LA, LAX & LA Canada....The original plan was to get up early, pack up the car (with luggage) and head to West LA to avoid the traffic. We planned to buy snacks, travel toothbrushes, blankets, and other highly unecessary items. We packed up a rental car and followed auntie aka"Dr. OneBite" whose been navigating the mean streets of LA for many years. The nickname is a sad reality. Dr. Onebite is truly a medical doctor. My younger daughter gave her great aunt the unfortunate nickname for a churro incident that happened at Disneyland. My aunt asked for a bite of a churro and must've been hungry and ate over half. The name sticks with her today.
As we merged into traffic, my youngest daughter came up with a fabulous suggestion. Teleportation would virtually eliminate the need for traffic and the snaggled mess of chaos known as rushhour. "Do it!" I encouraged her as I felt my foot actually cramp up from resting on the break too long. My eldest daughter chimed in on our short-cited plan and told us that we probably couldn't teleport with our belongings. A minor drawback, traveling absolutely naked. Especially in an Islamic country. Well, there had to be something.
Out of nowhere, a black Mercedes appeared. It spewed out the equivalent of a 500 pack a day cigarette habit in the form of black, billowy clouds of smoke. Once the smoke cleared, we all screamed as if we were on a Magic Mountain Roller Coaster. We had lost sight of our beloved Onebite. I forgot to merge and ended up heading toward Pasadena. That merge is exactly two curvey lanes of hell. Somehow though, I found my way to something known as the "Carpool Lane Airport". No traffic at 85mph is a good thing. .
I'm almost positive that LAX needs to be blown up and rebuilt from scratch. When you drive in the area you'll see a sign that says "free shuttle." Do not think to yourself, but its so far away. Who on earth would want to park so far? Just take it. Do not park at the gate. Trust me. After circling the lot like a hungry hawk four times, I finally was able to park. The girls were dropped at the gate and waited with the luggage. Unfortunately, parking in Air China meant walking with a few bags to Delta. How hard can that be? Somehow time morphed ahead two hours, we were severely late for our flight. My leisurly walk to my kids from Air China turned into the sprint of a lifetime, which in the end included a bus.
The kids choose to sit with their bags outside. Why on earth hadn't I called them? The Delta line looked simply like a nightmare. Someone was told to, "monitor the situation" as we attempted to check luggage. We were overweight and did a crazy clothes toss in the airport to make everything fit. We made our first flight. That was only the beginnning. The excitement continued in the Texas airport. We arrived in Texas and transferred to Qatar. Edit copy paste. Well, it was totally the same thing. Craziness.
Once we got on the actual Qatar airline flight though, it was a pleasure. It was comfy. The flight attendants gave us lots of food and icecream at 2am. They even provided us with travel socks and the world tinest toothbrush and paste. I kept it. On board they had an entertainment system called Onyx. We all plugged into Onyx and the stress melted away.
Besides eating ice-cream, I found myself chatting with my neighbor who would fall in and of consciousness during the flight. He told me his name was Max and that he was going to Bangladesh. He had moved to the States for college, but had a family of his own now. He told me he traveled back and forth to see his family every year or so. The fact that he had a southern accent from Mississippi and was truly southern inspired me. We talked about the Andy Griffith show. He said that was his ideal living scenario. He liked small town rural living! "Different than your home?," I asked.
"Yes, way different." he responded.
I closed my eyes and placed my head on the tray table. "Goodnight Max from Bangladesh."
He chuckled and said, "Goodnight" while plugged into Onyx.
We'd wake up in Doha.
The adventure had begun.
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