Don’s brother Ralph delivered us to Dulles Airport 2 1/2 hours before our flight time.  With the tandem, we know not to be in a rush..

At the ticket counter, the agent Terri was a bit harassed, but we remained calm.  The printer was out of stock and when filled kept jamming, so the process was quite time-consuming.  The tandem case weighed 82 pounds; we just paid the surcharge and proceeded to security.

Our TSA-Pre had no effect there, long serpentine lines.  And the TSA dog took a liking to Don, resulting in a full pat-down (I really wanted to take a picture…) and unpacking of his carry-on backpack.  Again we stayed calm.

We had day passes for the United lounge, which was full.  We walked to a second lounge, snagged some food and headed to our gate.  Overseas flights start boarding an hour before departure.

Once onboard and settled, the plane slowly exited the gate and wandered to the runway – and stopped.  There was a thunderstorm threat in the area and all take-offs and landings were delayed for an hour.  No clouds that we could see, but there we sat.  Final take-off delayed almost an hour and a half.

Flight generally uneventful, though the mild sleeping pill I took did not work, so little sleep for either of us.  We landed in Amsterdam around 9 am local time, retrieved our luggage and the infamous tandem case and were met by Jan, driving a large Ford van, big enough to hold the case and our luggage.

We are staying 2 nights in Abcoude, maybe 20 miles outside of Amsterdam. We will put the tandem together, explore the area, and get “settled” before we embark on our Dutch adventure.