The Latest Mischief...: I'm Never Coming Home!

Flight from SLC to LAX

My flight from Salt Lake to Los Angeles was a good time. I was on one of the smallest planes I’ve ever been on (besides the little one Dan proposed to me in) and there had to have only been 50 people on the plane. I sat next to this guy wearing a carnation pink polo shirt and had a fuchsia carry on bag. He was super friendly and chatted with me for quite a bit. He was from Montreal, Quebec and in the mining industry. He travels constantly all over the world, and I guess Kennecott Mines are one of his biggest clients. Despite my first assumptions by his pink and fuchsia ensemble, he was not gay, but married with 6 kids. He said they he and his wife had a themed wedding… the theme being everyone had to wear pink. Guess the guy just really likes the color pink! He was pleased to know that Mom had brought us up right by feeding us poutine and that Dan and I eat it fairly often. He gave me a lecture on the proper way to make poutine and I was proud to say I was already doing everything he said. I managed to get a good nap on this flight which was great :)

When we got to LA, they didn’t have a gate for our little plane. So they just wheeled up a ramp to the side of the airplane and we all got to walk out of the plane onto the tarmac, and then into the airport which was pretty freaking cool!

Flight from LAX to HNL

I absolutely loved that I had a layover in LA. I did a lot of people watching and thought a lot about the last time I was in this airport…. My a lot has changed. I felt as if I glowing walking through the airport. It felt SO good to be among diversity!!! There are a lot of things that drive me crazy about LA, but I will always love the people. Ha I have never seen so many people running through an airport in my life. About every 10 minutes, someone would run by with their carry on bag wheeling behind them trying to make their next flight. Apparently it’s a huge airport, but I didn’t have to go far to find my gate thankfully.

This flight to Honolulu was a hoot. It was a FULL flight, to the point where they had overbooked. They were announcing every 2 minutes that if anyone would like to take a later flight, they would give them a $250 credit to fly United. Had this not been a work trip, I seriously would have considered it. They also kept announcing that if they ran out of room to store carry on luggage, we would be forced to check it. I was really not wanting to do that. I was in the last group to board the plane, and definitely towards the back of the line. My chances weren’t good.

When I got to my seat, there was a Jewish man sitting in my seat with his two children and wife sitting next to him. I guess they sat on the wrong side of the row, so I told them I’d just sit on the other side of the row so they wouldn’t all have to move. And lucky for me, there was an open spot to put my carry on bag- KARMA!

The guy I sat next to was moving to Guam, he just took a job as a newspaper editor for the island. Had he not had the worst breath I’d ever smelled, it would have been an awesome flight and we would have had some great conversations. I offered him gum and he declined my invitation. He honestly didn’t look like he could have been that much older than me. Across the aisle from me was an Asian bachelorette party, they were a good time. I slept 4 of the 5 hours which I was so grateful for!

Flight from HNL to GUAM

The airport in Hawaii was HEAVEN! It was so WARM!!!! I was freezing on the flight to Honolulu, I’ll never fly without a pair of socks in my purse again! I just couldn’t believe how beautiful Hawaii was and I was only in the airport. I tried to walk around as much as I could during the layover to breath in the humidity and prevent any blood clots. I seriously couldn’t believe how amazing it was. I’m so excited and grateful I get to go back for a week. On this flight, I met up with 5 others who are participating in the conference. It was nice to know I wasn’t traveling alone any more from this point on. I got a window seat this time and sat next to a boy who I wasn’t sure spoke much English. Other than asking to borrow my pen, we didn’t speak the 7 ½ hours of the flight. I finished an entire book, watched an episode of Sherlock Holmes, and got another 3 hour nap.

I MADE IT!!!

The pilot came over the intercom and said we were about 70 miles from Guam. I opened my window and just looked at the huge blue ocean… then suddenly this strip of green land appeared out of no where!!! It was amazing to look at and think that this random chunk of land was just sticking about the ocean and people live on it. It sort of reminded me of the Jurassic Park, it just looked wild down there! The vegetation was so thick. Then suddenly that island was gone, and we were over the next island, this time it was Guam. It was much more inhabited and developed. I was so excited!

We had a really smooth landing, I got through customs quickly, my luggage was all in one piece. I was a happy camper. We arrived to Guam 6:00pm and when we got out of the airport to take the shuttle to the hotel, the sun was just going down…. It was just breathtaking. The humidity is unlike anything else and I absolutely love it. That first breath of air walking out of the airport was like breathing into a wet towel, it sort of took my breath away at first.

The Hotel

We are staying at the Hilton Guam hotel, right on the ocean. Interestingly enough, Guam is like Hawaii for the Japanese. It’s where they come for their warm getaway vacation, just like many from the US go to Hawaii. So there is a separate wing of the hotel that is mainly for Japanese tourists. We are staying in that wing because it is much cleaner, nicer, updated, better managed, etc. I am lucky enough to be on the ground floor and my room has a walk out patio to the ocean… I’m seriously considering moving to Guam.

Guam reminds me more of Pirates of the Carribean! The staff here are so so so nice. I love the island people- they are so gracious and genuine.