Day 16

At about 1:00 am we received a text from Christian that he and Sharon had secured a flight home through Amsterdam leaving at about the same time we were scheduled to leave at about noon today. With that resolved we could at least sleep for a few hours before getting up and making our way to the airport. We had our final breakfast of the trip together at about 7:30 am and heard the conclusion to Sharon's marathon phone call with Delta Airlines to resolve the situation. Between hold times and transfers and lost connections she was on Cindi's phone for about 3 hours. The solution arrived at was far from ideal but at least got them home. Needless to say it was an extra added expense to the vacation that they certainly did not expect.

After gathering our things in the hotel we said our goodbyes to the staff and headed for the U1 for the last time on the trip. Once at the Hauptbahnhof we changed trains to the S8 and headed for the Airport. Once there, we made our way through security not realizing that in Munich once you were at your gate there were virtually no services save one small coffee shop with ridiculous prices. I wanted to get German gummy bears for my friend Helen, and Cindi wanted to get a book for the flight home. I was able to get a few bags of gummys, but the shop had no books and trying to get back through security was going to be a struggle for Cindi to get one, so we waited for the flight to board. Everything seemed to be ontime as we boarded, but once the doors were closed we were informed by the Captain that there would be about an hour ground delay due to baggage handling personnel shortages and heavy traffic on the trans-Atlantic air routes. This was somewhat worrisome as our connection in Washington DC was only an hour and a half layover; now that would be down to half an hour.

The flight to DC was uneventful and they managed to make up some time in the air and the flight to Sacramento was delayed as well, so we had just

enough time to grab a quick bite to eat and get on the plane. Again the flight was uneventful as one would hope. Owen even managed to sleep a fair amount on the plane which is unusual. I was the only one who pretty much stayed awake for the full 16 hours of flying time except for a few minutes right before landing. We made it back home to be greeted very enthusiastically by Elektra and Simba. A big thanks to Grandpa David for the taxi services. By this time I was completely exhausted and I was first up to bed. I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.
The Christian and Sharon Saga - The path home for Christian and Sharon was not nearly as smooth as ours. When we last left our heroes they were on a flight to Amsterdam to catch a flight home to

Seattle. They unfortunately encountered the same air traffic control issues that delayed our flight but were not as lucky on their connection. They ended up missing their flight and having to stay in Amsterdam. Fortunately, the airline provided dinner and hotel vouchers and they were able to make the flight the next day. Not the best way to extend your trip to Europe, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow when you travel.