The Journey Home

... So we left Sacramento way too early in the morning (0700... yuck!) and drove back to San Francisco to catch our flight home. When we got to the airport we found out our flight was delayed 2 hours and we were going to miss our connecting flight in Newark. We were given the choice spend the night in the Newark airport or fly home the next day. If you have never been to the Newark airport, count yourself blessed. Seedy would be a generous description. So we took door #2 and after a quick stop in the USO lounge to coordinate a hotel room... we were off to enjoy a day in San Francisco. We had such a wonderful day down at Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. Unfortunately we stayed out past our curfew and the end result was a very cranky me the next day... can you blame me?! We had to get up at 0330!

On our flight home we first flew to Houston and unfortunately the only 2 seats they had together were next to the bathroom. This might not normally be a horrible thing but this was the flight of the itsy bitsy bladder club. No joke! During a 3 1/2 flight there was only 3 minutes when nobody was in line and I saw one lady 4 times! By that point we were ready for them to cut the beverage service off. About 2 hours into the flight the smell of the bathroom coupled w/ my stomach problems got to me and Justin had to grab the flight attendant b/f I added to the "aromas" of the aircraft. We were fortunately moved a few aisles forward and survived the remainder of the flight.

Once we got to Houston we went to our connecting flight and found out that I had an assigned seat but Justin did not... the flight was overbooked. They start boarding the flight and try to get someone to give up the seat but no takers. Justin is called back to the podium and told that there's no seat for him and he is being involuntarily bumped to a later flight. The gate agent asks me if I'm staying but I didn't want to answer that question until I knew they could get me a confirmed seat (we did not need to keep this drama going). Next thing we know they close the door and tell me I'm staying... at which point I had panic attack/meltdown combination. I was too tired and this was the final straw. The original gate agent we were dealing with disappeared and this other gate agent comes up. He does his little type at the keyboard and shuffle papers thing and then looks up at me and says "Mrs. Jimenez, do you speak english?" Justin just cringed and couldn't think of a worse statement given my mental state. Fortunately I was too tired to come up with some sassy remark. Really... people... I lived in South Texas and I can also never remember meeting a Mexican with pasty white skin and freckles. Unbelievable.

We spent the next 6 hours in the USO in Houston and finally made it home a Late o'clock... and I can't remember the last time I was so grateful for the comfort of my bed.