Trip to Utah Part 4 - Coming Home is a Big Adventure

We had a real adventure getting home to Kazakhstan this summer.  After we arrived at the airport and checked in (about 3.5 hours early so we wouldn't inconvenience our rides to the airport), we were sitting around waiting for our flight to Houston.  I got a notice on the phone that our flight was delayed.  We had a pretty tight connection planned in Houston, so I was a bit concerned, so I started reading.  A huge thunderstorm was hitting Houston and flights were being cancelled and delayed.  After about 30 minutes of watching, I saw our flight into Houston was going to miss our window to catch our flight to Frankfurt.

I went and got in line at the gate and started to wait.  With six travelers to Kazakhstan I knew we were going to be a handful.  And we were.  The problem was getting us somewhere where we could get a flight into Nur-Sultan.

We had a very nice customer service lady who helped us figure it out.  We had to go through San-Francisco, catch a flight from there to London, and from there take a flight to Nur-Sultan on Air Astana rather than Lufthansa from Frankfurt.  The issue - the flight to London was the next day at 18:30.  We decided we'd take the flight to San-Francisco that afternoon rather than try to get our bags, stay at a hotel in Utah, and potentially miss a flight to SFO.  It's always better to be at the hub for international flights and Utah isn't a United Hub.

After we got our tickets, we boarded quite quickly on a flight to San Francisco.  The flight was bumpy, but otherwise uneventful.  We had booked a hotel from SLC and so when we landed we got our bags and took the shuttle to the hotel in San Bruno.  We checked in and then walked a block to Wendy's and ate dinner.

World Travelers getting ready to head back to Kazakhstan

Waiting for our shuttle at SFO.

Dinner at Wendy's

We had planned on going to San Francisco the next day on the BART train, but we didn't want to take all the carry-on suitcases.  It cost more to store the bags at the airport than to just rent a van for the day, so we rented a van.  The next morning we got up and ate breakfast and then took the airport shuttle and checked in to our flight and checked our big bags.  Then we picked up our van and drove to San Francisco.  While we were driving we hit traffic and I missed an exit.  We were talking about things and I suggested that we go to Fairfield to the Jelly Belly Factory rather than see things in San Francisco that we had seen a few years earlier.

That suggestion was met with enthusiasm, so we stayed on the freeway (I-80) and drove to Fairfield. After stopping to get directions, we found the factory and had a wonderful tour.  We bought 5 bags (2 lbs each) of belly flops and then got in the van and drove back toward San Francisco.  We stopped to eat at Chipotle (Mexican food is one thing we really can't get here).  We made it to San Francisco with enough time to stop and see the piers for a few minutes before driving to the airport and checking in.

Driving on the California Freeways!

At the Jelly Belly factory entrance.

Waiting for the tour to begin.

Starting the tour.

Factory floor.  Pictures hanging are made out of Jelly Belly beans!!!!

Flavoring the beans.

Waiting to be polished!

Adding finished beans to the conveyor belt 

When we lived in Iowa, the girls went to Grant Wood Elementary school which was name after the artist who painted "American Gothic" (in the center).

The factory robots were a hit!

Smelling!

Abraham Lincoln!

Yulia picking out her custom flavors!

Lunch!

View of San Francisco as we returned from Fairfield

Quick trip to the Pier.

Alcatraz in the background

Bold gulls!

Heading back to the van.

Standing next to our ride!

Our flight to London was uneventful.  Heathrow was under construction, but we had plenty of time and so we were relaxed.  We spent a few hours waiting and then boarded our final flight home to Nur-Sultan - or at least that's what we thought.

After we were flying for awhile, the captain came on and said we were landing in Moscow.  We had some kind of mechanical issue.

We ended up spending about 10 hours hanging out at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow.  We were taken care of with food vouchers.  Communication wasn't great, but we got new tickets and got on the regular Moscow-Nur-Sultan flight.  We ended up at home 2 days late, a bit tired, and with another adventure under our belt.  

It's nice to be home.

In the air again!

Resting at Heathrow.

Resting in Moscow.  It's really hard to tell airports apart in pictures.

Eating burgers for breakfast (3:00 a.m. in Moscow) using our food vouchers.