Finale...

[jen_in_china]

Friday we packed our luggage out of our room, left it in storage at the hotel for an hour or so while we went and had a late breakfast. Ate at a place across from Grand Central Terminal; a place we'd passed by the first night we were in the city. Good food. Realized as we were leaving the restaurant that we totally forgot to check out of our room!!! Whoops. Thankfully there was no problem about checking out an hour late, and then we waited in the lobby with our bags, for the shuttle to pick us up. It ended up coming a little late, but we climbed aboard and were off. It ended up the longest shuttle ride of our lives. 3 hours! To get to an airport a mere 15 miles away from Manhattan! We rushed to the check in desk at the airport, and he informed us we were too late to catch our flight! What?! The next flight didn't leave until the same time tomorrow! GRRRRRR!!!! So we scheduled to take the flight the next day, lugged our bags out of the way, and found we needed to take this sky train to an area where we could call for a hotel. Ended up staying at the most shady hotel called the JFK Inn, really close to the airport. The toilet didn't flush, there were big holes in the carpet, the windows were cracked, the remote for the tv didn't work. I called to put in a complaint for the Shuttle service that made us late. Talked to and was transferred to a bunch of different people, but finally got it smoothed over. I just received a check in the mail last week to cover the hotel cost and the shuttle fares, so I'm thankful we made that call. We ordered food to be delivered to the room that night. The next day we arrived at the airport quite early, but needed to be checked out of the hotel, and had nowhere else to go. We ate lunch at the airport, browsed some of the shops. Finally, the flight left around 5pm. A flight of agony. A crying baby across the aisle from us. We ended up the very last seat, all the way to the back of the plane, right near the bathroom where an immense line always forms. Baby crying again. No food served. I just wanted to get home by this time. Don was good enough to pick us up from the airport. We waited for our bags at the luggage carousel, and then headed home. Thankfully we stopped at a Subway that was open for a bite to eat. Seemed like an eternity since we ate last.

What an awesome trip. I would go back in a heartbeat.

Sigh.