Saturday, August 04, 2007

Goodbye, East Coast!

Time to leave the East Coast and say goodbye to our trip to History. :( Sadness. We had a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed going through ---and living---American History, one of my favorite subjects in High School. It was wonderful, the way this country preserves its past, and how they celebrate it, every single day.

We brought Stella and Lola to the airport, bright and early. And no, there were no delayed or missed flights for the both of them.

That inconvenience was reserved for Japa and me. Sigh! What a loooooooong day.....at the airports, hehehe!

Backtrack a few hours.....after we had brought Lola and Stella to the airport, we went back to the hotel to finish packing. That done, we WERE going to go back to Hershey World, but Japa decided he wanted to watch a movie instead. Ok fine.

Off we went to the nearby Cocoaplex (cute name, huh, to be near the city of Hershey? *wink*) to see the Bourne Ultimatum. Man! I was TENSE throughout the entire movie! Matt Damon is a much much better version AND actor than Steven Seagal. I was on the edge of my seat for most of the movie, breathing only just before the credits rolled up. Two thumbs up for this one!

After the movie, we had enough time to go to the airport, return the Hummer (bye Baby! Hehehe) and check in. We were scheduled to leave at 640 pm.

At precisely 640 pm, it was announced that due to mechanical errors, our flight was going to be delayed. The new departure time was 840 pm. For those with connecting flights (that was us), we were asked to line up to get our new itineraries.

As it turned out, we had to stay in Atlanta, GA overnight, and get the first flight out the next morning. Fine. Overnight in Atlanta, in a hotel, and get on the 7 am flight. On First Class. Sounded good.

Too good to be true, I guess. We ended up leaving at 10 pm. We get to Atlanta and they have NO rooms to give us. NONE!!! Aaargh! The Delta people were saying that there was a convention in town and that they even tried a place called Ho Joe's. Um.....OKAY. I think I'll take my chances at the Atlanta airport, thank you very much! :)

The huge hassle was that we had to claim our luggage at Atlanta....and we could only check in at 4 am at the earliest!!! Sheesh! We got our meal vouchers and chowed down on Wendy's burgers and fries. We lingered as much as we could to pass away the time. I took my jacket from the suitcase because it was FREEZING in that airport!!!

Japa took out a small bottle of shampoo and his razor and went to find a restroom. He came back after a few minutes looking nice and fresh. Hehehe. He had shampooed his hair and shaved what little stubble he had. A major way to pass the time, eh? Hehehe.

Finally at 4 am, we line up and check all our bags in. We could THEN go to the gates. We grab some Starbucks coffee and some Chick-Fill-A nuggets for Japa with our meal vouchers. Then we sat down and waited.

By this time, I was half expecting that the flight was going to be delayed. Again. So I settle down and was able to take a nap! Thankfully, the flight left at 730 am AND we had scored some great First Class seats!!! Whoohoohoo! Redemption! Hehehehe.

The great thing about flying Delta First Class? Our cabin steward was just AWESOME! He was this kindly-looking, dapper, elder gentleman and he was the epitome of professional elegance. Mouthful, huh? But it's the best way I can describe this guy. He was friendly, courteous, greeted all of us with a handshake. And he always had a wonderful smile on his face. No, he wasn't high! He was just a really really nice guy!

{Back in LA}

We get to Los Angeles in style. Remember, we were in First Class. Japa and I slept for most of the way, waking up to get a drink of water and a cookie. Then we'd promptly go back to sleep.

Randy picks us up, and I stand by the BMW as he goes in to help Japa with the bags. As I stood there folding my jacket, airport security comes and the lady tells me that I have to get back in the car and drive off, there was no parking out in front. Ok, I tell her.

I get in the car and can't find the key. I finally figure out this small rectangle thing COULD be the key and look for a place where I can insert it. I do and press this button that said START/STOP. Oooookkkkkaaaaayyyyy. Nothing happens. In the meantime, security lady was looking at me like I was an imbecile who didn't know how to drive! Hehehe.

I get up and tell her that I couldn't figure out how to start the damn car and I had to get my brother to drive it. She comes over and peers over my shoulder and says that she'd love to help me but had no idea how to do it either! She tells me she'd stand guard while I run in and go get Randy. With one eye on her, I go into the terminal and yell for Randy. He comes out and drives off...but not without showing me how to do it.

You have to step on the brake BEFORE pressing that dang start/stop button! Sheesh!!!

Ok, I need some sleep!

TTFN!

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