8th to 11th April Homeward bound

Another early start at 4 am to the airport. Anne and I were flying to Mexico City while the others were flying to various destinations so we lost track of them pretty quickly, only to find them all wandering around looking for breakfast or departure gates so we were able to say our farewells more heart fully.

All went smoothly we thought. Peter missed collecting one of his boarding passes and went back when he realised and it was still sitting there waiting for him. We didn’t get one for the second leg from Mexico City to San Francisco, only realising when we went to go through. We were helped by the information person when we showed her our electronic tickets and made the next stage to get to a United Desk and get new boarding passes printed.

When we eventually passed through security Anne was frisked and her carryon bag searched and drug swabbed.

Then the wait… United flight delayed by mechanical issues two hours. A six hour transit turned into nearly 9. It had been quite pleasant. We shopped a little for souvenirs, etc.

Then as we finally readied for departure to San Francisco I went through and Anne was seriously frisked again and her bags searched right at the gate. Even her shoes were twisted and bent! I wanted to go back but I wasn’t allowed so I went into the plane anxiously waiting for her to appear. She was the last on.

Finally about to take off, I asked Anne if she could turn on the reading light because I couldn’t reach it. The glass cover of the light fell off into her hand! We burst into laughter and the flight attendant came over and accepted the fallen light cover with a smile and a warning to not touch anything else.

This plane must have been dragged out of the archives for old planes. It rattled and shook( fortunately no more light covers fell off!) There were no screens for entertainment and the flight attendants said wi fi was available for purchase but not reliable!

However we were moving closer to home. The flight was so bumpy that the flight attendants could barely offer food and drink service at all. (No great loss as we only got biscuits on this 4 hour flight! We had purchased salad bowls before take off so we were okay.) The seatbelt sign was on nearly the whole trip. I have never had so many bumpy flights as I have on this trip and I wonder if it is a factor influenced by climate change?

We arrived safely and were given priority exit to attempt to catch our connecting flight. What a joke. People on the ground were helpful and waived us through. We arrived in the domestic terminal ( go figure?) from Mexico City then had to collect our bags to bag drop them into international departures. The airport was almost empty and when we finally found our drop off they just said we had missed the flight and had already been booked to fly out on Tuesday night 11.30pm! We had pelted through the airport completely unnecessarily. Any way they paid for a hotel for the night and gave us food vouchers without hesitation so their service was good in the situation. The woman said pick a hotel with a free shuttle to the airport and we just picked the first one on the list, the Hilton airport hotel. There was a discussion that there maybe a shortage of rooms so the attendant said if it was her she would just take it and go quickly! It was 12.30 am Monday by now. We had been up and travelling since Sunday 4 am. We bustled out to the shuttle stop with several others only to wait and wait while watching several other shuttles come and go. In frustration and exhaustion we decided to take a shuttle from a hotel about half a kilometre from our hotel and walk the difference. It was dark and nobody around but we got there at 1.00 am just as the hotel shuttle was arriving.

What a relief to have a comfy bed to sleep in and a great bathroom. I even managed to make us de caffeinated coffee and herbal tea before collapsing into sleep. We decided to make the most of the layover with a tour around San Francisco on the ubiquitous hop on hop off bus!

A trip to the airport by the infamous shuttle to connect with BART( Bay Area Rapid Transport) got us into the city. The bonus was that we were asked if we were seniors (I have an uncomfortable relationship with that term) and if over 65 we could get a return ticket for $7.50 instead of $23. Well we enthusiastically admitted to being well over 65 and were given paper tickets. These were such a novelty that when shown to the rail staff they laughed and commented on having paperwork! It made us memorable too as on our return journey the women just looked at us and said “ I remember you,” and waived us through.

Anne had never been to San Francisco and it was probably over 20 years since I had visited so we really enjoyed the sights.

We walked from the station through Union Square, China town and Little Italy to Fisherman’s Wharfs and the start of the bus tour. We wondered where were all the people. The streets were so empty and even the department stores seemed empty with no one coming in or out. China town was the only bustling place. Very authentic like HongKong. Maybe we just got used to the happy crowds in Mexico? Lots of spring flower installations around town were very attractive.

We treated ourselves to a slap up lunch at Fisherman’s wharf at the iconic Franciscan Crab Restaurant. Not a bean in sight but the staff spoke Spanish. It overlooked Alcatraz.

On our return to the airport we were faced with the same waiting dilemma for the infamous shuttle to the hotel to retrieve our bags. We once again opted for the nearest hotel shuttle and walked again. In our waiting we collected another Aussie on her way to visit her grandchildren in Wyoming who was tired of waiting.

Note to self- book Doubleday Hilton next time! Their shuttle comes more frequently!

We collected our bags and had a short time ( enough to charge the phone a bit) before we were on our way to the airport again. We understood the time issue when the driver told us he would let us know when to get off. We thought we were being hijacked or it was a ground hog day experience as the airport terminals were passed and appeared to be left behind, only to reappear once again. The road system seemed to be on a spiral with the top level international departures! We checked our luggage and went in search of dinner and a charging post. The airport restaurants understand the vouchers and we were happily nourished and not out of pocket.

The wait was brief and we finally boarded a packed flight, literally in the last row of the plane. Then the plane was delayed due to some loading issues, then delayed again due to a sick person for whom a doctor was called and then finally we took off. The flight was incredibly bumpy with the pilot taking a few diversions to try to avoid the turbulence. Many times staff were told to take their seats. Anyway we came home safely, bags arrived with us and customs cleared us quickly even with my wooden jaguar declared.

Melbourne greeted us with a cool overcast day We are home!

Thank you to Anne for her equanimity and lovely companionship. Thank you Peter for coming with your sister and the rest of the group for making this a fun experience. We have had a fabulous holiday and made new friends along the way.