Time to Evacuate

We were up fairly early again, and fast-moving clouds were covering the city. I brought my rain jacket when we went for a walk. We had first walked toward the Kyoto Railway museum as I liked the idea that their gift shop might have a Shinkansen t-shirt that was also a character. Eyes, and nose, and a big smile, but ALSO a train. The Japanese sure do love characters . . . and so do I. Because we were up ungodly early again, the museum and store were still closed, so we walked to nearby Toji Temple instead.

As we walked around the complex, the clouds parted just enough to show a little bit of blue sky. And just a little bit. Within 30 minutes of these pictures being taken, it started to rain steadily.

And speaking of that rain . . . remember the typhoon I mentioned in the last post? Greg and I had a bit of a chat about our airport options, flight loads, and all the things that normal people don't have to worry about. Due to pending tropical storms and such, there was a good chance that flights were going to start getting canceled. That prospect was a bit concerning since the backlog on standby passengers would surely overwhelm the system and we could be stranded.

Our best bet, we decided was to take the train to Osaka-Kansai Airport, which was the closest. It was, unfortunately, also in direct line of Typhoon Cimaron.

After doing a bit of last minute shopping near the train station, we bought train tickets to Kansai airport. The lady selling the tickets warned us that we had to leave by 3:00pm because all remaining trains for the day were canceled due to the typhoon. That statement made it all seem a little bit more ominous and real. I'd been watching the weather radar pretty closely, and it was a slow-mover, so I had estimated it wouldn't reach land until about 10pm, five hours after our planned departure. The fact that there would be no trains after 3pm was a bit disconcerting to say the least.

After our hour and a half train ride to Kansai Airport, we breezed through security and emigration control with the efficiency that only the Japanese could deliver. Even the airport felt a bit muggy. We ate our last meal in Japan with a bit of sake on the side. It wasn't very good, but it is also possible that I just don't like sake.

Then we made our way to the gate where we were relying entirely on United's numbers being wrong. It technically showed oversold seats, but I convinced myself that this was a lie.

Maybe this was wishful thinking, but I felt it a better option than going all the way back to Tokyo, whose loads were marginal at best. That being said, if we didn't get on this United flight out of Kansai, we would be stuck...

Fortunately, we got cleared into business class seats and after we reached our cruising altitude, the Captain reported that they were close to canceling the flight. Evidently, winds had already accelerated to 75mph within 30 mins of our departure. Some nine hours later, we landed in San Francisco and then back home.