Flight went well. Boys were terrific. Nani was antsy and didn't feel too good. The worse part was hearing poor Pete yelping in the cargo of the plane until we took off! We landed safely in Los Angeles, collected all 18 checked bags and a very anxious Pete and hauled all the bags to the shuttle area and waited and waited and waited for a shuttle that could carry us all to the hotel. The hotel bellhops were shocked at the amount of luggage we had but hauled them up to our rooms. The hotel restaurant was closing in an hour but couldn't seat us for 45 minutes. Great! 9 very hungry tired people! Still the kids were great, all things considered, with the only problem being Nani demanding steak where the least expensive was $27! Uh...NOT gonna happen!!! Finally, beds!
6:30am: Graham's awake. It's 9:30 at home so he'd kinda slept in. Pete's on eastern time too and wants to go out. I throw on a jacket and take him down from the 10th floor. Can't imagine having a dog in like Manhattan! Grabbed a broken couple more hours of sleep then Billy and I get dressed and take the shuttle back to the airport to retrieve our rental vehicles. Yes, plural. He had tried to get a 12 passenger van but was told they didn't have any. I, however, was extremely reluctant to drive in LA! Danielle (from New Orleans) waited on us at the Hertz counter and teased me for my fear of driving in LA. She then told us that they actually DO have some vans and she'd check to see what was available. Hallelujah! The did have a 12 passenger van!!! We stood at her counter and chatted for like 25 minutes while they cleaned the van for us. Super nice lady and our angel of the day! Check out her fashion website at www.dandylinefashion.com. Thank you, Danielle! And Thank You, Lord!
Back to the hotel. Collected Mom, the kids and Pete. It was time to bring Pete to the boarding facility where he'd stay until he was ready to be shipped to NZ. Mom and I took him into the building. Luis greeted us and showed us around. It was a nice place and Luis was very kind. He would be Pete's primary caregiver. He would take him to the vet visits and to the airport. Hugs and kisses and of course tears. Bye bye my Petey. See you in 6 weeks!
On to San Diego. Beautiful drive and all together in one vehicle! We quickly realized that there would have been NO WAY, in California traffic, that Billy and I could have stayed together in two separate vehicles!
Checked into hotel, purchased tickets to Sea World and headed there. We had only 2 hours before it closed but we were able to see a few things and meet up with my cousin, Tommy, who lives nearby. We plan to return to Sea World on Sunday morning, as the ticket is good for seven consecutive days. Dinner with Tommy and his girlfriend, Kim, at The Outback. The kids were exhausted by this time, beginning to get cranky but still behaving pretty well.
Back at the hotel. Goodnight!!
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