Day 10 - The Longest Day, Part 2
EVA Airlines was running a bit late departing for LA. We were scheduled to leave at 6:43, but they didn't even call us to the plane until 6:20. One nice thing about this airline is they let the elderly and small children board with the first class folks. When you're talking about a plane that seats 380 passengers (double-decker), you'll take any advantage you can get. So we were sent to the front of the line. As Adam would say about anything that comes out in Lego Magazine, "Sweet."
The flight didn't take off until 7:10, which didn't bother me at the time. Right after we got in the air, Sandy asked if that meant we would also be 27 minutes late arriving to LA. If only that were the case . . .
When we made our reservations, we picked a connecting flight to St. Louis that was 3 hours after the Taiwan flight arrived to LA. A month after it was booked, they moved the departure time 1 hour earlier. At the time I was thankful for getting home an hour earlier. But now, after our experience in LAX the first time, I started worrying that we would cut it too close and not make our next flight. Jon told me it wouldn't be a problem. So I quit worrying (for the moment).
The flight was pretty bumpy, as we rode the jet stream back to America. EVA Air served a meal first thing, which was pretty good. They even had special child meals, but we sometimes questioned their choices. For instance, all 4 meals our kids ate (2 breakfasts, 2 something else) contained macaroni salad. That isn't exactly my idea of kid-friendly food. Macaroni and Cheese, yes. Macaroni salad with kidney beans on a lettuce leaf, not quite. But the upside was that the child meal had sweets. Supper had M & M's. Hard to eat pasta salad when you're looking at a pouch of M & M's. Alex started eating his, then fell asleep holding one in his hand. (8:30 pm). Adam and Anna held out a little longer before falling asleep (9:30). Mom and dad joined them about 10:00. About 3:00, Sandy woke up smelling something and realized Alex had wet his pants. Every single night, she had put a pullup on him, and he had not wet it once. The one night he went to sleep too fast to get him changed, he had an accident.
What a dilemma. On the one hand, we want Alex to keep sleeping. On the other hand, the smell from his clothes is keeping us from sleeping. Agreed: We have to do something. Sandy had one last pullup with her (no extra pants), so I made the decision as head of the family to take him to the back of the plane, yank off his wet pants, and quickly clothe him with the pullup. We didn't want to carry around wet clothes, so she agreed I should stuff them in the trash (I wonder what the stewardesses thought about finding those in there later?) Returning Alex to his seat in nothing but a pull-up and t-shirt, we covered him with a blanket, and he slept another 2 or 3 hours. When he woke up, he wondered what happened to his pants. Here he is later on the flight, sans pants:
With all three kids asleep in one row, Sandy and I finally got to sit together and talk. Then they showed Racing Stripes on the plane monitors, so we watched about half of it before falling asleep again.
When we all woke up, sometime around 12:00 p.m. in LA, we were served our breakfast. So far, the meals had all been tame, even if a little strange. On the first trip, Sandy noticed that there were two choices for breakfast: scrambled eggs and rice soup. On the way there, she picked scrambled eggs. On the way back, she wanted one more taste of China and picked "rice soup". Big mistake. She couldn't enjoy any of it. There was some kind of brown stuff that looked and tasted like shredded wool. Some spicy vegetables that she couldn't identify had to be washed down with water. A weird roll that looked doughy and raw. And fortunately, the kids didn't eat all of theirs and she ate what was left.
As we got closer to LA, I was getting nervous because I couldn't remember what time the flight was to leave. Our printed tickets still had the old time written down, and I couldn't find my updated itinerary. As soon as we touched down in LA at 3:55, I called my mother-in-law to check the itinerary. When she told me the plane was leaving at 5:35, I got more nervous. Plus, our plane was stuck on the runway. Apparently, they were waiting for runway traffic to clear before we could park. So I called Mike Worstell for advice. He told me we would make it, but not to piddle around.
We finally parked at the gate around 4:15 pm, and then had to wait at the back of the plane for the other 350 to disembark. Getting off the plane, I asked about our stroller, which we had to wait about 5-10 minutes for them to retrieve. I seriously thought about leaving it behind. But it had served us well, so we waited. Loaded up with carry-ons and children (and Alex still with no pants), we headed for the line to be checked into the country. A considerate lady put us in a short line because she saw that we had kids. Too bad the short line was slower than the long line. I really think the purpose of the lines when you get into a country is not to check your passport as much as to give your luggage time to be sent to the baggage claim.
Anyway, by the time we got through the line, the baggage still wasn't there. It was being sent to 2 adjacent baggage claims, so we had to watch both of them. We finally got it all collected, loaded up, waited in another line, and walked to the next terminal to hit our connecting flight. On the way, Sandy pulled some dirty shorts out for Alex to wear over his pull-up.
