Imperial China Day 26
Imperial China
OAT Day 2-22 - Thursday, May 1, 2008 - Flight Across the International Date Line - Home to Colorado
We woke up to a 4:30 call and we had to have our bags out by 5:00 AM. Matt had arranged for us to have a breakfast box delivered when the porters came for the luggage. Neither the boxes nor the porters came!
Don, Jeanette, Gennie, and I were on the early Northwest flight so we took our bags down to the lobby at 5:15 and reported the mix-up. The desk clerk put a box together for us and then Matt came to see us off. It was 79 degrees and raining – a day to be on a flight for sure.
Randy was supposed to be there to take us to the airport, but he was also late, said his driver did not show up on time! We had the bags all loaded on the bus as soon as Randy arrived; we were on our way to the airport, an hour from our hotel.
We went right to the Northwest counter, got our boarding passes, and checked our luggage. We went through Customs and Security easily with no problems.
Gennie and I found the Hong Kong Lounge for British Air, Quantas, and Northwest. I had a cup of coffee and we wrote a quick note to our son Eduardo so he would know we were on our way home.
At 7:30AM, we walked down to our gate. The staff was just opening boarding so we got right on our flight to LAX. We had one stop in Narita, Japan.
The big 747 pulled away from the jet way at 8:15 but when the pilot began the take off we stopped and he went back to the gate. He told us there was a problem with the landing brakes.
After 2 hours and many mechanics working inside and outside of the plane, the captain once again gave us the information that all was well and we had permission to take off.
Our flight was very pleasant, quiet, and we arrived in Narita having made up an hour’s time. We flew through security and on to our new gate in record time.
We saw Don rushing to make his Seattle flight and wished him good luck. The NW flight crew had told us all connecting flights would make it except for Detroit. Unfortunately, that was Jeanette’s flight, but the gate agents had rebooked all of those passengers.
We were the last group to enter the aircraft but found our seats right away. The flight attendants closed the doors and we started backing away for the jet way.
At 4:40, we were in the air over Japan and on our way to LAX. The flight time was a little over eight and one half hours. We settled into our seats, had dinner, and then I watched a movie while Gennie caught up on the journal and read her book.
Arriving in Los Angeles at 9:20, we had to wait to claim our bags, go though US Immigration, and then a quick pass through Customs with a “Glad to be home…”.
The last leg home was with Frontier so we had to go from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3 and get our boarding passes. Then we went back to the other end of the terminal on a run.
We made it to Gate 38 just as they were calling the flight – room to spare! Frontier is now our airlines of choice, the flight left right on time and arrived on time in Denver in a blizzard!
We waited a few minutes for the bags to come down and then a few more for the shuttle to take us to Pikes Peak, our long term parking area.
As it was approaching Rush Hour in Denver, we took the E-470 Tollway and made great time to Lincoln Avenue where we had a salad at Chipotle. One more stop at Safeway to get a few things for the morning and we were on our way to Elephant Rock.
It was great to be home again after 26 days away, a flight that was 23 hours long, but without many dreaded layovers, and over 6000 photos!
Accommodations: Home Sweet Home - - - Meal: B, L, D
Picture 1 – Our 747 at Hong Kong Airport
Picture 2 – Narita, Japan Airport
Picture 3 – Frontier Flight in Denver
Picture 4 – Flights Delayed – We Got Lucky
Picture 5 – Our Honda at Pikes Peak Parking - DIA
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A CD OF EACH TRIP IS AVAILABLE.
These CDs are compilations of slide presentations of each day (pictures of the events during the day) accompanied by music reflective of the nation and day.
On most CDs there are presentations on the people of the country, people traveling with the group, flowers, and panoramas.
On more recent trips, short videos have been included on the web pages and these videos are also available in the CD.
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Comments
Great to read about your trip. Makes me realize my husband and I should keep better journaling records when traveling. We took the post trip to Cambodia so visited so many places. It is difficult to recall everything now that I am finally working on the scrapbook almost 1 year later! Your blog helps me so much with this as OAT pretty much keeps the same itin. Thanks for sharing your trip!
Post a Comment!Glad you made it home safely. Thanks again for doing this; it was a great journal.
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