(5/8/09) 1:07 am Palau | (5/7/09) 9:07 am LA
Day of flying home

Getting into Palau was much easier than getting out. I only got 2 boarding passes so I'll have to see what happens when I get to Hawaii. Only 2 hours and change and I'll have been up for 24 hours.

There's a $20 tax to leave Palau...I happily paid it as this place now has a special place in my heart.

2:51 am Yap | 9:51 am LA

Very rough landing, even got some "ooooh's" from the passengers. I lucked out with not having to disembark the plane (the left side of the plane did). Due to the TSA and/or Dept. of Homeland Security, one side of the plane has to gather all of their belongings and leave the plane...the other half stays in their seats while people with gloves pull up the seats, check in the pocket on the back of the
seat in front and feel all around the headrest area, of the seats on the opposite side. When they finish one side, the passengers that got to stay on the plane now have to gather their belongings and move to the empty side of the plane. The agents now check that side of the plane.

After the agents leave, the passengers that had to leave the plane now come back on board...then any new passengers can come aboard. All I (and others on the plane) wanted to do was sleep.

5:51 am Guam | 1:51 pm LA

A bit of overkill on the security...before you can even go to your gate for any connecting flights you have to go through immigration, then a full on security check...again. Only to go through immigration again before you can board the plane!!!

I guess it wouldn't be so bad if one were awake, but when you're tired and the muscles don't want to work anymore...that's a whole different story. At least now I have about 7 1/2 hours to (hopefully) get some sleep.

So we didn't start backing out of Yap until 3:46 or so and 2 minutes later we were taking off. I managed to doze off for a while and woke up to be asked if I'd like something to drink - I got a cranberry juice then she handed me a small bag of pretzel sticks.

I think we're supposed to get breakfast on this flight. If they don't have my vegetarian food then at least I have a sandwich to eat (homemade bread, almond butter and apple butter). Gonna have to see about getting a bottle of water when we hit Hawaii.

1:06 am Guam | 9:06 pm LA

Now that I've had some sleep (and food) I can write a little clearer.

After I left the first immigration check I huried into a bathroom - would have had to step over 2 sleeping people to go on the plane. Little did I know what awaited next. When I came out of the bathroom and continued down the area to the gates I saw the long lines waiting for a security check. My first thought was that I was going to miss the plane as they were already boarding. When it was my turn to show the person my passport and boarding pass (before I even hit the security line area) I asked if I had to stand in that line before going to gate 9. I was told "yes". I told her that they had already started boarding my flight and she told me not to worry. I briefly stood there when a thought came to mind..."The Universe loves and adores me!" The next thing I know a security guard is removing the temporary lines and showed the 2 men in front of me, myself and probably people behind me into the new, shorter line. When we got to what looked like a winding area, that security guard opened up the temporary lines. Before I knew it I was taking off my shoes and putting my stuff in bins. For the second time this morning they went through my suitcase - don't know what they were looking for.

Anyway, I made it to my flight on time and got a nice surprise for breakfast...a hot, vegetarian meal! and I didn't have to wait for it. It was a dish of baby carrots, peas, 3/4 of a cooked tomato and either sliced potatoes or taro root. There was something that looked like a mini bagel but I didn't eat that.
Later on we got the "deep frozen" ice cream sandwiches.

Just finished eating another "special" meal - larger salad and a small paper bowl of about 10 grapes. I've also just finished filling out my customs form.

More on the next flight...

(5/7/09) 7:27 pm Honolulu | 10:28 pm LA

Made it through customs and another security area. This time they didn't go through my bag (though the person in customs did). Once I got to my gate I called Frank to let him know I made it to Hawaii; then called my mom to let her know I was okay. Apparently there was a mix up with the day/date I was coming home - both were given or e-mailed my flight info before I left town.

I wandered through all the stores near my gate (still) looking for a dolphin necklace that I have in my mind...none found. I went into Starbucks and bought a bottle of water and a cold chai tea latte. I sat down and ate my sandwich that I brought and half of the spicy hot blue tortilla chips. So now I have an hour to wait before we take off.

6:46 pm LA | 10:46 am Palau

I think we left Hawaii on time, I was struggling to stay awake. I vaguely remember dozing off before we took off and was only half awake as they played the video with the safety message. I think I woke up long enough for the take off (big smile on the face), then back to sleep for about an hour or so.

Not once was I offered a snack much less something to eat/drink. I'm glad I still had half of my chips and the bottle of water - ate those when it would have been dinner time in Palau (no wonder I was hungry). About an hour and change out from LAX a stewardess walked by with a tray of juice - didn't even look in my direction. A while later she was heading to the back with 2 juices left - I had to shift in my seat to see that. It caught her attention then she finally asked if I'd like some juice (along with the person sitting next to me) - about time!

We touched down at LAX around 4:45 am. Little did I know that I knew someone on my flight (from field hockey). The only time I saw him was in the center island waiting for the Van Nuys FlyAway...and even then I wasn't 100% sure it was him. If it hadn't been for Frank picking me up, I still wouldn't have known - he recognized Frank and called out to him.

Got home and was deep asleep until 1:30 pm when Frank woke me up so that I could go pick up my mom.

Note: There will be a follow up post at some point...it's almost a week since I've been home and I'm still having a problem getting used to the time difference/a day of flying.

I've posted some of the videos on YouTube (4 as of this post):
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JoySeek3r&view=videos