DAY-01: It's Time To Go
DAY-01: It's Time To Go
Day – 01: Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Starting Location: St. Pete Beach, FL, USA
Interim Location: Tampa International Airport (TPA), Tampa, FL, USA
Interim Location: Houston International Airport (IAH), Houston, TX USA
Interim Location: Tampa International Airport (TPA), Tampa, FL, USA
Interim Location: Houston International Airport (IAH), Houston, TX USA
Ending Location: Airborne over the Gulf of Mexico
A sign of good planning and forethought is when the morning of travel is relaxed, without stress, with no surprises, without panic and not needing to do much but wait for the appointed hour.
We didn't quite meet the "nothing to do but wait" goal. Turns out, as we were making the "FINAL" pack it was realized that we needed another large suitcase; this is having already borrowed one from some of those "special friends" from yesterday's post.
It's not that we don't have a lot of suitcases, it's just that we didn't bring them to Florida with us. Oh and did I mention baggage locks since my "big box store" $84 specials were not so equipped.
And then there was cash, perhaps a good idea to have a bit of U.S. currency with us, to tide us over until we reach the Argentine ATM network.
By 1:00 PM we were done, ready to go, nothing left to do but zip up the bags, dress for travel comfort, turn out the lights, turn off the water and flag down our ride to the airport.
At the appointed hour 3:00 PM, having hauled our baggage load down from the 7th floor to the lobby, we met with our Uberish ride, a huge SUV driven by some of those "special friends" again.
With one last sight check of passports we are underway. What can you say other than "Thanks a Bunch" to those who will help finish off your leftovers and fight their way through the afternoon Tampa Bay rush hour to deliver us to our flight.
By 4:00 PM we were in the Tampa airport terminal checking bags at the United Airlines counter.
We checked five bags none heavier than 46 pounds. After hanging out in the main terminal for a while we moved on to Concourse "A".
We breezed through security with our TSA PreCheck passes, well that was until one of us set off the bells, whistles and other assortment of alerts and alarms. No worries, we didn't have to strip down or be subjected to other types of embarrassing searches, so we were quickly in the boarding area. With time to wait we wandered a bit before sitting down at Ducky's (partly known for duck pin bowling at the original establishment and being owned by a famous former Tampa Bay Rays player) for a last bit of American food, mac & cheese for Sheila and chicken tenders for Nick.
Our first flight would be to Houston for our connection to Buenos Aires. From Tampa we were on United Airlines Flight #1234, really "1 2 3 4", how easy is that to remember, a Boeing B737-800 (not a MAX).
United has partnered with the Star Wars folks so the safety demo and video is themed.
The flight departed on time at 7:01 PM and was uneventful with the pretzels and water being a highlight of the service. Our departure route from TPA was to the south followed by a right turn toward the beaches; we actually flew just north of Blind Pass and could see our condo building as we set out over the Gulf.
At Houston we landed at the "C" terminal on time at 8:30; now all we had to do was walk halfway across Texas to the glitzy "E" terminal for our 10:20 departure.
We found seats in the gate area and of course met other travelers, not from Massachusetts this time, but from New Jersey; need I say more. Our new acquaintances were headed to Antarctica.
Around 9:45 the boarding call came and we picked up our carryon bags and moved to our seats, our beds and our home for the next ten hours or so.
Our flight to Buenos Aires was United Airlines Flight #819, a Boeing B777-200 wide body.
Our planned route was relatively simple, leave Houston on a southeasterly heading and arrive in Buenos Aires, not much steering required.
By time we were airborne and had climbed out to 30,000 feet or so it was about 11:15 (quarter past midnight St. Pete Beach time), a perfect time for dinner; after a smoked duck starter, I had the short ribs with Sheila dining on pasta. It was just about midnight as we finished the meal having a bit of ice cream with toppings.
With Sheila watching a movie and me the flight map, so ended the first official day of the trip; "airline sleep" would soon be our inflight "activity".
A sign of good planning and forethought is when the morning of travel is relaxed, without stress, with no surprises, without panic and not needing to do much but wait for the appointed hour.
We didn't quite meet the "nothing to do but wait" goal. Turns out, as we were making the "FINAL" pack it was realized that we needed another large suitcase; this is having already borrowed one from some of those "special friends" from yesterday's post.
It's not that we don't have a lot of suitcases, it's just that we didn't bring them to Florida with us. Oh and did I mention baggage locks since my "big box store" $84 specials were not so equipped.
And then there was cash, perhaps a good idea to have a bit of U.S. currency with us, to tide us over until we reach the Argentine ATM network.
By 1:00 PM we were done, ready to go, nothing left to do but zip up the bags, dress for travel comfort, turn out the lights, turn off the water and flag down our ride to the airport.
At the appointed hour 3:00 PM, having hauled our baggage load down from the 7th floor to the lobby, we met with our Uberish ride, a huge SUV driven by some of those "special friends" again. With one last sight check of passports we are underway. What can you say other than "Thanks a Bunch" to those who will help finish off your leftovers and fight their way through the afternoon Tampa Bay rush hour to deliver us to our flight.
By 4:00 PM we were in the Tampa airport terminal checking bags at the United Airlines counter.
We checked five bags none heavier than 46 pounds. After hanging out in the main terminal for a while we moved on to Concourse "A".
We breezed through security with our TSA PreCheck passes, well that was until one of us set off the bells, whistles and other assortment of alerts and alarms. No worries, we didn't have to strip down or be subjected to other types of embarrassing searches, so we were quickly in the boarding area. With time to wait we wandered a bit before sitting down at Ducky's (partly known for duck pin bowling at the original establishment and being owned by a famous former Tampa Bay Rays player) for a last bit of American food, mac & cheese for Sheila and chicken tenders for Nick.
Our first flight would be to Houston for our connection to Buenos Aires. From Tampa we were on United Airlines Flight #1234, really "1 2 3 4", how easy is that to remember, a Boeing B737-800 (not a MAX). 
United has partnered with the Star Wars folks so the safety demo and video is themed.
Capable of "warp" speed perhaps?
The flight departed on time at 7:01 PM and was uneventful with the pretzels and water being a highlight of the service. Our departure route from TPA was to the south followed by a right turn toward the beaches; we actually flew just north of Blind Pass and could see our condo building as we set out over the Gulf.
At Houston we landed at the "C" terminal on time at 8:30; now all we had to do was walk halfway across Texas to the glitzy "E" terminal for our 10:20 departure.
We found seats in the gate area and of course met other travelers, not from Massachusetts this time, but from New Jersey; need I say more. Our new acquaintances were headed to Antarctica.
Around 9:45 the boarding call came and we picked up our carryon bags and moved to our seats, our beds and our home for the next ten hours or so.
Our flight to Buenos Aires was United Airlines Flight #819, a Boeing B777-200 wide body.
By time we were airborne and had climbed out to 30,000 feet or so it was about 11:15 (quarter past midnight St. Pete Beach time), a perfect time for dinner; after a smoked duck starter, I had the short ribs with Sheila dining on pasta. It was just about midnight as we finished the meal having a bit of ice cream with toppings.
With Sheila watching a movie and me the flight map, so ended the first official day of the trip; "airline sleep" would soon be our inflight "activity".
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