The Long Trip Home

Today was six hours longer than other days.  We gained six hours on the trip home, arriving home at just before 6pm.

We left the hotel at 7am for the long trip home.   The hotel stay came with a great breakfast,  but breakfast opened at 7am so we weren’t able to partake.  Instead, we asked the hotel to make us some boxed breakfasts, which they said they would do.  We gathered all the luggage in the lobby at 6:30, sat at a table in the lobby and ate our boxed breakfasts.

They were really more like boxed lunches.  Two sandwiches, one with a couple of meats, cheeses, and tomato, and the other with cheese and pickles and mustard (!).  Add a bag of potato chips and a candy bar and you have a well rounded, nutritious breakfast.

It was the only thing available so we ate. Pickles and mustard.  Yum.  Not.

Finishing up, we were just picking up the bags when I noticed the city bus coming around the corner.  We sprinted out the door and down the street to the bus stop about 100 yards down the street, as much as you can sprint when fully loaded with luggage.  We just made the bus.

Took the bus to Centraal Station, lugged the baggage to the proper train platform and then hopped on the train towards the Schiphol Airport.  At this time of day it wasn’t real busy for which we were grateful.

Check-in and security were a breeze, which was surprising considering this airport is the busiest in Europe.  It is certainly big, with three cavernous departure halls.  It took a bit to figure out where to check in.

We got to the gate a couple hours before the flight left.  If we had known this, we could have stayed at the hotel somewhat longer and had their awesome breakfast.  Oh well.

It was about 9 hours to Chicago.  The 787 aircraft is one of the newest planes in the fleet and is the one that has the dimmable windows that I worked on 15 years ago.  It may be one of the newer planes, but the seats are some of the worst I have experienced.  There is no knee room and the seats feel like concrete after a while.  We were so glad when that flight was over.

Coming into Chicago, we could see the smoke from the wildfires in Canada.  It gave Chicago a brownish foggy haze, and visibility was rather limited.

Unlike Schiphol, Chicago was a madhouse.  Our plane came into the absolute farthest gate in the international terminal, so we had to walk what seemed like several miles to Passport Control.  Waited here for a while, waited in a line to re-check the baggage, and then we had to go to the departure gate in another terminal, which meant we had to leave the secure area.

Going through security again took most of the remaining layover time.  The lines were huge and some of the TSA agents were really grumpy.  We got to our departure gate as they were boarding the plane.

Shortly after we arrived home, Zhen showed up with a couple of pizzas.  Mom G was there also, and Abigail and Nate came.  So there were six of us for pizza.  It was good to have a real pizza again.  Dutch pizza is deplorable.

So we arrived home to a pizza party put on by our kids.  We were nearly falling asleep while eating but it was good to reconnect with family again, even if it meant keeping the eyelids pried open for a little bit longer.