A LONG WAY HOME

6:45 AM - Sitting at LAX waiting for the last leg of our journey home. Jim is having a triple latte and watching a Quantas jumbo jet preparing to leave.

Every flight and connection has been smooth and the airlines we dealt with efficient and friendly. We took LAN for the first time, from Cuenca to Guayaquil. Very comfortable plane - nicer (newer?) than Aerogal. However, Aerogal excels at the snack part of this 25 minute flight - they serve a little sandwich and a box of juice. LAN did have an inflight service - we received a butterscotch candy! We were on the same flight as Lee who was overnighting in Guayaquil and then heading on to North Carolina in the morning. It was nice to chat with him one more time.

On the ground in Guayaquil we had only an hour to claim our bags to re-check them, pay our exit tax and go through immigration. This all went without a hitch, though we were chided for being "very late" by the COPA airline clerk. Also, our checked bags were a titch over weight, but she didn't say a word.

The COPA flight from Guayaquil to Panama City is only a 2 hour flight. Jim and I were in the exit row so we had lots of leg room. On this flight we were served a sandwich (with the crusts cut off!), a 4 pack of Oreos and a beverage. COPA still understands about feeding people and there were no charges for the food or for any alcohol.

In Panama City we were to have a 1 hour lay over but our plane landed way far away from the terminal and we were taken on a bus to our entry gate. This ate up at least 15 minutes and by the time we got to our exit gate they were boarding our next flight. In Panama flights going on to the US have to go through a security check at the gate as airports in South America don't care if you bring liquids (or bombs in your shoes) through security. The boarding gate security check in Panama City is a joke. There is a team of pink clad women wearing rubber gloves who make a big show of opening everything and half ass poke through stuff. (Last year I brought two bottles of rum in a backpack and through this same check point with no problem). This security line had passengers backed up well into the lounge area. Jim and I were laughing because the reader board for the flight read "last call," as though the passengers could do something about getting there faster.

We finally got on board (Jim had to take his shoes off for security and I didn't) and found we were in the exit row again - aisle and middle. Luckily no one else came into our row so I got to move to the window seat. This is a 6 hour flight, from Panama City to Los Angeles. I can't complain at all about the leg room - very ample. After handing out customs forms for the USA, they fed us a very decent dinner (ravioli or meatloaf) and another 4 pack of Oreos, then started a dumb-looking animated movie about meatballs. Even though we had blankets and pillows I couldn't get comfortable because the plane was just a bit too warm for me. I looked out the window quite a bit and could see that we were flying due west, as the big dipper was to my right. The rest of the time I spent reading an excellent book (10 hankies) called "Annie Freeman's Amazing Traveling Funeral," by Iris Radish. I highly recommend this women's roadtrip book which is basically a big love story about a beloved friend who died.

We arrived at LAX at 10:45 PM PST last night and were dreading going through customs, as this was one of our worst ever several years ago. We were pleased to see that the international area of LAX had improved tremendously. No lines. We nearly got held up at passport control because Jim, being chatty, told the Homeland Security agent that his passport had a mistake on his birthdate. I wasn't sure he was going to be allowed to come into the country. The agent was able to pull up Jim's original passport application on-line but told Jim he was mis-representing his identity by traveling with the wrong birth date. He did state that Jim should be able to get a new passport issued at no charge, since it was erroneously issued. Phew! We made it through there and were pleased that our luggage came within a few minutes. We were heading for the hotel shuttle by 11:25 PM. Several years ago on this routing we (and everyone else on our flight) had to wait in this same terminal for 2 hours for our luggage to arrive. We considered this trip through LAX a big success.

We had to wait too long for our hotel shuttle because I am cheap and chose Travelodge instead of the Marriott or Hilton. In any case, our room was fine and we managed to get about 5 hours of sleep.

So, now we have 45 minutes until we board the last leg of our journey - Horizon airlines from LA to Santa Rosa. This is a 1 hour and 45 minute flight and is very scenic. We had a lovely experience on checking our bags, both of which were over weight. Not only were we not charged for them being too heavy, we also didn't have to pay the normal baggage fee because we were coming from an international flight. And, the check in agent was very friendly and fun.

Can't wait to get home and hug the cats.

Audrey