Kevin arrived just before 8:00A.M., right on time, to take us to San Jose International Airport. We loaded our bags into the van, and off we went!
We had not been able to check in online; but when we walked up to the American Airlines desk, we were fortunate to be first in line 🙂 The friendly agent gave us our boarding passes and checked our bags all the way through to Lima, Peru. When we got into the TSA line, I found out that my boarding pass had TSA PRECHK printed on top. Paul’s didn’t 🙁
I took advantage of it. I didn’t have to remove my shoes or take the quart bag of liquids out of my pack. I walked through the old type of x-ray instead of the new full-body one. I was done very quickly, then I had to wait for Paul. When we got to the gate, Paul discovered that his boarding pass for the flight from Los Angeles to Lima on LAN Airlines was incorrect. The agent assured him that he had been ticketed for the correct flight, and said that he would have to get a new boarding pass at the LAN desk in Lima.
While we were waiting to board the flight to L.A.; Anne, her two darling boys, and her husband were about to go on an adventure of their own to Costa Rica. It was quite a coincidence to see someone who also sings in the choir at Skyland Church!
Our plane was first in line to take off for the forty-five minute flight. On our approach to LAX, we were surprised by severe turbulence that rocked our plane from side to side briefly. Later when we heard our captain talking to another passenger on the airport shuttle, he said that we had been caught by turbulence caused by an Asiana jumbo jet that the controller hadn’t known was there. We were allowed to land before that plane!
In Lima we got the boarding pass changed. We again had to go through security. This time, however, there were no shortcuts. It was the longest security line I have ever been in. There was no way to even see the front of the winding line from the back! We made it in time to the gate, though, and time to eat the ham sandwiches I had packed.
As I write this, I just finished watching a movie called WINTER’S TALE. I had seen previews of it in the theaters several times, but never got to see it. I loved this mesmerizing, mystical story. The flight is eight hours from L.A. to Lima. Checking the map, I see we have about 3 1/2 more hours to go until we land in Lima.
I decided to watch The Secret Life of Walter Mitty with Ben Stiller. That was an excellent movie too. The scenes in Greenland and Iceland brought back memories of my trip there with Fern.
Upon arrival in Lima, a lot of us passengers had to wait quite a while to get our luggage. We were relieved when it finally came. Franco, a friendly translator was waiting for us, and we were driven to our the Carmel Hotel in the Miraflores section of Lima. It felt good to finally fall into bed and go to sleep.