Day #1

I am writing this Japan journal totally after the fact (It's actually July 8th right now) but better late than never right? I'm hoping I remember the majority of the events. YIKES!

We got up around 4am to gather the last of the items we need for the trip. We checked our list, checked it again. I know that I was still determining what to bring for clothes until the last minute. Who wants to carry a 50 pound backpack on their back all day (if need be) if you could just be stinky and wear the same clothes and save a few pounds right? That was my philosophy and I stuck to it! :) I remember washing my face and then Rachel calling my name in a weird way. I looked out of the bathroom to see what was up and she is just standing there staring at me with an odd look on her face. She told me she didn't feel well and I had no idea why. She was taking the trash out via the back porch and I guess she misjudged how many steps she had left (plus it was pitch black out) and she tripped, twisted her ankle and landed directly on the patio of the people who live below us. I guess she did a number on her ankle because she was totally dillusional and almost passed out. She was determined to leave for the airport even before she felt a little better. I made her lay down for a few minutes cuz how the hell was I suppose to carry her to the airport if she passed out!! LOL! We loaded our stuff into my car and stopped at the 24 hour CVS and snagged an ace bandage, some IcyHot and some sports tape and we were off to the airport. We parked in the parking lot where she works (using her parking pass) and called a taxi to bring us to the airport. By the time we got to the airport we were not as late getting there as we though we were going to be after the event that occured. We said goodbye to our bags and hoped that we would see them at our final destination and then waited until boarding.

The plane ride was like any other plane ride except I think it was a little bit more roomier. It took 6 hours to get to California and was an easy flight although my back was hurting me. We were fed A LOT which was weird since I have mostly only flown to Florida (about a 3 hour flight) and was use to eating pretzels and MAYBE some sort of "sandwich".

We had a big layover in San Fran airport because there was something wrong with our plane's engine and they had to tow the sucker away. We received food vouchers for our trouble but Rach and I were full from all the food we had eaten up to now but we HAD to use our free food voucher! We searched and searched for ice cream we finally found some in some sandwich shop. The rest of the layover we sat and sat. I tried to entertain myself by playing with this computerized keychain thing I bought at KMart that had some cheesey "games" on them and Rach attempted to play solitare on a table that was way too small. We would also laugh at the names they were calling out over the loudspeaker. The things you do to entertain yourself! :)

A few hours later we boarded our plane and were off. More meals were given to us. I've never had so much food in one LONG day than in this airplane. Also, my prediction of following the sun on the way to Japan actually came true. The hours ticked by according to my watch but everytime we looked out the window it still looked like it was high noon.....VERY BIZARRE!! We were shown a few movies but as usual I just slept through most of the flight (which was a good thing) although it was very hard not to be uncomfortable sitting in one place for like 12 hours. AGH!!

By the time we landed it was officially in the PM of May 1st so I need to skip ahead to Japan time.