Travelling to Japan

Sunday morning we woke up and got the kids and ourselves reading to go to church. We were only able to stay for Sacrament meeting because we needed to get back to change clothes, pack last minute items, and be ready for our shuttle to pick us up at my Mom's house.  All I can say is, it's a GOOD THING we came home when we did.  As soon as we walked in the door Kurt's phone was ringing - he received a recorded message saying our flight from Sacramento to LA was CANCELLED!!!  The next flight would be Monday, which obviously would't work for us.  So Kurt quickly called the travel agent line that covers the flights for his company.  She was SO helpful.  She was able to book us on a Southwest flight leaving at about the same time.  The kicker was that they could't transfer our luggage over from Delta. :( So once we landed in LA we had to go to the Southwest baggage claim (Terminal 1) wait for our baggage and then run all the way over to Delta at Terminal 5 to check in and to check our baggage...all in under 1.75 hours.

Luckily our suitcase was delivered super quick and we booked it to Terminal 5 in time.  We visited with some Army guys in line who were heading back to Hawaii...we wished we could have switched flights with them!  Anyways, after our bags were checked we hurried through security again and found our gate.  We hurried onto the plane and sat forever.  Apparently we boarded with the family/handicapped crowd.  I wish we would have stopped and grabbed some food first,  but we were worried about the time.  Once in the air it seemed like they took forever to feed us...which does not make a pregnant woman very happy.  The plane was pretty crowded so we weren't able to stretch out at all. :(  Luckily I was in an aisle seat and close to the bathroom.  My midwife recommended I try to get up and walk every hour or so.

Overall our flight was ok, just super long.  With 4-5 hours to go we hit some bumpy clouds and I just wanted off the plane, but then they gave me an ice cream sandwich and that made me a little happier.  The nice thing about the flight was the individual free movies.  I was able to watch the Green Lantern, Bridesmaids (semi-edited...still fast forwarded some stuff) and part of Mr. Popper's Penguins (before falling asleep).  Kurt watched The Green Lantern too, The Fast Five, and I think Planet of the Apes.  They definitely helped pass the time.

Once we landed we took a bus to the baggage claim, picked up our luggage, went through Customs and got our passport stamped.  Next we grabbed a taxi and headed to our hotel for the night.  We finally got settled around midnight Tokyo time.  We were still semi-awake, so we were able to call my mom and the kids for a few minutes on Skype before heading to bed.  They were just waking up.

About the hotel - nice, but bed is extremely hard.  Kurt liked it, but my back is a little sore.  The room is small, but very efficient.  We got some good laughs this morning watching the Japanese commercials.  The bathroom, specifically the shower was amazing.  I could have stayed in there all morning.  We grabbed some breakfast in the hotel and now I'm supposed to be sleeping while Kurt ran to the bank to exchange some money.  We're hoping to meet one of Kurt's coworkers for lunch who will be delivering Kurt's Japanese cell phone.  We can't use our cellphones here without paying a ton of fees, so the best way to get a hold of us is through email or skype. After lunch we're taking a bullet train to Nagoya (where Kurt served his mission).  We'll be staying there for a few days while Kurt has some meetings with a client.  I'll just be hanging out at the hotel trying not to get lost.  This weekend we'll  be heading back to Tokyo to start our house hunting trip.