I set an alarm this morning and opted not to take a sleeping pill. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t need the alarm; I woke up at 4:45 am and didn’t go back to sleep. Always a good time to lay in bed and pray.
Chris got up when I did at 6:30. He was going to work out after making sure I found my way to the station. We said goodbye and I quickly discerned that the Elizabeth train line to the airport was on boarding platform 5. I listened to the guy next to me when he suggested I don’t take the current Elizabeth train and wait 4 minutes for the direct train to Terminal 2 of the airport.
I followed Chris’ instructions to walk the long halls until I reached the lifts (elevators) to Departure and Check-in on level 5 in the main terminal. I located the check-in desks for United and was happy to relinquish my bags to their care through to Chicago and on to Denver.
I followed the signs through the airport through security and then up escalators, down escalators, down long halls, and up stairs until I finally reached the United Polaris Lounge.
Chris determined that my flight was late landing. Now that I sit here on the tarmac waiting for take off—an hour late—the captain just came on the intercom to let us know that a maintenance light came on just as we were about to taxi.
They are going to have it looked at. Booo.
Maintenance took a couple of hours to discern the problem, install the part, test the part, discover that there was another faulty part, and fixed that.
It was late enough, that we would have to make an extra stop in Boston for the crew to be replaced. From there we would continue on to Chicago where I would change planes to Denver. Not ideal and I would be driving home around midnight.
We began to taxi and a strong exhaust smell filled the cabin.
United finally decided to cancel our flight. We were all bused back to the terminal where we would pick up our bags, stay at the Hilton hotel at Terminal 4 (dinner and breakfast included), and be rebooked on the next flight home on Tuesday.
Fortunately, that meant a non-stop flight to Denver for me leaving at 11:35 am.
I retrieved my luggage, found my way to the Hilton, and settled in. At least I had all of my luggage.
I went down for dinner at a buffet that was set up specifically for our flight. It wasn’t great, but oh well.
I chatted with Chris when he finished working for the day. It was around 9:30 pm and we were an hour apart. Kind of weird to both be in London and not together.