Tuesday, June 16 (Day 47)
We were given the window and middle seat when we checked in with our luggage (Navigator Pam was so happy that our suitcases made the weight that she didn't think to ask for aisle seats). Luckily no one was in our middle seat so we stretched out. Seats were wide with real good legroom. About 1.5" wider than our United economy plus seats.
When we arrived at the gate...of course Lufthansa arrived in the B letter gates and United departed in the Z letter gates...always the other end of the airport. We were asked a lot of questions at the gate and we were told it was for increased security. The plane departed about 40 minutes late. Don't know why.
We were in the exit row - paid extra for the economy plus/exit row - however, the toilet was in front of us and the combination aroma of disinfectant, cinnamon, and Vicks Vaporub wafted in the air throughout the flight. The size of some of these people going in and out of the toilet...as Norm put it, was like watching clowns getting in and out of the clown car. How do they turn around in the toilet compartment and fit in the seats?
If that wasn't bad enough, the sound didn't work on either of our TV sets for the entire 11 hour flight. The flight crew rebooted the system twice but they never worked. We had to watch others in the plane blissfully watching free first run movies while we had to read lips. The good news was the offer of complimentary beer and wine, snacks and an entree since this was an international leg, like in years past.
We had a large open space in front of us where people waited for the toilet. Some appeared agitated, shifting around anxiously - obviously they waited too long. At one point a mother and young appeared before us, the looking pretty green. She was holding a large, white plastic bag and seemed to be looking for an attendant to find out what to do with it...the kid was holding an empty blue barf bag to complete the scene. No attendant appeared so she and the kid returned to the back of the plane. Thank God - that plastic bag obviously held something ripe. But then she was back and the kid looked even greener and mom gave him a buss on the forehead. An attendant said something to her to the effect they didn't want anything like that (the bag) near the galley. Eeewwwww! So the woman plopped the bag behind a row of seats ahead of us on the other side of the toilet and then walked to the rear of the plane, green kid in tow. The attendant looked down at the bag and just kicked it out of sight toward the wall. By this time, all of the mystery odors had finally gotten to Pam and now this foul mystery bag lying nearby caused her to hold her beanbag pillow to her face and appeared to be semi- hysterical. However, we DID have super great leg room!
Made it to Houston then found our departure to SMF was delayed 2 hours due to late incoming flights. Heard people talking about how stormy it was in Houston earlier in the day but we had a good landing. Took a seat at a charging station with a Frappaccino. About an hour later we heard an announcement that our gate moved from C22 to C26 - everyone made a beeline for the new gate to sit and wait again. More and more people arrived to fill the plane. The departure time kept changing from 10:30 to 11:00 to 10:45 to 10:55....latest time for departure is 1am but the lone harried United rep doesn't know if the staff still has enough time on the clock to handle our flight once they arrive on the inbound. Rep says her screen shows the plane is due to arrive at 12:40am.
We boarded the plane about 1am for SMF - arrived about 3am. A number of people waited with us for a Super Shuttle van. We were told that they don't have enough drivers so we were taken home by a guy wearing a turban driving an Aloha Taxi, contracted by Super Shuttle. We paid Super Shuttle $44 and the taxi meter showed that the taxi rate would have been $75.50. Arrived home about 4:15am
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