4:50 pm: I have no idea where to go in American Airlines Terminal 4. I try four people on two levels before they finally show us where to put our bags. Then we have to walk back somewhere else. Very poorly laid out, especially when you have a plane to catch.
We thought the baggage would be easy: five bags, already tagged for STL. All they have to do is go to the x-ray machine, and we're home free to head for security. Sandy pulls them up to me, and I hand them to the baggage officer two at a time. She walks with two and takes them to the machine. As I hand her numbers 3 & 4, I say, "There's one more right here." She must have forgotten, because number 5 didn't make it to St. Louis. More on that in 5 hours . . .
Through security, shoes off, shoes on, laptop out, camcorder out, boarding passes out, blah, blah, blah. It's like going through a maze, a torture chamber, and the sidewalks of Taipei, all at the same time.
5:20 pm: A long walk to gate 42A, where we find that they have assigned us to seats that aren't together in the plane. So we wait some more while they reassign us to the back two seats: ones without windows or power adapters.
5:25 pm: We board the plane. One lady is in the next to the last row, where two of us are to sit, with the other three behind. Our kids are all talking at once. Sandy notices there's no overhead storage and no window. I turn around to see the lady stand up and ask the stewardess if she can sit somewhere closer to the front (in other words, further from us!) Ouch. Fortunately, it isn't full, so they move some people around for her, then they find us seats closer to the front and to windows so we can see. Very thoughtful.
10 minutes to spare, so I call my mother-in-law so she won't worry and I call Mike to make sure he remembers when and where we are arriving in St. Louis. We're hot, sweaty, and smelly, but we're headed for home.
What a spectacular view out the windows. While David and Adam played NBA Live against each other, Sandy and Anna were enjoying the view out the window of the ocean, the beaches, and the mountains. Later, they watched lightning in the clouds as we passed through a thunderstorm. Sandy set her watch ahead to Central time after leaving LA. At that time it was still broad daylight outside and seemed like morning to us on Taiwan time, but she explained to Anna that it was actually bedtime back in Missouri. Weird, huh.
The flight was faster than expected. At 10:45, 20 minutes ahead of time, we hit the ground in St. Louis. Only Alex had been to sleep, and only for a few minutes. It was enough to recharge his batteries, though. It was a big, long walk from Gate 32 through the main terminal to the baggage claim. The kids were running on fumes. Adam collapsed once under the weight of his backpack (exaggerated, I'm sure). We found Mike and waited for the luggage, and waited, and waited. After being good most of the trip, the kids were fighting, just like at home. Must be something about the air in Missouri.
11:15 pm: We have four bags, but one is missing. Mike takes the four out to the car, along with Sandy and the kids. I go talk to the baggage claim people. Two others from Taipei had lost bags as well, so I didn't feel bad. They promised to deliver them to us by the next day. They were in Los Angeles, ready to fly to St. Louis. No problem, it's their money and we won't wear the clothes in it before tomorrow anyway.
11:35 pm: We drive out of the parking garage and I'm starving for Taco Bell. Mike finds one, and we hit the road headed west. A good time of talking all the way home. Alex was the last kid to fall asleep, but everyone but Mike and David were asleep by the time we hit Moberly at 2:00 a.m.
Tyler had been housesitting for us (and is staying with us a few more weeks this summer). He had the house in super shape, and even made a welcome sign:
Dezi had made cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We were blessed to be well taken care of this entire trip by our friends on this side and that side. Most of all, blessed by God that whatever happened, he kept us safe and made it all work out.
I sent a quick IM to my mother-in-law telling her we had arrived:
dfincher (2:01:10 AM): made it home
dfincher (2:01:14 AM): 2:00 am
dfincher (2:01:18 AM): kids are asleep
dfincher (2:01:25 AM): parents are awake and smelling pretty bad
bearbranchbakers (8:02:25 AM): Wonderful !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
bearbranchbakers (8:03:08 AM): Wonderful you made it home okay, not that you smell bad.
It took us 45 minutes to get to sleep, but we had five hours of sleep before waking up ready to go at 8:11 am.
David was back to work, Sandy was doing laundry. Adam was up at 9:00 am, and Alex and Anna were finally roused from slumber at 11:15 am.
The bag arrived at the college at 4:15 pm, safe and sound.
Sandy took a quick nap from 5:00 - 5:30.
Other than that, everyone was back to normal. The kids were asleep by 9:00 pm and we're headed there by 10:00 pm. Thanks to your prayers, we don't believe in jetlag.
Coming back to America, we found several things to be thankful for:
1. Drivers who obey the traffic laws
2. Central air conditioning
3. A washer and dryer that can do large loads of laundry
4. Television without Chinese subtitles
5. Having your own yard to mow (thanks Tyler) and vehicles of our own to drive
6. We didn't have to walk anywhere today!
7. Being able to communicate with anyone we see, using our own language
8. Wonderful friends in Taiwan who treated us to a lifetime of memories
9. Encouraging friends and family in America who prayed for us
10. A faithful God who is on the throne, watching out for us all
Next time: Back to California in 26 days.
