UK and Dublin: Day 16: Dublin, Ireland to Florida, USA August 5, 2024

My husband K got up at  5:45 to shower. When our  daughter J and I got up at 6, it was a lovely, clear day.

We went down to breakfast at 7 and took our luggage with us. We were trying to be there when it opened, in order to get breakfast before we left. I got my last European cold cuts, cheese, and bread, as well as a couple of pastries.

We'd ordered a taxi for 7:30, but I did remember to stop at the desk and make sure they knew about the alarm issue. The person behind the desk could find no record of it, but wrote it down.

It was 7:50, when we reached the airport's terminal 2 and I paid the €42 fare plus €3 tip in cash.

We had taken care of tagging our bags at the kiosk by 8, but had to wait until 8:15 to be able to drop the bags. We had that done by 8:19.

Then, it was off to the security line, which we reached at 8:30. K encountered some problems due to leaving his money belt on, but we were finished at 8:52.

Since her flight to Boston was at 10:55, J had to go to the US PreClearance at 9. So, we had to say good-bye to her, which is always difficult.

I turned in my VAT forms at Planet, hoping to get a little money back. We then went into a shop, where I bought postcards, but K went to find lozenges, because he'd had a tickle since yesterday.

Finally, at 9:30, it was our turn to get into line for the US PreClearance. Having this in Ireland saves going through Customs in the States. They scanned our bags again and then K and I used Global Entry, which was seriously fast. It is well-worth the money we pay for it.

At 9:50, we were seated at gate 404 to wait for our flight. Reading and iPad games passed the time.

At 11:15, we were seated on American Airlines flight AA0725 to Charlotte in seats 28 J and K. The plane didn't push back until 11:42. It was cloudy when we took off at 11:55 on time. I was already watching Turning Red by then and we were both masked.

At 12:42, they brought lunch and I chose the pasta. It was pretty good.

My next film was Brother Bear and I enjoyed it.

At 3:20, they brought around ice cream and water. K was asleep. I soon started Ghostbusters Frozen Empire. It's always interesting to see how many movies you can get through on a transatlantic flight.

At 6:15, they brought us Tex- Mex Chicken Folded Pizza. It did not appeal to K, who was not feeling well.

I had moved on to The American Society of Magical Negroes, which was really good, when a lot of turbulence hit at 6:48 Irish Standard Time. (I don't change my watch, until we land.)

We landed in Charlotte, NC at 2:32 pm EDT. We didn't get to the  gate until 2:50. But,we were seated at gate B7 at 3:25. 

At 5:27, we were seated in 25 D and E on flight AA1682 to Orlando. The doors closed at 6:02, but the plane did not push back until 6:15. Takeoff was at 6:24.

Hurricane Debby was to the west of Orlando and it got bumpy pretty fast. There was no service and I mostly dozed. However, at one point, I touched K's arm and he was simply burning up. I told him to keep the mask on until we got home.

We landed at OIA at 7:46 and had no trouble getting our bags and being picked up by our friend Dennis D.

Especially considering the time difference, it felt good to walk through our front door at 9:22. I immediately went to the hall closet to grab a COVID test for K. He tested positive and has been banished to the back room, which has a sofa bed. J and I are both fine. It was no doubt due to the ClarinetFest being in a convention center, because the same thing happened a couple of years ago, when it was in one in Reno.

Anyway, the phone says I walked 6,670 steps today for 2.2 miles. I should do a total for the whole trip.