Although we set our alarms for 1:45 am, we were up and moving about 1:30 am. We packed the room and set our bags in the hall at 2:15 am.
We headed down to the hotel lobby at 2:45 am. Viking had an odd breakfast bag for us. We loaded on the bus just before 3 am. I was surprised how full the bus was; there were more than 40 people on board.
It was about 35 minutes to the airport. I was shocked by the number of people at the airport at 4 am in the morning!
With the large group following the Viking guide from the bus to the terminal, we lost contact with the group. Standing in the terminal, we ran into another Viking guide that pointed us in the right direction. We ended up getting in a line that was probably better than the one that the larger group did.
After checking our bags and getting boarding passes, we headed towards security. In spite of a mass of people, we got through the security check reasonably quickly.
Boarding a smaller Lufthansa Airbus A319 about 5:30 am, we realized that we both had aisle seats across from each other. While I think that the Larkins usually fly that way, I don't think Sharon and I have ever had seats across the aisle from each other before.
We were on the ground on schedule at 7:30 am. They bussed us from the plane to the terminal. Although we have had struggles in the Frankfurt in the past, everything was pretty straightforward. We got to the gate about an hour before it was scheduled to board.
The plane was a Lufthansa Boeing 747-400. They started boarding about 50 minutes before takeoff. Boarding in group 3, we had two nice premium econony seats next to the window. I was surprised that there were only four premium economy rows on the plane.
It was an 11 1/2 hour flight. I worked on my blog, read my book (Football by Chuck Klosterman), watched a movie (Bullet Train with Brad Pitt) and slept for about an hour. Unfortunately, I couldn't get back on the wifi after the first meal that we fed us. Although I got a little restless the last three hours, it was a relatively easy flight. The only issue was that the giant German in front of Sharon had his seat all the way back for most of the flight...
At the gate a little behind schedule at 12:53 pm, we breezed through Global Entry. They called out our name as we walked by!?!
The luggage took a while. We dragged our luggage to the Air Train and took the train to the long term parking. I was shocked that the parking lot was half empty. It was a zoo when I dropped the car.
We were on the road just after 2 pm. With a couple of slowdowns and a stop to switch drivers in Fairfield, we were home about 4:45 pm.
23 hours and 45 minutes from the door of the hotel to our front door. The trip to Africa last fall was 41 hours door to door on the way home.
I was going to work on some trip musings in the next week.
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