Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Wickre Travelogue (August 24th and 25th)

THE LONG TRIP HOME! The hotel airport shuttle picked us up at 9:00 a.m. - wild van ride with Pakistani driver through narrow streets of Paris to pick up other passengers - airport drop off - Charles de Gaulle Airport very crowded and confusing. Lots of security . United flight took off on time - very long flight - arrives in Washington DC, Dulles Airport, on time - We said good by to our daughter who got off there. We then had a long wait through customs and then reclaim baggage and go through and recheck bags - go through security. Very confusing and lots of angry passengers. I am stopped and my carry-on bag searched - Churchill statue taken out and looked at.(see below). Flight from Washington DC left just a little late due to some weather, landed at San Francisco (SFO) just about 15 - 20 minutes late. We then went to Medford gate to see if we could change Sat a.m. flight to Fri. night flight, put on standby for 8:30 and 10:40 flights to Medford. - no good, spend the night in airport. Interesting experience, my wife dozed a little but I stayed awake. Read book. Appear to be 3 other stranded travelers spending the night in the concourse we were in. Air conditioning very cold - fortunately had a blanket. Services in airport start opening around 5 a.m. We have a full breakfast at 5:30 a.m. - tasted very good. Had some fresh fruit with it. We lacked fruits and veges on trip. Boarded plane, landed in Medford about 9:15 a.m. - retrieved luggage which arrived the night before - got taxi home - arrived about 10:00 a.m. Good to be home!Medford sure looked good on the ride home from the airport. Everything is OK at home and our cat Gabby is happy to see us. Even with all the hassles of traveling it's amazing how little time it actually takes to get from Paris France to Medford, Oregon. We take modern air travel for granted sometimes.