Homecoming

We got up whenever and made a breakfast scramble to finish off the groceries we’d purchased. After a quick shower we left our borrowed home one last time. We headed for Boulder to return the SUV. Due to our troubles with the battery and the vehicle/equipment overall being not as expected, we negotiated a refund. We were now vehicle-less but had to make it back to the airport in Denver. Luckily there are buses from Boulder to the airport, we just needed to walk to the bus station. We had plenty of time to get there so we decided to walk along the Boulder Creek Path which would take about a half hour according to Google maps. The path wound through Boulder and was an enjoyable walk. We purchased our bus tickets to the airport and awaited the next bus. 

Random wall along Boulder Creek Path.

The bus made various stops around Boulder before getting us to the airport a little over an hour later. We made it through security quickly and decided to grab a late lunch/early dinner at Mesa Verde. I got tacos and Rob ordered a burger. While we were dining, we got an alert that our flight had been delayed. This meant that we would miss our connection in Detroit. We quickly looked at other options and booked on another flight that was going to Detroit and had been delayed from earlier in the afternoon. This flight was now scheduled to leave 15 minutes earlier than our original flight, which was perfect. At the gate there was a large crowd of people all trying to get seats for the flight to Detroit. By the time all of the passengers were assigned seats and boarded the plane it was later than the scheduled departure. And then the snow came. The plane needed to be de-iced before we could take off now. The pilots did their best to get us to Detroit as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, we had rough air for much of the ride from Denver to Detroit. This was by far the bumpiest flight I had ever been on. But we landed safely in Detroit at gate A29 with ten minutes to exit the plane and get across the terminal to our connection. We got off as soon as we could and literally sprinted to gate A37. The plane was there, but the door was closed. We weren’t the only passengers left behind. There were 11 people that missed the flight. Delta gave us all hotel and breakfast vouchers and scheduled us for the next flight which left the following morning.  We took the shuttle to the Holiday Inn and grabbed a drink and an appetizer at the bar before heading to bed.

Saturday 4/14/18
Day 8: Bonus round

We got up after a few short hours of sleep, around 4am. We grabbed a fast shower and repacked what few items we had taken out. We got to the lobby shortly before the airport shuttle. When it arrived, the driver asked what airline we were flying. “Delta,” we replied. He had to make a phone call, after which he told us, “okay”. So we got on, and rode until he wordlessly stopped at the airport. We had to go up the escalator which was not working, because there was a line of about 3 loads of people awaiting the elevator. We walked across a passage over the highway, then back down once we were inside the airport proper. “It’s weird there’s no Delta desk,” Mandy mused. Yes, but it makes plenty of sense when YOU’RE IN THE WRONG BUILDING.

We went back out the way we came in, and waited for some other shuttle bus to take us to the right side of the airport. Here we got in, and got through security with time to spare before the flight, so we decided to find some breakfast and use up our vouchers. We walked past so many closed restaurants because it was just after 6am. Finally, we found Leo’s Coney Island, which serves up a very mediocre (less than mediocre) breakfast sandwich. We each got one, unfortunately. The yogurt parfait is decent, though.
Then we went to Starbucks on the way back to the gate to grab a couple coffees to help us get through the day. There was a small line of people when we got there, and shortly after our arrival, they opened for the morning. I ordered an iced coffee, which they didn’t have yet. So I received 4 shots of espresso in ice water. Close enough I guess. Mandy got an iced caramel macchiato, but there was no caramel. So she received a cup half-filled with coconut milk and half-filled with espresso. Nailed it.

At least the airport is essentially empty before 6am. Detroit, Michigan

We went back to the gate to wait for our flight. There were a ton of Boston Marathon jackets around the gate area, because the marathon is this weekend. That was kind of neat. We chatted with some travel buddies who were on the same screwed up flight plan as us, because one of them was planning to run the marathon. So we got way more information than we ever realized there was about the marathon jackets. We boarded into the back row of the plane and had a pretty uneventful ride home.

We hailed an Uber from Logan to home. We got in around 10am. Loki was so pumped to see us. Mandy had enough time to rinse off the travel grime and then head to work, while Rob got to enjoy a restful day with Loki.