Thursday, 2019 October 03
Today was German Unity day, a national holiday. Luckily this didn't really seem to have any impact at the airport. I hadn't realized this when we'd scheduled our trip, so I'm glad it didn't interfere with anything.
We met for breakfast early, soon after the buffet opened. The food was good and I ate way more than I had intended to. (Which is kind of the story of my life.)
Then we checked out and met in the walkway to the airport proper. It was a very long walk to the baggage counter but Dad held up very well. We got rid of our bags, then passed through two or three different steps - customs, security, etc. All of this went smoothly, although Dad did get questioned about the thermometer he was carrying in his briefcase.
We got to the gate with a fair bit of time to spare (our goal) and sat down. Boarding started about on time and was just as disorganized as boarding the US. Just like the flight here, I sat next to Dad on one side of the plane and Krista sat by herself in the middle.
Once we were on the plane we ended up sitting there for quite some time - we were late pushing back and late taking off. The pilot assured us that we'd make up the time in the air, though.
I managed to sleep some but mostly read. The meal was good but not as good as the one on our outbound flight. There was also a lighter meal later in the flight but we all refused it. We landed about ten minutes late but then had a long delay while waiting for the gate.
Krista was unhappy with the guy sitting next to her - even I thought he was annoying, and he wasn't kicking me the entire flight like he was Krista. The people behind me and Dad were also annoying - I lost track of how many times they'd kicked the back of my seat (and this was in business class no less). Apparently Krista had overheard them complaining about how slow Dad was as well; if I'd heard that I probably would have told them off.
In any case, we finally got off the plane. Dad was wiped out, but we still had a very long walk ahead of us to get to customs. Luckily customs itself was relatively pain-free. We got our bags and were finally completely back in the US.
I left Krista and Dad at the terminal while I went to pick up our rental car. There was a long wait for the shuttle bus, but I was able to bypass the line at the counter by using the kiosks that Alamo provides (and that I prefer to interacting with a human). I couldn't find my car, though, but someone helped with that and I was finally on my way.
I picked up Krista and Dad, then we got onto I-94 and headed towards Jackson. We stopped at the Jackson airport Meijer so Dad could buy a few basics, then we went to the farm.
Only one of the neighbor dogs came over - Happy - but she was ecstatic to see us. Dad was also clearly very happy to be home.
We didn't stay long - I was absolutely starving - so Krista and I headed back to Jackson to the Outback Steakhouse. I, of course, managed to eat too much - but I figured I'd earned it.
From Outback we drove a few miles to the Towneplace Suites. This was a very nice hotel, clearly brand new. We were both very happy to (almost) be home, so it was an early night.
Wednesday, 2019 October 02 Friday, 2019 October 04