The flight didn't take off until 7:10, which didn't bother me at the time. Right after we got in the air, Sandy asked if that meant we would also be 27 minutes late arriving to LA. If only that were the case . . .
When we made our reservations, we picked a connecting flight to St. Louis that was 3 hours after the Taiwan flight arrived to LA. A month after it was booked, they moved the departure time 1 hour earlier. At the time I was thankful for getting home an hour earlier. But now, after our experience in LAX the first time, I started worrying that we would cut it too close and not make our next flight. Jon told me it wouldn't be a problem. So I quit worrying (for the moment).
The flight was pretty bumpy, as we rode the jet stream back to America. EVA Air served a meal first thing, which was pretty good. They even had special child meals, but we sometimes questioned their choices. For instance, all 4 meals our kids ate (2 breakfasts, 2 something else) contained macaroni salad. That isn't exactly my idea of kid-friendly food. Macaroni and Cheese, yes. Macaroni salad with kidney beans on a lettuce leaf, not quite. But the upside was that the child meal had sweets. Supper had M & M's. Hard to eat pasta salad when you're looking at a pouch of M & M's. Alex started eating his, then fell asleep holding one in his hand. (8:30 pm). Adam and Anna held out a little longer before falling asleep (9:30). Mom and dad joined them about 10:00. About 3:00, Sandy woke up smelling something and realized Alex had wet his pants. Every single night, she had put a pullup on him, and he had not wet it once. The one night he went to sleep too fast to get him changed, he had an accident.
What a dilemma. On the one hand, we want Alex to keep sleeping. On the other hand, the smell from his clothes is keeping us from sleeping. Agreed: We have to do something. Sandy had one last pullup with her (no extra pants), so I made the decision as head of the family to take him to the back of the plane, yank off his wet pants, and quickly clothe him with the pullup. We didn't want to carry around wet clothes, so she agreed I should stuff them in the trash (I wonder what the stewardesses thought about finding those in there later?) Returning Alex to his seat in nothing but a pull-up and t-shirt, we covered him with a blanket, and he slept another 2 or 3 hours. When he woke up, he wondered what happened to his pants. Here he is later on the flight, sans pants:
With all three kids asleep in one row, Sandy and I finally got to sit together and talk. Then they showed Racing Stripes on the plane monitors, so we watched about half of it before falling asleep again.
When we all woke up, sometime around 12:00 p.m. in LA, we were served our breakfast. So far, the meals had all been tame, even if a little strange. On the first trip, Sandy noticed that there were two choices for breakfast: scrambled eggs and rice soup. On the way there, she picked scrambled eggs. On the way back, she wanted one more taste of China and picked "rice soup". Big mistake. She couldn't enjoy any of it. There was some kind of brown stuff that looked and tasted like shredded wool. Some spicy vegetables that she couldn't identify had to be washed down with water. A weird roll that looked doughy and raw. And fortunately, the kids didn't eat all of theirs and she ate what was left.
As we got closer to LA, I was getting nervous because I couldn't remember what time the flight was to leave. Our printed tickets still had the old time written down, and I couldn't find my updated itinerary. As soon as we touched down in LA at 3:55, I called my mother-in-law to check the itinerary. When she told me the plane was leaving at 5:35, I got more nervous. Plus, our plane was stuck on the runway. Apparently, they were waiting for runway traffic to clear before we could park. So I called Mike Worstell for advice. He told me we would make it, but not to piddle around.
We finally parked at the gate around 4:15 pm, and then had to wait at the back of the plane for the other 350 to disembark. Getting off the plane, I asked about our stroller, which we had to wait about 5-10 minutes for them to retrieve. I seriously thought about leaving it behind. But it had served us well, so we waited. Loaded up with carry-ons and children (and Alex still with no pants), we headed for the line to be checked into the country. A considerate lady put us in a short line because she saw that we had kids. Too bad the short line was slower than the long line. I really think the purpose of the lines when you get into a country is not to check your passport as much as to give your luggage time to be sent to the baggage claim.
Anyway, by the time we got through the line, the baggage still wasn't there. It was being sent to 2 adjacent baggage claims, so we had to watch both of them. We finally got it all collected, loaded up, waited in another line, and walked to the next terminal to hit our connecting flight. On the way, Sandy pulled some dirty shorts out for Alex to wear over his pull-up.
4:50 pm: I have no idea where to go in American Airlines Terminal 4. I try four people on two levels before they finally show us where to put our bags. Then we have to walk back somewhere else. Very poorly laid out, especially when you have a plane to catch.
