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Augusta, day 4 of 4
Nov. 15th, 2021 08:17 pmSUNDAY
Because our flight was scheduled for 5:40 AM, we decided to stay up all night and sleep on the plane. We returned to the room and finished the main packing of bags by 1:30, and Gary put the Washington State - Oregon football game on the TV. I set an alarm for 2:45 and took a very brief nap with the TV going.
When I awoke, I checked our flight information on the app and discovered the flight was to be delayed, so we had a few minutes to spare getting the rental car dropped off and checking bags. There was nearly no one else on the highway heading to the airport, and we arrived in plenty of time.
We filled out the rental envelope but had difficulty squeezing the car keys through the slot. As it happened, the baggage check counter didn't even open until about an hour before the flight, so we waited nearby. The pleasant older lady who checked us in was kind enough to print out our boarding passes because she didn't trust the electronic variety. The small TSA checkpoint was otherwise unremarkable except I didn't need to remove my CPAP or 311 bag from the carry case. We took seats in the spacious gate area to wait for boarding.
The flight from Augusta to Atlanta was relatively uneventful. There was a huge dude in an orange T-shirt in first class who was having mobility issues (leg braces) as well as difficulty fitting in the seat (by itself on one side of the plane, but with rigid armrests), and the aircraft ran out of seat belt extensions so we had to make do with the demo ones. But it was, as was the case on the way down, an extremely short flight and we slept through most of it. The dude in the orange shirt got up before his wheelchair assistant arrived and had to find an empty seat across the aisle to wait; in the process he half lost his pants.
We had a moderately tight connection in Atlanta, and it didn't help that they had to make repeated adjustments to the jet bridge (with accompanying alarm bells). A few people had even tighter connections though. We arrived far down concourse D and had to travel to concourse F (formerly the international terminal, it's been reconfigured to serve both domestic and international flights). We barely missed the first train between the two concourses, and Gary wanted to just walk it, but I looked up to see the next train would be there in just over a minute so we waited. Good thing, too, as the sign said concourse F was a 20 minute walk which was likely more time than we had. We reached the gate with about 10 minutes to spare.
We boarded and got settled in fairly quickly. The plane had to be de-iced so we sat on the tarmac for long enough that I actually slept through takeoff, which I don't believe has ever happened before. Unfortunately there was significant turbulence throughout the first half of the flight, so the fasten seat belt sign was rarely turned off, and food and drink service had to wait a very long time for the flight attendants to be able to safely leave their seats. The route deviated from the usual, staying south over Oklahoma rather than following the curve over the Dakotas. After drinks were served, I listened to music and Gary played games; then Gary nodded off and I played games. The pilot apologized for the rough ride.
When we landed and pulled in to the South Satellite, I had to pee like the proverbial racehorse. That settled, we caught the train to baggage claim. It took a while after the carousel was started for any bags to appear, and my back and legs were hurting, so I took a seat while Gary retrieved the checked luggage. We walked around on the baggage claim level to catch the closest skybridge to the shuttle cart, which was most appreciated. The train trip back to Northgate was uneventful, although four people, two suitcases, and a bicycle were a bit of a squeeze in the elevator down from the platform at Northgate. As we left the station, a 512 bus was waiting but Gary suggested we wait for the next bus to be sure there was space on the luggage shelf. We took the bus back to South Everett Freeway Station and caught Uber home from there.
After we checked in with family and watched the Seahawks lose to Green Bay, Gary tuned in a hockey game, headed upstairs for something or other and promptly fell fast asleep. Since I was nodding off in the recliner myself, I turned off the TV and joined him, setting an alarm for 9:45 PM and sleeping right through it. I got up to pee around 11:30, reset the alarm for 6 AM, and slept the rest of the night.
Because our flight was scheduled for 5:40 AM, we decided to stay up all night and sleep on the plane. We returned to the room and finished the main packing of bags by 1:30, and Gary put the Washington State - Oregon football game on the TV. I set an alarm for 2:45 and took a very brief nap with the TV going.
When I awoke, I checked our flight information on the app and discovered the flight was to be delayed, so we had a few minutes to spare getting the rental car dropped off and checking bags. There was nearly no one else on the highway heading to the airport, and we arrived in plenty of time.
We filled out the rental envelope but had difficulty squeezing the car keys through the slot. As it happened, the baggage check counter didn't even open until about an hour before the flight, so we waited nearby. The pleasant older lady who checked us in was kind enough to print out our boarding passes because she didn't trust the electronic variety. The small TSA checkpoint was otherwise unremarkable except I didn't need to remove my CPAP or 311 bag from the carry case. We took seats in the spacious gate area to wait for boarding.
The flight from Augusta to Atlanta was relatively uneventful. There was a huge dude in an orange T-shirt in first class who was having mobility issues (leg braces) as well as difficulty fitting in the seat (by itself on one side of the plane, but with rigid armrests), and the aircraft ran out of seat belt extensions so we had to make do with the demo ones. But it was, as was the case on the way down, an extremely short flight and we slept through most of it. The dude in the orange shirt got up before his wheelchair assistant arrived and had to find an empty seat across the aisle to wait; in the process he half lost his pants.
We had a moderately tight connection in Atlanta, and it didn't help that they had to make repeated adjustments to the jet bridge (with accompanying alarm bells). A few people had even tighter connections though. We arrived far down concourse D and had to travel to concourse F (formerly the international terminal, it's been reconfigured to serve both domestic and international flights). We barely missed the first train between the two concourses, and Gary wanted to just walk it, but I looked up to see the next train would be there in just over a minute so we waited. Good thing, too, as the sign said concourse F was a 20 minute walk which was likely more time than we had. We reached the gate with about 10 minutes to spare.
We boarded and got settled in fairly quickly. The plane had to be de-iced so we sat on the tarmac for long enough that I actually slept through takeoff, which I don't believe has ever happened before. Unfortunately there was significant turbulence throughout the first half of the flight, so the fasten seat belt sign was rarely turned off, and food and drink service had to wait a very long time for the flight attendants to be able to safely leave their seats. The route deviated from the usual, staying south over Oklahoma rather than following the curve over the Dakotas. After drinks were served, I listened to music and Gary played games; then Gary nodded off and I played games. The pilot apologized for the rough ride.
When we landed and pulled in to the South Satellite, I had to pee like the proverbial racehorse. That settled, we caught the train to baggage claim. It took a while after the carousel was started for any bags to appear, and my back and legs were hurting, so I took a seat while Gary retrieved the checked luggage. We walked around on the baggage claim level to catch the closest skybridge to the shuttle cart, which was most appreciated. The train trip back to Northgate was uneventful, although four people, two suitcases, and a bicycle were a bit of a squeeze in the elevator down from the platform at Northgate. As we left the station, a 512 bus was waiting but Gary suggested we wait for the next bus to be sure there was space on the luggage shelf. We took the bus back to South Everett Freeway Station and caught Uber home from there.
After we checked in with family and watched the Seahawks lose to Green Bay, Gary tuned in a hockey game, headed upstairs for something or other and promptly fell fast asleep. Since I was nodding off in the recliner myself, I turned off the TV and joined him, setting an alarm for 9:45 PM and sleeping right through it. I got up to pee around 11:30, reset the alarm for 6 AM, and slept the rest of the night.