to change the middle seat to a window exit.

Our 2-hour flight was uneventful. I did a bit of writing to while away the time, but mostly looked out the porthole and enjoyed the scenery. Surprisingly, I took very few photos … my ‘shutter finger’ just wanted to rest, I guess!

A glimpse of Pikes Peak signaled that we were at home. Not really, though. UA2433 still had a short distance to go to DEN to land and then we’d be making our way back home to Colorado Springs.

We were wheels down at 8:30a … at the gate by 8:41a … all bags accounted for by 9:10a. We had texted our driver, Vincent, while in Houston to alert him to the change of plans, so he was standing by to drive us home.

By 10:30a, about the time we would have taken off from IAH had we not switched flights, we were at home sweet home … bringing our trip to a conclusion.

Unpacking our bags will be the true sign of the end of our trip. But that can wait until tomorrow!Read more