We thought the baggage would be easy: five bags, already tagged for STL. All they have to do is go to the x-ray machine, and we're home free to head for security. Sandy pulls them up to me, and I hand them to the baggage officer two at a time. She walks with two and takes them to the machine. As I hand her numbers 3 & 4, I say, "There's one more right here." She must have forgotten, because number 5 didn't make it to St. Louis. More on that in 5 hours . . .
Through security, shoes off, shoes on, laptop out, camcorder out, boarding passes out, blah, blah, blah. It's like going through a maze, a torture chamber, and the sidewalks of Taipei, all at the same time.
5:20 pm: A long walk to gate 42A, where we find that they have assigned us to seats that aren't together in the plane. So we wait some more while they reassign us to the back two seats: ones without windows or power adapters.
5:25 pm: We board the plane. One lady is in the next to the last row, where two of us are to sit, with the other three behind. Our kids are all talking at once. Sandy notices there's no overhead storage and no window. I turn around to see the lady stand up and ask the stewardess if she can sit somewhere closer to the front (in other words, further from us!) Ouch. Fortunately, it isn't full, so they move some people around for her, then they find us seats closer to the front and to windows so we can see. Very thoughtful.
10 minutes to spare, so I call my mother-in-law so she won't worry and I call Mike to make sure he remembers when and where we are arriving in St. Louis. We're hot, sweaty, and smelly, but we're headed for home.
What a spectacular view out the windows. While David and Adam played NBA Live against each other, Sandy and Anna were enjoying the view out the window of the ocean, the beaches, and the mountains. Later, they watched lightning in the clouds as we passed through a thunderstorm. Sandy set her watch ahead to Central time after leaving LA. At that time it was still broad daylight outside and seemed like morning to us on Taiwan time, but she explained to Anna that it was actually bedtime back in Missouri. Weird, huh.
The flight was faster than expected. At 10:45, 20 minutes ahead of time, we hit the ground in St. Louis. Only Alex had been to sleep, and only for a few minutes. It was enough to recharge his batteries, though. It was a big, long walk from Gate 32 through the main terminal to the baggage claim. The kids were running on fumes. Adam collapsed once under the weight of his backpack (exaggerated, I'm sure). We found Mike and waited for the luggage, and waited, and waited. After being good most of the trip, the kids were fighting, just like at home. Must be something about the air in Missouri.
11:15 pm: We have four bags, but one is missing. Mike takes the four out to the car, along with Sandy and the kids. I go talk to the baggage claim people. Two others from Taipei had lost bags as well, so I didn't feel bad. They promised to deliver them to us by the next day. They were in Los Angeles, ready to fly to St. Louis. No problem, it's their money and we won't wear the clothes in it before tomorrow anyway.
11:35 pm: We drive out of the parking garage and I'm starving for Taco Bell. Mike finds one, and we hit the road headed west. A good time of talking all the way home. Alex was the last kid to fall asleep, but everyone but Mike and David were asleep by the time we hit Moberly at 2:00 a.m.
Tyler had been housesitting for us (and is staying with us a few more weeks this summer). He had the house in super shape, and even made a welcome sign:
Dezi had made cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We were blessed to be well taken care of this entire trip by our friends on this side and that side. Most of all, blessed by God that whatever happened, he kept us safe and made it all work out.
I sent a quick IM to my mother-in-law telling her we had arrived:
dfincher (2:01:10 AM): made it home
dfincher (2:01:14 AM): 2:00 am
dfincher (2:01:18 AM): kids are asleep
dfincher (2:01:25 AM): parents are awake and smelling pretty bad
bearbranchbakers (8:02:25 AM): Wonderful !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
bearbranchbakers (8:03:08 AM): Wonderful you made it home okay, not that you smell bad.
It took us 45 minutes to get to sleep, but we had five hours of sleep before waking up ready to go at 8:11 am.
David was back to work, Sandy was doing laundry. Adam was up at 9:00 am, and Alex and Anna were finally roused from slumber at 11:15 am.
The bag arrived at the college at 4:15 pm, safe and sound.
Sandy took a quick nap from 5:00 - 5:30.
Other than that, everyone was back to normal. The kids were asleep by 9:00 pm and we're headed there by 10:00 pm. Thanks to your prayers, we don't believe in jetlag.
Coming back to America, we found several things to be thankful for:
1. Drivers who obey the traffic laws
2. Central air conditioning
3. A washer and dryer that can do large loads of laundry
4. Television without Chinese subtitles
5. Having your own yard to mow (thanks Tyler) and vehicles of our own to drive
6. We didn't have to walk anywhere today!
7. Being able to communicate with anyone we see, using our own language
8. Wonderful friends in Taiwan who treated us to a lifetime of memories
9. Encouraging friends and family in America who prayed for us
10. A faithful God who is on the throne, watching out for us all
Next time: Back to California in 26 days.
posted by Central Christian College of the Bible at
8:50 PM
