Diary of a flying pig: Danish Tour 11/13

The Final flight home!

As seems to be the custom in Denmark, Jomfru Ane insisted on a final brunch to stuff us senseless! I had my final flight on the Jomfru Ane winch, and then it was down to the foyer for a final feast- cakes, rolls, coffee, meat, fruit, and some heartfelt speeches. Then we packed everything into the J-A vans and headed to Aalborg airport! Our first flight was delayed by about 45 minutes, so we hung around in the airport cafe until it was time for Joan, Oliver, and me to depart (Matt decided to stay in Europe for an extra 3 weeks...). We waved goodbyes from the gate, and got on the plane, bound for Copenhagen! The flight was uneventful, but once we got to Copenhagen it was a mad dash for our respective gates! Oliver took off at a sprint to catch his flight (which was 10 minutes before Joan and mine) and Joan and I power walked through Copenhagen airport, got in line, walked onto the plane, and took off, bound for Seattle! 10 hours and 3.5 movies later, we touched down in Seattle.
The final hurdle was now in front of us- CUSTOMS. Believe it or not, the show pack was literally the first 7 suitcases off the plane- the travel gods seemed to be with us this day. We were, of course, stopped by a customs agent, as it looked like we had the enitre population of Beirut in our suitcases, but we flashed our very official looking Carnet, which they were awed by, and ran our luggage through the x-ray machine. They asked "Do you really have all 179 items?" to which I replied- yes, indeed, we do. They stamped us through without even opening one case, even helping us get them to the baggage re-checking station, and we were clear! The clouds parted, and the end was in sight!
Our next flight was leaving in 20 minutes, so we hopped on 3 different trains (which all seemed to be going the exact same direction) and went to the gate, to find that the flight to SFO was delayed by almost an hour! It was no issue for Joan, whose final desitination was SFO, but I had a very slim margin of time to catch the last flight to Arcata! So, we headed to the "Red Carpet Club" which Joan is naturally a member of, and a wonderful gentleman by the name of Richard helped us h get onto the flight that was leaving immediately (It had been delayed for over 3 hours). We ran back up the stairs, and got on the flight to San Francisco!
Once in SFO, Joan and I parted ways, and I headed to the gate for the last flight of the day to Arcata- I arrive there to find a HUGE group of people waiting to get on! It turns out that United had cancelled almost half of its flights for the day, and the two flights to Arcata, prior to mine had been cancelled. To add to the bedlam, the plane also needed to carry twice as much fuel as usual because of inclement weather, and had far more luggage than it normally carries, as well! Basically, of the already overbooked flight, United needed 15 ADDITIONAL people to give up their seats! With Smoochville looming large on the horizon, I was definitely not one of those people. Watching the clerk talk covertly with one passenger, I immediately linked up with her, knowing that she had the inside scoop. For some unknown reason, they opened the gate, and we hurriedly made out way to the plane- as much to avoid getting bumped as to avoid the small scale war that was about to break loose. The flight left about 45 minutes late, and I finally arrived in Arcata at 12:30am. NONE of my luggage was there, of course, but no matter, I was home. The pig had indeed landed, and the Smoochville Express picked me up, and took me home.

LESSONS FOR THE DAY
Joan Schirle is a good woman to travel with- she's got connections.
When the opportunity for free food arises, strike fast!

Penultimate transition...
PIG