Flying Back Home

Flight to Auckland/Lay Over/Flight to LA/Lay Over/ Flight to Utah

             Well guess what! I made it back home safe and sound! I can't believe I am already back home, the time has flown by! Anyway, before I got home, I still had heaps of traveling to to do! It's crazy how comfortable I am getting in airports, they have become another home to me! Okay, not really, but airports use to stress me out, but now they are just a breeze! 

              My first flight took me from Samoa to Auckland! It was about a four hour flight. I'm going to be honest and say I almost didn't make it on the plane! For some reason our luggage allowance was put into the system wrong, and they weren't going to let us on the plane I was a little bit nervous about this! I didn't know what I was going to do! After several phone calls and a lot of time, the staff figured it out, and we made it! Good thing! That flight went really well! It was a pretty smooth take off, and even a smooth landing. Or maybe I'm just getting use to flying.
             After flight, we had about a three hour lay over in the Auckland airport. It's crazy how at home I am feeling in the Auckland airport. It feels so natural. We didn't have to get our luggage because it was linked to L.A, so we got our carry ons, and then we went off to our normal lounge. We had a nice comfy couch, and we were able to relax and get ready for the long flight!

            The lay over went by really quickly. We walked around the shops, had one last sausage roll, and then relaxed! We got on board for the long flight, and guess what, THEY HAD NEW MOVIES! It was one of the most exciting things ever! We were all a little bit stressed, because we didn't know what we were going to watch. We had flown so much in the past couple of weeks, we had watched all of the movies and tv shows we wanted to see. So finding out that they had new movies was fantastic! I got to sit by Anna and Emily! We had so much fun! The flight didn't seem as long as I thought it would. I watched How Do You Know, and then I started Braveheart, and they brought us dinner! For dinner I had some lamb and Kumora. It was a very traditional New Zealand meal. It was a good one to end on. Then after that, I fell asleep and tried to get a littl bit of sleep. I slept till about morning, and then it was time for our breakfast! I had some hot cakes with raspberry syrup. It tasted pretty good! By the time we were eating breakfast, we were all so excited! We were so close to LA! Then we started our initial decent! It was so exciting! I couldn't believe how fast the flight went! 

           The landing was really smooth! I was so excited! It was so weird to be able to turn on my cell phone when we landed! As we were waiting to get off the plane, we were all excited to be in California, so we started to play all the songs about California! We started with Miley Cyrus! I mean really, we literally, "Hopped of the plane at LAX!" It was really fun! After we got off the plane, it was time to go through customs. I was trying to get through fast, and it surprisingly went pretty fast! I got through in about a half hour! Who would have thought! After I booked it over to see if I could catch an earlier flight home. I ran clear from terminal two to terminal five hauling all my luggage. I was quite the funny site! Sad news, I missed it by fifteen minutes. If I would have been there fifteen minutes earlier I would have made it. Sad, but it was okay, I only had another three hour lay over. 

           This time, Hannah Anna and I got to chill out in the airport! This time it was a little different we could talk to our families. Well I sort of could, for some reason when I turned my phone, it wouldn't let me make calls. I could text but not make calls. That was a little bit of a bummer, but that was okay. The time went by really fast. We hung out, and chatted, then it was time for me to board.

             I went to go through security, and it was a breeze! I thought I was going to have to do a lot more than I did when I was going through the Auckland airport, but guess what, I didn't! I didn't even have to take my hoodie off! It was crazy! Once I got through security, I went and got a little bit of dinner! I went to CPK (California Pizza Kitchen)! It was so great! and the best news of all was that I ordered a personal pizza. When I got my pizza, it was the size of a New Zealand medium sized pizza, and it was so great to see a normal sized pizza again! It tasted really good. It was the first American food I had had! 

                After I got my pizza I sat and waited and waited and waited! My flight was late! It was so depressing! I waited forever! About forty minutes later, I got to board! Now I had my boarding pass and I was on the 12 row! I was thinking, "Wow, I must be sort of at the front this is great!" Well I was wrong! ha ha! I was on the smallest plane ever! I was terrified! I had just come from this huge two story plane, and now I was on a twelve row plane! I was so scared! I got on and the first thing they say is, "We are sorry for the delay, we had maintenance problems." This is not the most reassuring thing to hear when you are boarding a plane! I was so scared the entire time! It was a good thing that this was a super short plane ride! It was only about an hour and twenty minutes! So about the time we got in the air, it was time to start our descent. The landing for this plane was a little rough! I'm going to be honest! It was so scary. Little plane bad landing, I thought for sure I was going to die. Good news though we made it, and all was well.

               We left the plane on the blacktop, and not in actual terminal, and then I had the longest walk of my life! I think it felt like it was the longest walk ever because I knew my family was there waiting for me! I finally made it, and I had to go down the escalator, and when I saw the bottom, my mom was there standing waiting for me with a sign and balloons! It was the best feeling ever to see my mom!

 

               After my mom and I had gotten my luggage we walked out to the car and met my Dad. They were doing a police drill, so he had to leave and go to a different area so he couldn't be there right when I got there. Did you notice on the sign the special picture that Ashlyn made me! She wanted me to have it and see if first thing when I got off the plane! IT was so cute! I loved it! But it was so good to see him and my family! Now I thought I would come home and crash, but I didn't! I came home and talked to my mom and dad till about five in the morning! It was crazy! It was so good to be home! I am so grateful I made it through all of those flights safely, and that my luggage made it the entire way. It was an incredible trip! Truly was the trip of a lifetime!