Hello!
Up in Naha about 6 am in preparation for our 12:10 pm
departure. (We like to be VERY early at airports…) Down for breakfast at 7, and it was very good
– except in looking through the covered chafing dishes, I managed to come
across some awful small silver fish-looking items … NOT what I want to see first thing in the morning!
Checked out around 8 and headed for the Monorail. R
had suggested taking a taxi, which wouldn’t really have been expensive – it’s
just the traffic in downtown Naha! So,
instead, we took the Monorail. Literally
25 feet from the hotel door, elevator to the second floor, ¥260
each (about $2) and a wait of a couple of minutes. No problem getting seats, and in less than 15
minutes we were at the airport! Would that
all airport trips could be this convenient!
The ANA check-in
desks were a bit confusing, but with a little help, our luggage was scanned and
accepted, and we had our printed boarding passes all the way to LAX. No wait at all for check-in security and voila, we were at our gate. There were a few places – including a Starbucks to wait, but our gate was
convenient and comfy so we sat and read our books (actually one Kindle and one
cell phone) until it was time to board.
Plane left just about on time at 12:10 pm and we were in the air! Flight was about 2½ hours, and we came down
to a Tokyo that had lots of white stuff all over the ground! R’s
comment: “Is that SNOW?” Yes, it was!
In fact, a gal that we talked to while waiting in line to board our next
flight told us that it had indeed snowed quite a bit in Tokyo, and that Narita
had actually been closed for several days!
Definitely glad I hadn’t known that, as I do tend to worry… (Surprise!)
No problems at all getting into or out of Narita; wait of only
a couple of minutes to get past passport control. SO
much better than when we were trying to get in to Japan!
Not too much of a wait at the gate, and then we were on our
way! Compared to the almost 13 hour
flight over, this flight was actually under 9
hours! It was definitely rocky, though, going over
the Pacific. UGH; I am NOT the world’s
best flyer! R managed to have the
seat next to him vacant, but I was quite comfortable in my single interior
aisle seat. Very close to the back, so
bathroom access was great, and I seemed to be the only person using it, so I
was very happy! I basically gave a pass
on the food, although I did eat the ice cream. And, no changes of movies that we could
tell. I did watch Aloha which wasn’t great, although I liked the ending. Tried watching the Hitman’s Bodyguard but couldn’t get past the needless language
issues, and it was pretty stupid. So,
fell back on a repeat of The Holiday
and the second newest Star Wars movie
and I feel sure there was something else, but as I can’t remember it at the
moment, it obviously wasn’t memorable.
In seemingly record time, we were at LAX!! Yeah! Very happy to get almost home! Got through customs and immigration (thanks
to Global Entry) in record time –
literally, under a minute, and then to baggage.
Everything safely arrived, so we loaded up a free cart and proceeded to
the Southwest terminal (Bradley International to Terminal 1)
maybe a 10 minute walk.
Discovered, unfortunately, that Southwest will only check in bags 4 hours or sooner before take-off
– and we were 6 hours. So, managed to
find two of the only seats at Southwest
lobby, and sat down to wait. Again, they
are doing construction on Terminal 1, and while the area we were in was fine,
it really was lacking services. There was
a total of TWO “non-gender” toilets
available, and let’s not even talk about the lines…
However, time did pass (we are both reading John Toland’s Rising Sun which is excellent and very
absorbing!) and at exactly 12:10 pm we were able to get our baggage tags, and
then through security. Again, a wait of
a minute or two, and into the terminal.
Again, this terminal is under construction. To say it is a mess is an
understatement. One bathroom, and very
few services provided. No, we did not
want a Coffee Bean. What we were really hoping for was salad! No chance for that, so we did without.
Southwest flight
was spot on time, and was very full – people heading to Tucson for the Gem Show, friends! And we arrived about 6:30 pm in Tucson. Bob and Stew were wonderfully waiting for us –
it is SO nice to see friendly faces
when you come dragging off of an airplane!
Luggage arrived in a short time, and we were home by 7:30 last
night. I did manage to unpack and sort
laundry and mail before I crashed and burned.
R calculated that from beginning
to touchdown at home in Tucson was something like 29½ hours … to bed by 10 …
and awakened somewhere in the 11 am time frame.
I NEVER sleep that late!! (And, no, I wasn’t at the walking track at 6 am.) NEVER! (Although I do remember when I came back
after two years in Okinawa, not waking up until after 1 pm…maybe it’s the
Orient?) So … I’m pretty incoherent now,
and am having a problem forming sentences, so please excuse all the grammar and
spelling errors and odd words here and there!
Thank you so much for coming along with us, and it was fun
to get your comments and emails!
Take care, and we’ll be in touch soon!
Lots of love,
m
xxx
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