My flight was at 11:15 or so which meant I woke up around 5:30am (because that is typically when I wake up) and then spent a slowish morning getting ready and cleaned up and all that. We left the house around 8am to get to the airport. Having silver level premier access on United meant that I didn't really have too much issue getting my check in done and getting TSA Pre check also meant that I had a breeze through the security line (though even the standard security line was not too crowded). The guy at the check in desk said they were really busy at 3am but it was not bad at 8:30. I walked around the gates for a bit then bought a coffee and blueberry glazed donut from Dunkin Donuts and found a place to sit near my gate. Gate 22 is at a stupid location for normal seats but it is near where the free charging stations and has a bunch of seats at bar style desks with high stools to sit on. I chose one of those locations and got to killing time. Obviously with the initial check in and security being a breeze I had a lot of time to kill. I wrote some portion of this as well as played a couple stupid casual games waiting for the plane to arrive and deplane. The first flight would be an Airbus A320 to Houston. I was not 100% convinced I should take this route with what happened on my last trip through this way but I had to use United mileage to get the flight without spending something like $2500 or more to get there reasonably.
We boarded on time and departed a few minutes late because they needed to load two dogs into the rear heated cargo area. I slept through the majority of the flight. There was no food service and no entertainment at all which I thought was strange for an over 4 hour flight. I would have expected at least the singular overhead movie but not even that. The plane landed a few minutes early but being seated way in the back it took a while to get off. Fortunately in Houston we landed and departed in the same terminal not too far away. I got Subway on the way to the plane and ate it on the plane because they were already boarding when I got there. I don't tend to like airplane food except for maybe my couple business class trips so I was hedging my bets (correctly). The plane also boarded on time and even maybe pushed back a minute or two early. It was a 767-300 and again I was way in the back. Since it was an international flight they had in seat entertainment. I watched Guardians of the Galaxy, Dawn of Planet of the Apes and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in succession until the flight was over. I had a bottle of wine and only the extra food from the tray. I think it was supposed to be chicken and pasta but the smell made me not want to even open it. I will say that I liked all three movies enough. Guardians of the Galaxy was the most enjoyable of the three.
We landed half an hour early and it took a while to get off the plane. Immigration was quick but it took forever and a day to get the bag before getting through customs. Daniela was waiting for me outside and after a very happy greeting we took a taxi to her house then to get some food which turned out to be at a Norky's because the restaurant she wanted to go to was not closed but the cook left. We had nuggets and fries and some sangria that tasted like medicine. After we were done we went to her house to spend the night.
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