I'm Too Old for This

Hiking with Esther and her sister while dealing with my neuropathy

October 1, 2025 dawned with great anticipation. We were leaving to join an Anabaptist Heritage Tour with Masthof, guiding the way for people with Clemmer/Clymer, and Huber/Hoober family names; all with roots in both Switzerland and Anabaptism.

We arrived at the airport in plenty of time to board our United Airlines flight from Washington, DC to Zürich, Switzerland. We were looking forward to joining the group that had left the same day from Philadelphia. Our planes were scheduled to arrive in Zürich within an hour of each other. 

Our plane left on time as we headed along the east coast of the United States and heading toward the ocean as we left Canada. We were over Maine when we received word from the captain that something was wrong with the aircraft and we had to return to DC. Our plans to join the group were dashed. However, little did we know by how much that would mean. The captain assured us that another plane was being prepared to take us to Zürich.

When we landed in DC, the landing was quite bumpy. We later learned that we didn't land on a typical runway, but rather on a gravel one. The plane limped along to the gate from which we had left. Before entering the gate, fire trucks surrounded the plane on both sides and sprayed water all over the wheels of the plane. It was scary to behold, but one of United's goals is safety, so we were glad that we had avoided any more serious event.

We deplaned and waited for the replacement jet to arrive. After some time, we re-boarded the replacement plane. As we waited, the new crew kept telling us when they thought we would leave. First they announced that we had to wait until the plane was refueled. We waited some more. Then they announced that food for the flight had to be loaded and we waited some more. We now had been waiting for more than an hour.  

Suddenly, all the lights on the plane went out. They announced that there was a mechanical problem that needed to be fixed. By now we were waiting on the plane for two hours. We kept being encouraged by announcements that we would soon be on our way. It was getting hot and stuffy inside the plane. After three hours, they said that the mechanical problems couldn't be fixed, and we needed to deplane and rebook.

We were extremely lucky when a new line for rebooking was set up, and we were the first in line for rebooking. The earliest flight available for us was at the same time, but the next day. We were given vouchers to stay overnight in a nearby hotel. Exhausted, we finally arrived at our hotel at 4am. We had to leave the hotel by 11 am, so we got about four hours of sleep before we had to return to the airport.

The next morning, the shuttle bus to the airport was filled with others who had the same experience as we did. We shared our experiences and I was amazed at how everyone seemed to take into stride our inconveniences. We returned to the airport at around noon. United Airlines provided us with vouchers for a free meal back at the airport. We found a nice restaurant and asked if they accepted the vouchers, and they assured us that they did. We whiled away the time and asked for the check. Our waitress took the check along with our vouchers. We waited to leave, then waited some more. Finally she returned with the manager, who tried to explain why they couldn't accept the vouchers despite the fact that we were told up front that they could. It set us back $60, and more forms to fill out for reimbursement from United. What else could go wrong on this trip?  

Fortunately our plane left on time, and we arrived in Zürich at the time allotted. On the plane, the woman who sat beside my wife shared how she was returning to Switzerland to attend her graduation, and how she would barely make it to her ceremony. I wonder how other passenger's experiences were.

Through constant emails between me and our tour leader, we were able to arrange a place for us to meet the group in Zürich to join up with them. This required us to navigate our huge suitcases through the airport to the train station, then walk quite a few blocks with them to where the tour bus was parked. We were glad to finally be able to get rid of our suitcases and join the group for a walking tour of Anabaptist places of interest.

Then followed a wonderful time exploring our roots in Switzerland and other places in France and Germany where our ancestors lived.

Esther and I stayed two more weeks beyond the tour to visit her family and several friends. On the 27th of October, we returned to the states. Thus began the second part of our travel problems. It started by trying to check in 24 hours before our flight. We had booked with United, but our flight from Zürich to Amsterdam was run by their partner airline: Swiss International. As per normal, they asked for our confirmation number. I carefully typed in the number we had for United, but it wasn't accepted. They needed a confirmation number for Swiss International. I had never been given that number. I searched their rather unintuitive website (unusual for the Swiss) until I finally found the number, and we were checked in. Or so I thought.

We arrived at the airport in Zürich in plenty of time to make our 7:15 am flight to Amsterdam before changing planes to get to our final destination. However, nothing that I had done on SI's unintuitive webesite was valid. Our boarding passes were rejected and new ones had to be issued. On impulse, decided to have a light snack and a cup of coffee before boarding. Our flight was to be two hours long, so we expected to receive some food on our way to Amsterdam. We soon learned that high winds in Amsterdam delayed our flight by an hour. Looked like we would have a difficult time making the flight to DC.

As we approached the airport in Amsterdam, we were buffeted by those high winds, and had a very unusual, but safe landing. We had little time to make our flight, and depending where the gate was, it might be impossible. And we received no food on the flight. So much for the "high quality" of Swiss International. We found the gate and started walking to it. We nearly ran, but every time we thought we were approaching the gate, there were more signs that pointed to more distant places in the terminal.

Time was getting short. We speed walked nearly .75 miles until we arrived at our gate, sweaty, exhausted and hungry. The gate was closed by the time we arrived, but since we were in the last group to board, we made it. 

By now it had been more than two hours since I was able to use the bathroom, and I thought I had time to do so before we boarded, but alas, the bathroom was closed! I had to wait until after I boarded to use a facility. 

We were taken to the airplane by bus, and then had to walk a few yards to the stairs to board. It was rainy and cold, and since passengers with overhead bags took forever to get seated, we were in the rain and wind for a long time before we could finally get into a sheltered place. The plane ride to DC was uneventful and we arrived right on time despite leaving a little late. And we had loads of food and drinks. 

I knew that the chance of our bags arriving with us was slim since our plane from Zürich to Amsterdam had arrived late, so I was prepared for the worst. Sure enough, our bags were still in Amsterdam, and we had to go through the process of claiming them. The assured us that they would be delivered to our doorstep the next day. Our bags were filled mostly with dirty clothes, along with quite a stash of cheese and chocolate. I guess those items could wait for a day. (update on our bags. I checked United's bag tracking this morning, and one of them appears to be in Chicago. Too bad for the cheese and chocolate).

The next hurdle was paying for long-term parking. Some where along our month-long journey, I had lost our parking ticket. I had googled what to do if this happened, and google assured me that it wouldn't be a problem, that all I had to do was push the help button at the pay station. I wasn't at all sure that this would work. To my surprise, they knew exactly how long my stay in the parking lot was, and I paid and we continued our journey. Despite my anxiety, the process only took a few minutes, and we were on our way.

After nearly 22 hours of anxiety, we arrived home safely, but rather exhausted. Yes, I think I am too old for this.