We made it! :)
It is currently 6:10 pm Guam time, Tuesday June 22nd, and 4:10 am Melbourne time, early Tues. June 21st. That means that twenty four hours and ten minutes ago I was receiving a wakeup call from my warm bed at the Hyatt.
So far so good. We woke up at 4 am, showered and packed quickly enough to check-out from our hotel and catch the 5 am shuttle. Being only three miles from the airport was perfect and we soon found ourselves at the Continental counter being handed four boarding passes a piece as the woman behind the counter cocked her head and said “where exactly are you going?”
We checked our plethora of bags (packing for Korea means we have many more bags than we would otherwise), sailed through security, grabbed a surprisingly yummy breakfast, and soon found ourselves sitting in chairs with the down-to-business Monday morning travel crowd who impatiently tapped their feet while on their cell phones waiting to board.
The flight to Houston was uneventful, but the time changes had begun. We were now in central time. We boarded the plane for Honolulu and were relieved to discover the seats were a little bit roomier than the local Orlando-Houston flight and had a good bit more leg room. My complaints? I am pretty underwhelmed with Continental. I had low expectations to start. But for all of our hours of flight time the movies and other channels are not on demand...and the food…was…terrible. From Houston to Honolulu we were given lunch and an additional light meal. Both were the worst airplane food I’ve ever had. Ever. Our lunch was mystery meat that we believe was supposed to be a cheeseburger that was probably three inches in diameter and tasted…crappy. The burger was accompanied by iceberg lettuce…much of mine had rotted. It was really bad. The next meal was a turkey sandwich…but that too was teeny tiny and was one slice of turkey and a piece of lettuce that was no bigger than two quarters. We were also given a 1.3 ounce bag of mini-baby-carrots. Bleh.
We survived the 8.5 hour flight to Honolulu and were pleased to learn that even though we would be using the same plane to go onto Guam, we could leave the plane for the hour they turned it over. Hooray! I have officially been to Hawaii and we sought refuge in a restaurant that served delicious quesadillas and enchiladas. We felt infinitely better after eating real food, walking around a bit, and stretching our legs. Much better. We decided the break was really helpful. Oh! And as we landed we flew right past Pearl Harbor – it was really cool!!!
And then we braced ourselves and forced ourselves onto yet another flight – although this one was “only” 7.5 hours. We figured out that we were now technically on Continental Micronesia. Same plane…but different division…and were pleasantly surprised to discover the food was actually better! This was definitely the hardest flight, but we managed. We spent the first portion of the flight watching “How to Tame a Dragon” – which I loved! I’m a sucker for cute, big puppy-eyed critters. I definitely want my own little Toothless now. And we spent the rest entertaining ourselves. I’ve significantly a book on Korean history, society, and culture – it reads kinda like a textbook or travel book – very very dense. It’s slow going, but I have learned a tremendous amount and am hoping the other books will be a little bit more historical/story oriented and quicker to read. Daniel has made use of his DS fleet and his “New Super Mario Bros” game he bought the day we left. He’s beaten it already (*sigh*)…but now he’s perfecting it. We both managed to snag an hour or two of a nap as well (seeing as how it is now 4 am our time again).
Well…we are now sitting in the Guam airport…ready to get on with our last flight and get there already. This one should take right around 2 hours. We have also had over 24 hours of sunshine today – when we landed in Houston it was 8ish, Honolulu it was noonish, and now in Guam it is 6 pm ish…so the sun has been shining since it rose with us in Orlando. …That definitely helps with the adjustment too. The planes are really a twilight zone, it honestly doesn’t feel like I’ve been flying for twenty-four hours now…and I actually still recognized myself the last time I used the restroom and looked in the mirror!
PS. For those of you not aware of seat reclining etiquette, there’s a few basics. First, before throwing your seat back please actually look and see if doing so will injure the person behind you because they are currently picking something up off the floor and now need to go to the chiropractor and feel like they may be slightly concussed. Second, if you have a small child, don’t recline the seat for them. They are tiny. They will be fine. If they are sleeping in the seat like a kitten...they don’t exactly need the seat reclined. Third, when it’s meal time – the respectful, courteous, polite-human-being thing to do is to put your seat upright and not lean it back again until trash collection. Fourth, unless it is an overnight flight, you don’t really have to feel compelled to leave your seat back for an ENTIRE eight plus hour flight. Especially when you are awake 80% of the time. I understand it’s a nice break, it varies things up, but the entire time? Most importantly? If one more person reclines their seat into me without looking and hits me again...
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