Day 8 - Lisbon, Portugal - Trying to get home - Friday and Saturday, May 16 and 17

 

When we arrived in Lisbon, it is by far the longest customs line we had ever encountered.  We weren't quite sure what to expect leaving Lisbon, so we got an early taxi and got ourselves to the airport.  It went VERY smoothly checking in.  There was a big open area where we could get some food and coffee.  Dave and Ben got McDonalds.  Ben wanted McDonalds lunch.  Joe, McKenzie and I got coffee and our last Portuguese pastry.  We also got a breakfast sandwich.  

When you got to the gate, they would let you through this gate by group number.  Dave, Ben, and I were group 1 so we got through the gate and before you knew it we were on the plane.

Here's where it gets tricky.  We were flying in to Newark.  For posterity sake, it is May 2025 and Newark is down to one runway for takeoffs because of construction.  They also are having difficulty with Air Traffic Controllers as some have take 'mental leave" because of a bad accident about a month ago.  So they are understaffed.  BUT having said all that we took off ON TIME and landed early.  

Only to find out that there was a big thunder and lightening storm and the airport was on a ground stop.  We didn't really have to wait too long to get into the airport.  We did have to go through customs in Newark and recheck our bags.  It was at this time when we started getting notices that our connection was delayed.  It also had us going back and forth from Terminal C and Terminal A.  We decided to go to Terminal A in Newark to the United Lounge and just hang out.  Well we "hung out" for about 10 to 12 hours.  It was brutal.  But thank God for lounges.  We ate, drank, went to the bathroom, some even took showers.

We finally got on our plane just moments away from the pilots timing out.  I think we got into Denver at about 12:30 a.m.  Our Denver to GJ flight just disappeared from our app.  We had missed our connection and they had not rebooked us so we weren't sure where our luggage would end up.  We waited for all the luggage and said goodbye to Joe and Mckenzie (who live in the Denver area).  No luggage.  The United representative said it would be on an 11 am flight tomorrow/today to GJ.  (The 11 am flight was booked solid though so we weren't on it.)

Dave rented a car and we drove to Golden, CO about 45 minutes away.  We were checking in at about 3 am.  The guy checking us in was new and because it was now technically the next day he was struggling with "is there someone in your room?'  Turns out it was us - we were in our rooms.  While we were waiting for him to figure it out, this older man - bigger guy - came to the front desk in only his boxers.  I was so out of it by then, I remember thinking "was he in the pool?"  Well the pool is not open at 3 am.  Turns out he's a sleep walker and he needed assistance remembering what room he was in.  The front desk clerk confirmed his room and he walked away.  We were like "does he have his key?"  Is he just going to knock until his wife lets him in?

Anyway we got to sleep about 3:30 a.m. and took off the next morning at about 11:00 a.m. for Grand Junction. Thank you Ben and Dave for driving.

Jet lag had us all week - but it was worth it.