I woke up at 8.15am, feeling sad that we had to leave. I had wanted to lay in for as long as I possibly could, because we would not really be sleeping for another 2 days, but I was wide awake when I woke up. I played on Gary's iPad for a bit, I forgot to add on Saturday we went to an internet cafe to get it all set up, so it was now working. It was also Halloween so I watched a morning TV show with Rachel Ray and Cake Boss making some Halloween cupcakes until Gary woke up.
When Gary woke up, he went downstairs to put some laundry on, and while it was washing, we started packing. It was such a mess, we had way too much stuff and nowhere to put it, literally. There were just piles of clothing everywhere and we had no place to put it all. We had to throw some stuff away, and just about managed to get it all to fit, but it was so stressful. Just as we had got it all in the 3 suitcases, we realized we had forgotten about the laundry that we had downstairs! So Gary went to collect it, and we had to rethink our packing strategy again. Basically, we ended up with 3 cases packed as full as we could get them, and we each had 2 massive pieces of hand luggage, hoping that they would let us take it all on the plane.
We just about managed to get it all finished by 12.00pm, when we had to check out of the room. Our flight wasn't until 11.30pm tonight, so we had quite a wait ahead of us still. When we checked out, and left our luggage at reception, we went to soak up the last of the California sun for a few hours by the pool.
This cool flower looks like a bird
We just stayed there for a few hours, because there was nothing else that we could really do. I read for a bit and listened to my ipod, but all I really was doing was thinking how sad I was to be leaving the USA. We had been here for just under 11 weeks, and they had been the best weeks of my life. It was just crazy to think all of the places we had seen, and the experiences we had experienced, how we had managed to fit it all in to 11 weeks. Those of you who know me well know how much I have always loved the USA, but now it really does feel like home to me, and I would happily go back there any second to live forever, and never come back to England.
At about 3pm, we got dried off and changed and then went for lunch at Mimi's (where else). It was our final meal in the USA and we ordered our usual favorites to enjoy for the last time. I was so sad that we had to leave America that all I really wanted to do was cry, but I did manage to enjoy my food. When we had finished eating we went to collect our luggage from the hotel reception and waited outside the hotel for the bus to come and pick us up to take us to the airport.
All of this was my hand luggage..
Last photo in America :(
The bus to LAX took just over an hour, we were some of the only people on the bus and the driver was chatting to us a lot. He was really friendly, and it helped keep my mind off the fact that we were leaving. We arrived at the airport just after 6pm, and looking back now, I'm sad I didn't get a photo of the iconic LAX sign because I really wanted to.
We checked into our flight, luckily they were just fine with our very heavy suitcases and oversized hand luggage. Then we had a long wait ahead of us before we could even get on the plane, like over 4 hours. Considering the size of LAX airport, we were flying from this tiny little terminal that had hardly any shops or restaraunts, so we had nothing at all to do to pass the time, apart from sit there. We took it in turns, with one person sitting with all the hand luggage, and the other looking around the shops. After about 2 hours of this I knew about every single item that every shop was selling. We wanted to get some food but there was nowhere to get any. At about 10pm before the shops that they did have closed, we bought some snacks for the plane, but there was not much to choose from so we knew we were going to be hungry. I also got one of those rounded pillows that goes around your neck, and some sleeping tablets, hoping they would help us get some rest on the flight.
To pass the rest of the time before we could board the plane, I made loads of bracelets. I can't even put into words how devastated I felt to be leaving America. Spending this much time in the USA is all I have dreamed of for such a long time, and I really did not feel ready to leave. I honestly wasn't homesick one little bit. If somebody would have given me the option right there and then to stay and never leave, and to ever come home again, I would have taken it (still would). I was also feeling really sick and unwell, so that made me feel even worse, I think it was my body's way of telling me that leaving was the biggest mistake.
Then it was finally time to board the plane after the longest airport wait we had ever experienced. It all went smoothly and we took off on time. I genuinely felt so upset and distressed that we were leaving. I really feel like America is home to me, and leaving sucked so bad. Of course we were excited to go to New Zealand, but I really didn't care at that moment where we were going, because I did not want to go anywhere. We had a 13.5 hour flight from LA to Auckland, and it was the longest flight we had ever been on in our lives (so far) so I knew it was not going to be a fun one.
Quite soon after we took off, I took some sleeping tablets, and pretty much fell asleep straight away.
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