Our Wonderful West Coast Adventure! Day 0 - Travel day...leaving on a jetplane!

[NatsyNoo]

It’s 6am, and Elvis Presley’s ‘Viva Las Vegas’ is singing in my ears from across the room which meant I had to get out of bed to silence him! Well, Matt did. We had both slept really badly. No explanation as to why, maybe excited and nerves. After all, this is a very different kind of adventure, away from the safety bubble of WDW or DLP or DCL…this time we were on our own!

A quick splash of our faces, teeth brushed, makeup on, hair combed, and all of our worldly possessions packed for what wouldn’t be the last time, we left our hotel at 6.40am to find our parking location, which we booked with Purple Parking through Skyparks back in July for £56.75 (including a voucher code).

Checking in for the parking was a very smooth operation, and soon enough, we were off to Heathrow T3 to drop our bags off for our Virgin flight to San Francisco. The cases weighed in at 21kg and 22kg (our digital scales are obviously not quite accurate!) and we watched them disappear down the belt while we went the opposite way through security.

Now, our flight wasn’t due to leave til 1pm, so you maybe wondering why we’re at the airport at 7.30am. Let me tell you…We had booked No1 Lounge access through Travelzoo for £16 each which we could check in for 3 hours prior to our flight (i.e. 10am) so we wanted to get here nice and early to get into the lounge at that time and make the most of it! The holiday really does begin at the airport for us!

So off we toddle through security, where both of our bags were pulled aside for checking. We correctly assumed that this is because of the number of chargers and electrical devices we had with us. It’s crazy really! Camcorder, camera, 2 phones, ipad, Kindle, netbook (we use this to upload our photos through the holiday to ensure no hiccups!), DS for me, PSP for Matt…it soon adds up! This took about 30 mins to get through but this is why we allow extra time.

Anyway, safely through security, I could start to relax, and we had a little nosy around the shops. I had planned to buy some sunglasses from the Sunglass Hut but nothing really took my fancy. The sunnies I bought at the airport before Florida in 2009 are still in fashion, apparently, but on sale at double the price, so since nothing else took my fancy, I left it. Matt consequently decided that there was money in the budget for a new lens for our new DSLR camera which he could use for zoom shots and a UV filter for both lenses, which came to £111.98 at Dixons.

We headed over to WHSmith next to get some magazines for Matt and a SuDoku book for me, plus a drink each, which came to around £10, and then to Boots for some cold medicine for Matt as he had woken up full of lurgy…yuk! We then sat with our drinks and nibbled on a Krispy Kreme donut which I’d bought yesterday with the plan to eat them last night but we failed…they made a good breakfast anyway!

After an hour, we wandered over to the lounge where we spent the next 2 hours or so chilling out and using the Wifi. Included we could select one hot plate each, so I had a sausage sub and Matt had a bacon roll. These were ok, nothing special; but the danishes were warm and gooey and yummy!

At 11.45am we headed to the gate and were called to board not long after. We had got the seats we had requested during OLCI yesterday (the 2 at the back on the right hand side…no weirdo next to us and little bit of extra legroom!). Everything was going a little bit too well…til now, as we sat on the tarmac for over an hour before we took off, as a problem with one of the toilets on board meant we missed our slot and had to wait for another which is no easy feat at Heathrow airport!

IMG_0621 by nataliepope183, on Flickr
Anyway, eventually we were in the sky, and Matt and I plugged in our new Sony headphones which I’d bought us before coming away, and simultaneously watched the Hangover 3 in preparation for Vegas! I loved it! I know it’s not as good as the others but it was still freakin’ hilarious, especially the beginning!


IMG_1961 by nataliepope183, on Flickr

As our film was finishing, lunch was served. The menu said we had a choice of vegetable pasta, beef in red wine or chicken tikka. When the stewards got to us, the curry was all gone so we went for the beef in red wine but were served beef and mushroom pie which wasn’t great. Turns out the menu they’d given out was the return menu so was wrong anyway. We had taken the last beef, which left only the pasta (which I wish I’d gone for in hindsight!) and the remaining passengers said they didn’t want that option, so were given meals from Premium! Lucky Devils!

Never mind…it filled a hole and we had plenty of snacks with us if we needed them. Next up, was Monsters University. We didn’t make it to the cinema over the summer to watch this, as we were really busy, and really enjoyed it! In the middle, a cup of tea and pudding was served…it was a Gu Lemon pudding which was divine (and might just slip into my shopping basket next week actually!), and we flew over the mountains of Greenland which was pretty cool!

IMG_1958 by nataliepope183, on Flickr


IMG_1960 by nataliepope183, on Flickr
Next, Matt was Olympus Has Fallen while I wanted Identity Thief (starring Melissa McCarthy, who might just be the funniest person on the planet IMO) which was not great but funny in parts. During this film, we were brought a Skinny Cow ice cream which wasn’t brilliant but nice to have!


IMG_1962 by nataliepope183, on Flickr

After this film, for fear of developing square eyes, I switched to the Sky Map and cracked on with some SuDoku, while Matt watched Fast & Furious. During this film we were offered a sausage or cheese Danish pastry which was a weird combo as the pastry was sweet but nice to have! It felt like the food just didn’t stop!


IMG_1963 by nataliepope183, on Flickr

I decided to try and have a little nap at this point, as I knew the time difference would be killer and we had to stay up tonight to try and beat it, so declined afternoon tea. Matt had it but I don’t think he ate any of it, though I’m not sure.

The 11 hour flight passed quickly enough in the end, and we landed at 4.30pm local time. It was a good landing in term of bumpiness but it was a bit scary descending over the bay and landing at the water’s edge!


IMG_1964 by nataliepope183, on Flickr

Sadly, we were stuck at immigration for an hour as the delay meant we were just behind another long haul flight, but what can you do?! Worst was what happened next, when we got to the baggage carousel, and our bags weren’t there! I almost freaked! It is literally my worst travel nightmare. It had stopped spinning so we had to walk around, and after 3 loops, I had all but given up, when Matt spotted our red ribbon poking out. It turns out we had walked past our bags 3 times but as they had been slung on the carousel upside down and we didn’t recognise them. Phew!

IMG_0622 by nataliepope183, on Flickr
A little later than hoped for, we headed for the transfer area and found our transfer (booked through Charter Travel with Go Laurie) and after we picked up another couple from another terminal, we were on our way

However, the 2 other couples in the van both had to be dropped off at Union Square before our drop off at Fisherman’s Wharf, and the traffic was horrific, so it took 90 minutes to get to our hotel. Never mind, we had finally made it, and the later arrival time (by now, 7.45pm) meant it would be easier to stay up late by the time we had ventured out for some dinner.
We checked in at the Holiday Inn Fisherman’s Wharf and we given room 1228 in the new building which was nice. It’s not ‘new new’ but newer! We had a quick splash in the shower (by now, it being 4am to our body clocks) and wandered over to Pier 39 for our first burger at Hard Rock Café.

Matt was going to have chicken wings to start but as we were here a bit later (9pm now!), he decided to skip, and he couldn’t taste them anyway due to his cold, so we both stuck with the BBQ Hickory Bacon Cheeseburger which was $15.75 each, and with 2 soft drinks, came to around $42 (we left $50)….in my sleepy daze I forgot the receipt for exact pricing.


IMG_1967 by nataliepope183, on Flickr

Sorry it’s half eaten…we get much better now! Promise! Blame the time! Lol

We popped into Walgreens on the way back to the hotel for some water for in our room, and climbed into bed at 10pm. Needless to say it didn’t take us long to go sleepies, but I think we did pretty damn well!

[Twiga6]

Lovely first day looking forward to the rest

[Guest]

Another good day, shame about the delay. I think a missing suitcase would be my worst nightmare!

[NatsyNoo]

Originally Posted by Twiga6

Lovely first day looking forward to the rest

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Thank you!

Originally Posted by princess_chazy

Another good day, shame about the delay. I think a missing suitcase would be my worst nightmare!

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I know! It sounds so shallow but it would be everything...makeup, clothes, smellies, GHDs, everything! Thank goodness we found them!

[ayles300]

Great first day, looking forward to reading this one.

[christybell]

Looking forward to reading this one Nat...quite fancy the West Coast of 2015

Well done staying awake

[NatsyNoo]

Originally Posted by ayles300

Great first day, looking forward to reading this one.

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Originally Posted by christybell

Looking forward to reading this one Nat...quite fancy the West Coast of 2015

Well done staying awake

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Thanks both!
Staying up is the key to cracking the jetlag so we knew it was a must!
Christybell, definitely give the west a try, it really makes a lovely change but there's still hints of Florida holidays there!
I hope my trippie will help you!

[parisdisneyfan]

Good first day, bad luck about the delays on tarmac, immigration and luggage but as you say it helped keep you up that night!

[MissVincent]

Good first travel day, shame about the delays

[sam7]

excellent trip report, thank you - I am very tempted for 2014 or 2015, so will be reading this with interested. Very nice of you to put the food prices as I was wondering what the cost different would be from Florida.