Departing ~ Day 7 ... or: Dat's Great Subway Adventure

07/12/07 ~ Another early start, first session at 7:30a. This morning's sessions were pretty good, so at least I was not disappointed! Met up with Shahra about 8:30a and we went through the exhibits just a bit before joining up with Nick and Dat at the break. Went to the last couple of sessions and returned to the hotel to pack it all up.

We checked out and went to Lir for one last round and who should be walking down the sidewalk but Dat. So the three of us enjoyed one last chat and cold drink before gathering up our luggage at the bellman's desk and heading out. (hey, who are those people sitting at our table in that photo anyway?)

Dat thought our subway adventure sounded fun so the three of us decided to subway it to the airport. After all, it's not far and we only have one bag or so each, and it would be our last chance to feel the city ... easier said than done when you factor in the heat, oh, and don't forget the multiple flights of stairs at the subway stations. So, we got our bearings and boarded the proper train and all was good until about 200 more people hopped on our train at the first few stops making me wonder if we would even be able to get out when we needed to! Fortunatly, I stayed close to the door even through all the pushing and shoving, but Dat managed to end up quite a ways away from Jim and I at the transfer station. Well, we all made the transfer, but I can't say that we had ample time to do so, the bells were ringing and the doors were beginning to close just as Dat made it through the crowd, yay! That was brilliant.

We had no problem finding the shuttle bus once we exited; at least that's what we thought ... Would have been nice to know that were different shuttle busses destined for the various airport terminals, 'C' being what we needed. We came to 'A', then to 'B' and then to ... hey, wait we are heading right back to where we started! Oh, we need to be on 'that' shuttle bus up there?! Run, grab bags, run some more (did I mention that I had on heels through all this?). Finally, we're on our way to the proper terminal and with not much time to spare either. Of course, wouldn't you know they again pull Jim aside for additional security screening (they did the same to him in S.D. when we departed!). Boy, did Dat and I get a laugh out of that. Settled in for more Animal Planet and made our way back to the West Coast (I got to catch that movie I missed on the way over!). Ahhhh, we made it! Going home always feels soooo good!