Let the Fun Begin!

March 7-8, 2014

We flew from Nashville to LA with no problems and the view from air was gorgeous as we passed over snow covered fields that gave way the plains then deserts of the West. It was one of the most beautiful and scenic flights I have ever been on and was a much needed relief from the stress of the previous two days. Arriving in LA, I was starving and needed to get out. Thanks to a tip from a friend of mine, we sought out the Parking Spot shuttle service to the In-N-Out Burger on Sepluveda Blvd and dined on an awesome double double burger and fries. I couldn’t sit for ten hours in an airport and after convincing a few students to join me and Chris on this adventure, we took off for fun! This lead to an exploration of the local area’s shops for duct tape, rubber bands, a postcard, a stamp, work gloves and a camera charger. In addition to extra supplies we purchased at Staples, Ralphs, CVS and Staples we stumbled upon a local street festival and basked in the wonderful smells of festival food. We had a blast!

After returning to the airport, we discovered all of our electronic devices decided they needed power so we could fight through our layover boredom. Chris had the forethought to bring along a power strip for our trip. While waiting in the terminal at LAX we found the only working outlet in our area and quickly deployed the power strip. We all took turns charging laptops, phones, GPS units, etc. as we knew our long flight to Taiwan would need entertainment or someone might get hurt. Not long after completing the last of the charging projects the members of the tour company arrived and we began our trip to Taiwan aboard EVA Airlines.

While we were waiting to begin boarding the plane for Taiwan, news was spreading an Air Malaysia flight had disappeared somewhere over the Gulf of Tonkin in the South China Sea. Knowing we were headed in that direction a lot of folks were trying to call home to let their loved ones know we were safe. I have to admit, I had a horrible feeling all day in my gut about traveling on Friday. I said several prayers over the course of the day and left these worries at the Lord’s feet. We departed LAX around 10:30 pm Friday evening and our longest leg of the journey was underway!

Our fourteen hour flight was about as exciting as watching paint dry and everyone tried to sleep. I may caught a little sleep but the constant engine and cabin noise along with attempting to sleep sitting up didn’t bode well with me. I tried to work on my computer, watched several movies and stared out into the blackness of the Pacific night sky. The night time view flying up the western coast of the US was really cool and then seeing the main island of Japan appear out of the inky blackness was incredible. You could make out the entire coastline and there were tiny ships in the harbors as we flew over them with their lights twinkling.

We landed in Taiwan about an hour before sunrise in a bit of a soupy mess. The cloud cover was low and a light mist was in the air. We had about three hours before our flight to Vietnam and I tried to sleep one on of the benches in the terminal. Chris and I did manage to visit the duty free Hello Kitty store and picked up a few cute items before the pinkness drove me mad. Being sleep deprived and having your senses overloaded with pink stuff was more then I could handle.

Before we knew it, our next plane had arrived for our departure to Hanoi, Vietnam.