This Sure Ain’t Texas

Praise God, we finally arrived in Mumbai, India some 25 hours or so after leaving our hacienda on the bay. The trip to the airport was uneventful, the next 12 hours, not so uneventful. Brutal might be the better adjective probably made worse by our own anxieties about everything that we have embarked upon. We arrived at IAH a full two hours prior to our flight hoping to check in quickly and head up to the Presidents club for some refreshment and a paper. Not to be as our ticket was confirmed business class but issued economy class, all on points. Really, we were only supposed to be in business class from Paris to Mumbai but that wasn’t the case when we tried to check in. By the time we got it all worked out the way it was supposed to be and that in question the whole time because we flew Air France to Mumbai on Continental points, the check in gate was officially closed. We made our way through security, right up to the gate and boarded the plane. Whew, that was close, no OJ imitations or anything but no time to spare.

Economy was not quite full which is always exciting when you fly over the big pond. Extra seats means there’s room to spread out maybe. I asked the flight attendant who said, “not yet,” I’ll tell you. Well, he never did and as we were about to take off, several people jumped seats ahead of us and so, no extra room. There was even one lady right in front with 3 seats to herself. When we suggested to the guy sitting in our 3-seat section he might move up, he tried, and she told him no, she wanted to lay down. She did too and made use of all three seats. Kim really struggled on the first segment. It was cramped and hard for her to get up and down. We did have an aisle seat which made it some better. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity with 3 movies scattered in and two meals, we arrived in Paris. Oh yeah, with 15 minutes left on the flight, our guy finally moves up and sits on the row in front leaving the 2 of us 3 seats. It was sweet!

Good thing mom’s handicapped. I’m pretty sure there’s no way we would have made our connection. I had all worked out, schedules said we’d arrive and depart in the same terminal. Not! Because they asked mom in Houston if she needed wheelchair assistance in Paris there was a guy right there waiting for us, who took us to a special bus for HC folks and took us right from B to Terminal E. Everybody else had to find the regular busses. We had a little over 2 hours but again went direct from one to the other, through security again, and promptly boarded the next flight to Mumbai.

Business class to Mumbai. It sure was expensive in airmiles but worth every penny! If ya gotta go and can it’s the way to go. But one things for sure folks, this sure ain’t Texas. Our final meal on the Mumbai flight was leeks, eggplant, and sliced tomatoes and cucumbers. Where’s the Beef? Sorry to ramble. Its been a long day. More later.

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