Homeward Bound

Gaye took us to the 10AM ferry, a smooth trip, chatting with a couple from Hertfordshire. Doug took a quick trip to Real Groovy to pick up some LPs. I waited at the ferry terminal with our luggage and attempted to call the Hilton in LA to arrange early checkin for Friday morning, no luck.

Uber to airport. An overly long checkin with an agent who inadvertently checked Doug in all the way to Albany, along with my suitcase. This took ages to fix. So much for priority checkin. Somehow this changed Doug’s seat on the flight from Chicago to Albany. The security lines were incredibly long. I was exhausted by the time we got through, tried to enter the lounge, but we weren’t eligible for some reason. We were too tired and short on time at that point to do anything but sit for a few minutes. Had hoped to do some gift shopping, but no energy. Auckland airport was great upon arrival, not so great on departure.

Flight to Tahiti in Premium Economy was comfortable and went fine. Arrived around 10pm and having crossed the date line, we’d regained a day. Even at 10pm, Tahiti was beastly hot and humid. Fortunately there were no problems with getting into the airport this time, and no long line at security screening. Access to the air-conditioned lounge was appreciated. Good wine, lousy food.

Overnight flight to Los Angeles in business class was fine, though we didn’t sleep. Hilton kindly checked us in early. Perhaps for a fee? I don’t recall. Had a swim and a long soak in the hot whirlpool. Headed to the bar around 5:30 for an early dinner. Though they didn’t serve food till 6pm, the waiter ordered a pizza from the hotel cafe for us. Perfect. Pizza, 2 glasses of icy cold Sauvignon Blanc and some beer and we were ready for sleep.

Got to the airport at 3:30 AM just as the checkin was opening. Grumpy baggage check clerk. Waited for security to open. Then waited for the AA lounge to open. Quick breakfast and some much needed coffee. Flight to Chicago was fine. Lounge at O’Hare. And finally the final flight to Albany, oddly in first class. Tiny plane, but nice to have comfy seats. Albany airport was a traffic nightmare due to construction. Took Mary and Gary about 20 minutes to get into the airport. Home! Yay! An amazing trip.Read more