RTW Redux ... 2023

There's nothing better than having a smooth travel day following a grand travel adventure.

With very few passengers skipping the overnight in San Francisco and leaving the ship this morning, we had an easy-peasy disembarkation. In fact, we were first off Insignia when the authorities cleared the ship at 9:00a. And the only ones carrying off luggage ... two checked bags and two carry-ons ... the rest will be delivered as part of the RTW luggage pick-up/delivery service through Luggage Forward.

Our good luck continued with a no-wait Uber pick-up across the street from Pier 27. By 9:15a, we were on our way to the airport. Thirty minutes later we were getting off at Terminal 3 at SFO. Having checked in for our flight yesterday, all we had to do was to follow United's instructions to go to the bag drop shortcut to check our two bags. By 10:00a, we were ensconced in comfortable seats at the UA Lounge.

We had approximately four hours to kill before our flight to DEN. What with checking messages, handling a few quick to-do items, journaling, and reading, the wait time flew by. Before we knew it, we were on our way to gate F3 to board our flight.

UA 1823 was about 15 minutes late getting in the air. But even with the delay, our otherwise smooth flight landed at DEN 30 minutes early ... with no wait for our assigned gate to be cleared so that we could deplane.

Because we opted to stretch our legs and walk to baggage claim in the Jeppesen Terminal, our bags were already on the carousel when we arrived to pick them up. Then a quick shuttle ride to the Avis counter to pick up our rental car.

Here's where we ran into a small glitch. The line snaking around at Avis was 5 deep and the wait time was long. Mui quickly fixed that problem by signing up for Avis Preferred and linking our reservation to the program. Leaving the line, he went to the Preferred desk to get our assigned car. No more than 10 minutes later, the bags stowed in the trunk, we were leaving the airport.

The drive home was smooth. We pulled into the driveway before 8:00p.

A long, but smooth travel day behind us, we settled down to relax. Chores can wait until tomorrow.Read more