Anderson South America Adventure Day 1 Part 2 - "The More the Loud Obnoxious People Drink the Louder they Get." March 4, 2020

We had one of those littler planes where you have two seats on one side of the aisle and one on the other side. I remember flying on one of these before. The two seats are very snug. I suggested that we take two singles. We have to "valet check" our carry on bag but we keep our personal item. We get to our seats and since I promised everyone that I would be safe I pulled out a Clorox wipe to clean the seat, arms and tray. I hand one to Rob so that he can clean his seat. The flight attendant sees this and asks if we are together and would we like to move across the aisle to an empty row. Now why did I agree to this? I had already decided that these seats were too small. We move over and yup, too tight, so we move back. Rob has that "one of these days" look to him. The flight attendant asks if we are going to stay there because she has to let the pilot know. I look at the plane, oh yeah, the single seats are filled and the double seats are less than 1/3 occupied. Too bad, I am not moving back. I started the day with a bit of a headache and the background noise on the plane is not helping. I pull out my lovely Bose Noise Cancelling headphones that Victoria & Jason gave me for my birthday. Oh yes, this is wonderful. The flight is smooth, I get an entire of can of Coke Zero to myself and we land early. Nice. We arrive at JFK and are told to stand against a wall to wait for our suitcases. Rob sees several people going past us and is amazed at how few had a carry on. Then I tell him to look at the wall up the ramp. A whole line up of people. Ours are in the first batch brought up and Rob's is the second one off. Then we go up a ramp, and up a ramp, and UP a ramp. Does it actually end? We get to the main concourse and check for the Admiral's Club Lounge. Victoria and Jason gave us day passes for this since we have an almost 8 hour layover. We check into the club and find chairs in a fairly quiet area. Rob gets a glass of wine for free. I see bottles of Coke in the display case. Oops, those cost. I head over to the bar. A Coke Zero has a charge but Diet Coke is free. Wait, they charge for Coke Zero but wine is free? They have some nice field greens with a salad bar and potato soup. I ate a couple of cookies and some Rice Crispy squares. Oh, big mistake. I am not used to sugar. The sun starts to shine where we have been sitting so Rob finds a quiet corner for us. Very nice. After a while a group of four people come over and sit not too close to us. Most people here talk in hushed tones, not so much this group. In the beginning they were OK but the alcohol is free, but not Coke Zero, and the more that they drink the louder they get. We finally move. Another quiet spot where Rob can plug in his computer. The woman working the bar asked where we were flying. I see her when we are changing places and she tells me that she is from Buenos Aires. She tells me to not take my phone on the streets with me, wear no jewelry and to leave my passport back in our room. I am wondering about wearing my Fitbit. I hate to miss all of those steps but I also do not want it stolen. Then again if I do not have my phone or my Fitbit how do I know what time it is? We have a couple hours left before we board. I am going to walk around for a while. I will post about the flight and our journey to our Airbnb tomorrow, because you know that there will be stories to tell.

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