Monday, September 26, 2005

Home Sweet Home

It took us over 26 hours, but we finally made it home today.

Woke up in London at 5:30am Monday morning (that would have been 9:30pm Sunday here in the PST), grabbed our stuff, and went right down to the shuttle bound for Heathrow. Our flight was at 8:20 and after the fiasco on Sunday morning, we didn't want to take the chance we would be late. Turns out our flight was late though. They expected to take off my 9:20 instead. So we waited around the airport for a couple of hours.

At that point we thought we would still be ok. We had a three hour window at our connection in Toronto, so we should still be able to make it in time. Unfortunately our flight arrived in Toronto 2 hours behind schedule, leaving us only one hour to hop on the shuttle to the other terminal, clear Canadian customs, clear US customs, and re-check our bags. Yeah, we didn't make it.

I got stopped at customs. Apparently the flower bulbs I bought for my grandma in Amsterdam didn't have some certificate saying they weren't infected with some bacteria, so they took them away. But that was the extent of it. Jessica wound up being the random check, so they searched her carry on bags as well. All clear, no way we are making the flight.

So instead of the 2pm flight from Toronto to LA, we were booked on the 6pm flight. So we waited around the airport for a few hours. Called my dad to tell him the change of plans - we should land at 8:10 and make the 9pm shuttle to the Disneyland Hotel, should arrive there at 10pm and can he pick us up then.

But they didn't even start boarding for our flight until 5:50, so the plane started moving at around 6:30. But we didn't take off. Apparently there was a problem with one of the runways, so they only had one for that terminal, so all the planes were queued up, waiting for their turn to take off or land. Didn't actually take off until 7:45.

So instead of arriving in LA at our original 4:10, or our updated 8:10, we landed at 9:30pm. A full 24 hours after waking up to leave. But the fun still wasn't over. We were hoping to get our bags in time to meet the 10pm shuttle, but we were standing at the baggage claim, waiting for our bags, as we saw the Disneyland shuttle drive off at 10pm. We were ready 15 minutes later.

I called my dad. He was there waiting at the shuttle drop off at the Hotel. But he made the trek out to the airport to pick us up. I finally arrived at my house at 11:30. Poor Jessica still had a drive back to Norco.

But we are home. The trip was great, but it is good to be back. Now all I need is a shower, clean laundry, and some sleep....

No comments: