leg 1 of journey back home

Dad and I left for the airport today around 2. When we got to the tunnel, it was all backed up. We got through fairly quickly though. We made a quick stop at the duty free shop so that I could claim my GST back. Despite having all the documentation from the gov't's website saying I could claim it, they wouldn't let me! Total pain in the butt. I have to mail it from Japan now, and then they'll mail me a check. While I was in duty free I found really cheap Dior cleanser and tone but figured I could get it later... at that point I was too frustrated with the GST people to spend any more time there.

At the airport, I checked in easily and luckily I had no problem with my luggage being a bit overweight. That was good. I went all the way down to my gate but the lounge in that area was closed. So, I hiked back to the central area to the main lounge and was told that the lounge is only for international passengers. What? The Northwest terminal in Detroit, which is a hub!, does not have a lounge for first class passengers. I couldn't believe it. So I had to hike all the way back down to my gate again (which was at the far end of the terminal).

By the time I got back to my gate, they were announcing that my flight was delayed due to mechanical problems. As long as it left sometime tonight, I wasn't too concerned The FA's were really funny with the announcements though. The one guy said things like, "Please only come up to board when your row is called. This will make boarding go much faster, and I promise you, we will all arrive in LA at the same time". In the end we ended up being 1.5 hours late.

The flight was uneventful and we landed at LAX. We flew south and then west to avoid some thunderstorms, but the ride was still a bit bumpy. I got to the luggage area quickly but had to wait a bit for my bags to come out. Then I grabbed a cart and waited for the airport shuttle to come by. I was quite lucky as it came by about 5 minutes later.

I checked into the hotel and had to change rooms. I was in a non-smoking room, but my bathroom smelled like a wet ashtray. It was aweful. The new room had an ashtray on the bathroom counter, but didn't smell, so that was fine. The decor at the Westin basically sucked. It seemed a bit run-down. Maybe I'm just spoiled from Thailand. The bed, however, was awesome! It was so comfortable! So I just hung out in bed and watched tv. I fell asleep watching the Nathan's hotdog eating competition (the Japanese guy won again).