Alyssa made friends with the Continental pilots. When we first boarded the plane in Houston, they invited her up to see the front. So she went with Pilot Jill while I found our seats and got our backpack and books and gum and stuff ready for the flight and went up to check on her. Alyssa was sitting in the front chair with a pilot hat and had the 4 pilots laughing at something... She ended up staying up there for 20 minutes or so and even got to press some buttons! What a great start to a very, very long flight, 12.5 hours to Tokyo. Pilot Jill even came to visit during a break and passed Alyssa some extra snacks. We watched lots of movies and played video games and ate awesome food (in Business Class). Alyssa was able to sleep a few hours, but Bryan and I stayed awake.
When we finally arrived in Tokyo, we had to make sure Taylor (our dog) made the transition to the Russian plane. After confirmation, we had a couple hours to stretch until our next flight on Vladivostok Air--not quite as nice as Continental. Alyssa and Bryan slept this whole flight (since it was midnight to us), but I was still awake.... Amazeingly, all our suitcases plus dog crate plus booster car seat made it to Yuzhno. The Yuzhno airport looks more like a concrete prison and the people are not very friendly at 11pm Russian time, but we got through visas and customs and made it to our awaiting bus and then to our townhouse. The wives in the Welcoming Commitee here are so nice and already had sheets on our beds and food in our fridge. We showered and slept and Alyssa and Taylor woke us up at 6am the next morning!
We've met lots of great people here and Alyssa is running from house to house with friends. Some ladies have taken us shopping and I'll write about those experiences another day. Quite a culture shock when in town.
So glad you made it safely and are getting settled in. I can't wait to read all about your new adventures. Remember, take in every experience because it will pass so fast.
ReplyDelete