Bob and Ann in Turkey 2008

With good intentions, the Benson's picked us up this morning and took us to the airport. We got there in plenty of time for our 1:51 (changed to 2:30) departure. We boarded our huge 747, taxied down the runway and took off for Frankfurt. We got as far as the Delta when the pilot announced that one of the landing gears would not fold up so we would have to turn around and go back to SFO. After criss-crossing the Delta for awhile, we finally landed at SFO around 4:00. They announced that they had another plane ready for us that would leave at 6:30. In the meantime, they gave us dinner vouchers which we used to have fairly decent Mexican food in the international concourse.

We got back to the gate at 5:45 ready to board the new plane. Then UAL announced that they couldn't get a crew for the flight so it was postponed until 10:30 tomorrow morning. We lined up for various vouchers for hotels, meals and transportation. Ann and I got vouchers for Super Shuttle. That was a real experience. Our driver (female) was a stand-up comic. On the way to drop off another couple at Fishermen's Wharf, we heard a lot of funny stories about her life - intimate details about past affairs and anecdotes from her stint as a SF taxi driver. BTW, she had a Tom Tom GPS.

So here we are back at home. We leave again at 6:50 tomorrow morning to catch our 10:30 flight. At least we get a shower and a change of clothes sooner than we would have in Istanbul. Out ETA in Istanbul is now 13:00 on Sunday, April 13. I notified our hotel that we would be a day late and that we would arrange our own transportation from the airport.