I didn’t have time for much of anything before heading to the airport for my flight home on the last day.  Doug had to leave pretty early so I had the room to myself to pack up and get myself ready for the journey.  I basically just putzed around and put all my stuff back into the suitcase until it was time to head out.

Lori was nice enough to drive me to LAX because she’s obviously amazing.  I managed to get myself and my luggage over to the Disneyland Hotel from Paradise Pier without getting lost!  If you hadn’t noticed my sense of direction was all sorts of turned around on this trip so getting anywhere on my own without help felt pretty nice.

After hanging around the airport for a bit I saw Kev tweet that he was boarding while I heard the call for boarding at a nearby gate.  It turns out he was sitting around the corner from me for about 40 minutes and we had no idea.  It was too late to see him so I was a little bummed.  There was also some confusion since the gates were shared in that terminal, but eventually it was time to board my plane and it worked itself out.

Since I am so nice I switched with another girl so she could sit by her friends and wound up sitting next to a super sweet couple who were headed east to look at colleges with their kids who were sitting behind them.  I sounded like hell with my post allergies loss of voice, but it was nice to chat with them a bit.  The rest of the flight was fine with only a few minor bumps.  I watched a couple movies which I’m fairly sure I was supposed to pay for, but were coming through for free.  Bonus!  If I’m going to be stuck in my seat for several hours I might as well watch The Hunger Games, no?

We even landed a bit early.  Woohoo!  I found my way to the luggage carousel and then to the shuttle bus back to my little parking lot.  I did get slightly turned around trying to get back on the highway back toward NJ, but I figured it out eventually and soon was on my way home.  My drives to and from JFK really weren’t too bad, but I did them at weird times so I’ll have to do that again if I decide to go out there for a future flight.

The jet lag kept me up pretty late that night and continued to kick my butt for the next few days.  Eventually I got back to normal and I got back to reality.  Luckily, I had a lull at the office so I wasn’t trying to have a lot of functionality during my jet lag days.

Now that I’ve tackled my first trip to Disneyland I’m sure I’ll return again in the next few years.  I loved my experience and had a ball with my traveling companions, but I don’t see myself going back within the next year or so.  There’s a big world out there and I need to start seeing some things that don’t involve Mickey.

I have to give a special thanks to Doug who encouraged me to go West and took me in as his roomie.  I had so much fun with him touring the parks all hardcore and he was great about doing whatever attractions I wanted to since it was my first time there.  I couldn’t have asked for a better tour guide and I’m so glad I got to have the chance to spend those days with him.  I had so much fun with everyone I got to hang out with in California, but I wouldn’t have been there at all if it wasn’t for Herr Uhlig.

Thanks to all of you who have followed along on Twitter and who read my posts about the trip!  It was a wonderful time and I can’t wait to travel again next month!