All's Well That Ends Well

Our last day in Taiwan was pretty hectic, packing up and buying last-minute gifts. Then a taxi to the airport and trying to find food near the gate for a hungry little girl (and tweaking my ankle again in the process). And then the long flight. At first we were seated in the last row of Elite, which meant that the seats didn't recline to their full extent, and since we were right across the aisle from the bathroom, anytime anyone went in or out of it, a slice of blinding light would fall across my face. After an hour or so of trying to sleep like this, I asked to be moved. They did find two seats together in the middle section, and after we moved we both slept pretty well.

For some reason, there was only one runway open at the airport, so we spent a long time on the tarmac, waiting to take off. So we arrived at LAX about an hour late, which cut our layover to two hours. At first I thought this was a good thing. Then, after standing in a stationary immigration line for about twenty minutes, I started to worry. Finally, it began to move, but it took a full hour to get through. Then we had to get our bags, and had trouble locating the car seat. Then another line for customs. By now I was thoroughly frantic. We rechecked the bags after customs, but were told we needed to take the car seat to United, in Terminal 6. Picture me, sprinting to the shuttle bus, dragging a carry-on, carrying a computer bag, a purse, and a car seat, and exhorting a tired little girl wearing a backpack to keep up with me. Got off at Terminal 6, and was told I actually needed Terminal 7. Ran up to the United counter at T minus 30 minutes, on the verge of hysteria, to be told that they were not accepting check-ins for that flight anymore. And there were no more flights that day. So, after getting boarding passes for a flight the following morning, we dragged all our stuff back to the

international terminal so that the Eva people could book us into a hotel. We shivered while we waited for the shuttle. Yes, it was cold! In LA! In the summer! We had a lousy meal with a terrible waiter, and then fell into bed.

Despite the time change, we slept like the dead. We put our dirty clothes back on (note to self, pack some useful things in the carry-on, like toiletries and a change of clothes). Check in was a breeze, and we had breakfast and coffee at the airport (well, Lillia didn't have coffee). On the way down the jetway, we met the co-pilot, who fell in love with Lillia (doesn't everyone?). He invited her to come up to the cockpit and have her picture taken sitting in his seat. Then we discovered that we had been upgraded to Economy Plus for free, by the kind United lady at LAX. Tom had taken the day off to spend with us, so he was at DIA to meet us, and we both fell into his arms.

P.S. This is not my last post about Taiwan. I still need to write about Lukang and Taroko Gorge.