May 28, 2014
We left Sacramento at 3:30 pm to make our 8:55 pm departure out of San Francisco International Airport. We hit some traffic passing through Vallejo and before crossing the Carquinez Bridge. There was a big rig on its side on an exit ramp and then a plume of smoke rising along side the freeway. I took about 30 minutes to pass a grass fire, which was the cause of the slow down. This was just the kind of thing that puts a pit in your stomach for the thought of being late to the airport. Good thing we left early.
Departure Day
After the traffic cleared, it was pretty much smooth sailing the rest of the way to SFO. When we arrived, we loaded our luggage onto a cart and headed for the Lufthansa ticket counter to check in. We experienced the complete opposite of traffic. It was a ghost town. Not a single agent was around and the red glow of all of the counter signs read "counter closed." We waited about 45 minutes for staff to show up. By this time, there were a good 50 people in line behind us. We were treated very good by the check in agent. She even offered to move us from our assigned seats to a center row of four seats with the two middle seats blocked. We jumped at the offer, so Darrell and I ended up with two seats each.
After passing through a very dirty security area, we made our way to the gate with about 90 minutes before boarding our first flight to Munich, Germany. Darrell walked up to the Tomokazu Japanese Cuisine restaurant, looked at the menu and asked If I wanted a beer. Easy answer "yes!" We sat and have a Kirin Ichiban while Darrell perused the menu. He deiced on grilled short ribs to accompany the beer. They were pretty darn good, so Darrell ordered another round. Stomachs temporarily satisfied, we moved to the gate and waited to board. The sun was setting and the fog began to roll in over the south San Francisco hills as we waited.
The boarding call came. Along with the extra blocked seats, the agent gave us priority boarding, so we were some of the first to board the 747. It was nice to settle in for our 10 1/2 hour flight ahead of the crowd.
Take off was smooth. Shortly after leveling off, they began beverage , they meal service. The dinner wasn't anything to write home about. Pasta or chicken. Cafeteria food at best. At least the drinks were good. I watched Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, which I hadn't seen before. It was pretty entertaining. I fell asleep immediately after. We crossed into the next day while I slept.