Thursday, January 3, 2019. Leaving Home
So as is par for the course, yesterday evening I stepped in a puddle of water in the sunroom. Apparently, it had leaked from our second floor bathroom, which had been remodeled about a year ago. Yikes! Made arrangements for the contractor to meet us this morning to see what needed to be fixed.
Woke up around 5AM but dozed until 7, and we were up and ready to go by 8. A refreshing walk around the block in the very cold air, then a quick trip to the library and ATM for last-minute errands. Made it home in time to make breakfast and finish most of it before the contractor showed up.
It was a quick visit and we finalized our plan to have things fixed while we were away. That accomplished, we finished breakfast, did some last-minute tweaks to our packing scheme, and were ready to depart by 11:45. I called an Uber - which can luckily now go to the airport - and he was there promptly. Turned out to be a neighbor from the next street over. Small world!
Quick ride to the airport and we went to the empty Sky Priority lane to check our bags. That accomplished, we went to the almost-empty TSA PreCheck line, with only two people ahead of us, and we were seated at our usual table in the Bistro/Bar by 12:20.
Drinks were served a few minutes later and vacation was officially started!
Our plane had landed 2h before we were due to depart so no worries about late departure. We boarded and settled in for the flight to Atlanta, and arrived early at 4:30. That means a 6-hour layover, but there is plenty to do. We landed in C and walked to the lounge in E, which was initially horribly crowded, but we finally found a spot to sit. It was loud, but once the couple with four fussy kids left, it got quieter.
Around 6:00, we stepped out for a snack at One Flew South, where we had a spicy tuna roll and a Hamachi crudo. Then we decided that we needed a little more so we had poke tacos. I had a Willamette Pinot Gris and Chris had Txakolina. We weren't sure how much we'd eat for dinner on our late flight, with departure scheduled at 11:00. Always a challenge to eat dinner at midnight.
We were originally assigned to fly out of a gate in Terminal F, but the Delta App showed our incoming flight arriving at an E gate. So we walked from E over to F anyway to kill time, and sure enough, the app updated our departure gate to E4 just as we arrived in Terminal F. Oh well - we went to the Terminal F Sky Club anyway to check it out, and it was much quieter and far less crowded. So we relaxed there and passed more time. More snacks, and a splash of rosé wine, and we were happy.
Left Terminal F a little before 10:00 and it was a ghost town. We headed to our gate at E4 in time for scheduled boarding at 10, only to see a delay pop up on the monitor that read: new departure time 1:00 AM! A three-hour delay might make a serious problem with our panned 3.5 h layover in Santiago.
They announced that they were working on a mechanical problem, and that they might be earlier than expected. Nothing to do but head back to the E lounge to wait. While we waited, I checked on later flights from Santiago to Calama and luckily there were several, so we should be OK.
Shortly after we arrived back at the lounge, they announced that departure would be 11:30 PM - that's a piece of great news! A cheer went up in the lounge. So after just a few minutes, we walked back for boarding. We are getting a lot of steps in today, back and forth!
We boarded, pushed back around 11:30, and took off just before midnight. Our ETA was now 10:40 AM on Friday, only 15 minutes late. Phew! Our layover should be no problem, as long as that time holds up. We shall hope for the best! Next stop, Santiago.
So as is par for the course, yesterday evening I stepped in a puddle of water in the sunroom. Apparently, it had leaked from our second floor bathroom, which had been remodeled about a year ago. Yikes! Made arrangements for the contractor to meet us this morning to see what needed to be fixed.
 |
| Worst part of leaving - taking the Christmas Tree down early |
Woke up around 5AM but dozed until 7, and we were up and ready to go by 8. A refreshing walk around the block in the very cold air, then a quick trip to the library and ATM for last-minute errands. Made it home in time to make breakfast and finish most of it before the contractor showed up.
It was a quick visit and we finalized our plan to have things fixed while we were away. That accomplished, we finished breakfast, did some last-minute tweaks to our packing scheme, and were ready to depart by 11:45. I called an Uber - which can luckily now go to the airport - and he was there promptly. Turned out to be a neighbor from the next street over. Small world!
 |
| Our Plane is waiting for us. Always a comforting sight. |
Drinks were served a few minutes later and vacation was officially started!
Our plane had landed 2h before we were due to depart so no worries about late departure. We boarded and settled in for the flight to Atlanta, and arrived early at 4:30. That means a 6-hour layover, but there is plenty to do. We landed in C and walked to the lounge in E, which was initially horribly crowded, but we finally found a spot to sit. It was loud, but once the couple with four fussy kids left, it got quieter.
 |
| One Flew South, our favorite place in Terminal E, ATL |
We were originally assigned to fly out of a gate in Terminal F, but the Delta App showed our incoming flight arriving at an E gate. So we walked from E over to F anyway to kill time, and sure enough, the app updated our departure gate to E4 just as we arrived in Terminal F. Oh well - we went to the Terminal F Sky Club anyway to check it out, and it was much quieter and far less crowded. So we relaxed there and passed more time. More snacks, and a splash of rosé wine, and we were happy.
 |
| Terminal F, ATL. Looks new and pretty. |
Left Terminal F a little before 10:00 and it was a ghost town. We headed to our gate at E4 in time for scheduled boarding at 10, only to see a delay pop up on the monitor that read: new departure time 1:00 AM! A three-hour delay might make a serious problem with our panned 3.5 h layover in Santiago.
 |
| When your 6-hour layover is about to get even longer... |
They announced that they were working on a mechanical problem, and that they might be earlier than expected. Nothing to do but head back to the E lounge to wait. While we waited, I checked on later flights from Santiago to Calama and luckily there were several, so we should be OK.
Shortly after we arrived back at the lounge, they announced that departure would be 11:30 PM - that's a piece of great news! A cheer went up in the lounge. So after just a few minutes, we walked back for boarding. We are getting a lot of steps in today, back and forth!
We boarded, pushed back around 11:30, and took off just before midnight. Our ETA was now 10:40 AM on Friday, only 15 minutes late. Phew! Our layover should be no problem, as long as that time holds up. We shall hope for the best! Next stop, Santiago.
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