2/17-Leg Two and I Am Tired!

After the last post, I did find another spot to crash for awhile. I was under a stairway. Almost felt like my tent. I think I slept about 1 1/2 hours. There was another cyclist sleeping not far from me. Another guy got creative and made himself a cubby with a couple of carts. Yet another guy almost seemed like he had moved in. He was there before I got there, and was still there after I left to go check in. I thought that because there was access to outside, what would stop someone from periodically staying in the airport (like in that Tom Hanks movie, only easier because you could come and go).

I went out for a change of scenery (plus, it was warmer outside). 

Finally it appeared the United counter was going to open at 5:30 instead of 6:00. But first, I kid you not, they spent a good 30 minutes arranging, then rearranging the “path” to the counters. At one point, I was talking to a young guy as we were watching them do this. We thought maybe they were arranging the maze so that it didn’t actually go to the counter. They had hidden cameras, and they were going to film all of us trying to navigate the maze to nowhere, then put it on some show. At 6:05, they quit futzing around, and opened the counters. 

“No, let’s move it over here…yeah, make that a dead end.”

Where they just put Billy on the belt in Ushuaia, I had to follow the nice lady to Oversized Baggage. Once rid of the baggage, I headed to International Departures. First stop, “Migraciones” (aka Passport Control). There were three women behind me heading to Atlanta, then California. We had a nice chat while we waited in line for quite awhile. 

Once through that, the next stop was security. Funny thing, you could take water through security, but not on the plane, even if you had bought it after security. Couldn’t quite figure that one out. 

On my way to the gate, I stopped for some food. A final couple of jamón y queso empanadas. They were good. 

I was in Boarding Group 3. I was waiting patiently for my group to be called. One of the gate crew came over and said if I gate checked my rear dry bags, I could board now. As usual, they would run out of overhead bin space. Since I didn’t really like carrying them anyway, I agreed. It was after I was on the plane that I realized my electronics were in them. No big deal for me, as I still had my big battery bank in my backpack, but you’re not supposed to check battery banks. They are supposed to be in carryon. Oh well, they had even searched the bags at the gate (but only looking for liquids). This whole no liquids on the plane thing seemed inefficient. They searched every single carryon bag before boarding. 

The flight was uneventful. I only slept in short catnaps. My pillow disappeared behind me. I was chilly sitting next to the window. Only watched one movie…Barbie. It was pretty good. 

We actually arrived quite early in Houston. Customs/Passport Control had just opened at 5:00. It was a quick breeze through that, then onto collecting the baggage. Billy came out on the carousel. Got all the bags and proceeded to Bag Drop. Had to bob and weave to get through the ropes. I did mention to the baggage guy that the battery banks were in the bag. He said it was fine. 

Final stop was to go through Security again. Now waiting at the gate for my flight to Seattle. One more to go!