Ugh. Up at 3:30 a. It was way too early for this. Jill and Julia showed up at about 4:15 and moments later our driver called to announce his presence in the parking lot. A few suitcase haulings and we're off!
We arrived at the airport at about 5:02a. The airport opened at 5a. The line for United check-in was out the door and to the next terminal. It was so freaking cold! The only thing keeping me awake while we waited in line was the cold.
We finally got checked in, Jill managed to beg us to the front of the security line and we were boarding. The woman in the San Diego airport at the United gate was standing next to the door and she . . . asked me to scan my ticket. I stopped, looked at her, and tried to hand her my ticket. Um, what? She said again, please scan your ticket. I looked at my ticket, looked at the scanner, vaguely waved it in the direction of the screen and instantly had my ticket grabbed away. I guess that's how you get service - stare blankly and act retarded. I mean, come on! Um, hello United. The airlines are going bankrupt, people are being laid-off, and your staff are getting "job security" by asking passengers to scan their own tickets. Huh.
OK, don't remember much of the next 2 hours. We arrived in San Fran, found breakfast and wandered toward the international terminal. We had 4 hours to kill. We looked at the map, asked how long the walk was, and learned that there was a bus to the international terminal. We hopped in line, which was oddly place in the middle of the hallway. We stood in line for 15 minutes waiting for, I guess, the magical school bus to pick us up, and watched two little boys in red run repeatedly the wrong way down those people movers. Their dad would dash madly after one, grab his arm, yell at him, and march him to a spot to stand still. While he was getting the other, the first would run off again. OMG. I would have murdered someone if they were mine.
Finally a United staffer showed up, asked to see my ticket and passport, and ushered our random line through a door, down some stairs, through some pipes and out onto the tarmac to load onto a bus. We packed up and road 5 minutes to the international terminal. We were allowed off about 7 at a time since that was all that could fit on the elevator up to the terminal. We were underneath the terminal with conveyors of suitcases running overhead. It was sketchy. But we arrived in the right place with a couple hours to spare.
And what did we find but a spa! Heaven! We were the only people there at 9:15a. We signed up for various massages and plopped in the amazing massage chairs. Jill promptly fell asleep and was flopping like a dead fish as the chair squished and squashed her muscles. Meanwhile, I was face first in a massage chair being shoved all over the place. I was good and sore after that massage, but it was a pleasure before our 11.5 hour flight!
The plane ride was uneventful. Slept a lot. Didn't crack a book. Ate about 15 times. Mama Mia was played twice. Ugh! I hated it the first time. I slept through it times 2 and 3. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 started and ran for a good 45 minutes - and stopped! Mama Mia was popped in for time #2. STP2 was started again . . . and froze at the exact same spot. A third time, it was started over. And STP2 froze for a third time in the exact same spot. Come on! I didn't care - I was sleeping. But Julia was pissed!
We finally, finally!, arrived in Osaka. We made it through customs after getting fingerprinted and photographed. We went upstairs to All Nippon Airways with our luggage to check in for our flight to Okinawa. The women at the desk at ANA were so cute! They all had matching scarves tied elaborately around their necks with pretty flowers and bows formed. They were so kind and gave us detailed directions to our gate 100 feet away. We stopped in a random lounge on the way. I was gross and desperate for a shower. Some broken English later and we were in for 30 minutes. An extra charge and I was given 15 minutes in a shower. It was heaven. The most amazing shower ever! The 3 feet by 1 foot towel was a little odd, but it worked. I dug out my extra clothes and was happy as a clam. The lounge was odd. It had an entire comic book library and seats you could have only if you paid. I found my companions in the bathroom lounge washing up. And we headed out, clean, to our next destination.
Once again, we were heading to a plane. We got through security without taking our shoes off. I got a receipt for getting through security. Then we boarded, scanned our own tickets, and got another receipt for getting through the gate. I now had 3 pieces of paper for one flight. We sat down and buckled up, and noticed the screen. The video screens had live footage of outside. We could see the little men scurrying around and the lights waving. And then we saw the runway rushing by as we took off. It was a little disconcerting.
Two hours later and we were there! The jetway and airport windows were lined with real orchids. It was so pretty! We gathered up our luggage and actually had to turn in our bag claims. And there was Jon! We headed home and I was asleep about 10 minutes later! So nice to be able to lay down . . .
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