Virgin Atlantic Flight 412 from LAX to JFK

So after months and months of planning, too many people let it slip that Lex and I were coming to CT for her mom's 60th birthday. Oh well, she was still excited. Now I learned a lot of stuff about Lex and where she came from but like with any story we first have to start at the beginning.

The Airport. LAX.

We arrived to LAX VERY early but that's okay, I'd rather be super early then running through the airport. We checked in, checked our bags, went through security, grabbed an $8 hamburger and looked around at some of the shops. Sat around... fast fwd to boarding the plane. Got all settled, bags, stuff and started flipping through the online screen of cool stuff. Then the captain comes over the intercom. JFK has haulted incoming flights due to thunder/lightening storms. Not sure when we'll depart so we have to deboard the plane. Dude, this sucks. Then Lex explains that a plane probably got struck by lightening so they haulted flights. *blinks* struck... by... lightening... okay I'm good with being delayed.

45 minutes later, about to board... and no. Guy comes out just as we're about to start boarding and NOW says it might be 2 more hours before we board... aww man. So I decided to hit the little girls room after we found seats and while in there I hear, "Flight 412 is boarding NOW." Then my phone beeps with a text from Lex saying we're boarding. So by 2 hours they meant 30 minutes. I'm good with that.

Finally in the air, we get to use the high tech plane we had been waiting for. You order food and drinks on the screen. You get free satelite TV, games, and then you can always pay for movies and some other things. IT WAS AWESOME! You can even pay for internet and of course we did :) As we landed, it was cloudy but there wasn't any rain or bad bad weather.

NYC - JFK.

We walked outside and holy hell... eww. Now that's what humidity feels like, we don't have real humidity people. When you drink your air, you'll know what real humidity feels like. Anyway, we walked down the way and found Lex's dad, loaded our suitcases and were down the road. I saw the Empire state building from afar and it was pretty lit up at night. We got to Annie's around 2:am and went to bed, it had been a long day.

Wilton, CT.

Come 11:am (8:am our time) Annie came in like a storm trooper saying it was time to get up and cut ribbon. This basically set the tone for the entire trip. Everything is very frantic and rush rush with little thought of planning ahead, well planning ahead practically. Lex's mom came over shortly with burritos, mmm. Then we did a scenic route through town aka Alix's life. I got to see her schools and hear about where her prom's were, saw where she played tennis, it was all very cute and quaint. I got to hear stories and I liked it all very much. It's a beautiful place but very different than anything I'm used to.

We got to venture a little bit but most of our plans were thwarted by other plans that we were not aware of until told to show up. Fair enough, they miss Lex, I get it, still a little bothersome when I wanted to sightsee some more but oh well. We had yummy steak dinners on the porch, fantastic seafood near the water, cemetery upon wonderful cemetery and fun stores that we just don't have here. I got a lot of reusable bags because they are my favorite and they are a cheap thing to collect and I use them for EVERYTHING!

I finally got to meet all of Lex's moms friends who I've heard so much about. Very funny, intelligent, interesting women. What a group. I love that a smaller group of them left to go to a friends house to drink the night away. lol

On a sidenote, instead of a cake, cupcakes were ordered. Alix and I sat down to test them out seeing as how we're a pretty good judge of these things now. Another thing you need to know about this area; it revolves around money and status. So we know these cupcakes did not come cheap. A couple people said they had these at someones baby shower and were raving about them. 1st- They did NOT look appealing. The frosting was more like glopped on there then spread in any sort of decoration. There was a Tiramasu one and another one that I can't even remember now, that's the kind of impression they left. 2nd- dry, they were quite dry and the frosting was not very flavorful. 3rd-Now I didn't try the Tiramasu one because Lex said the Ladyfingers at the bottom were kinda slimy... okay, eww. Some of the girls loved them but the majority of them muttered things along the same lines as what we were saying. A few even mentioned us probably making better ones and I just nodded politely and smiled. Had I known this was the calibur, I would have shipped my tools out there.

We got to go to our first Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives from Guy Fierri. It was a hot dog place in Fairfield, CT. It was tiny and yummy, we shared a hot dog but the highlight for me was the salt and pepper fries... mmm good!

I saw sooo many cemeteries. I was in my own little heaven. I even got to photograph in one. The care that went into the tombstones was nothing short of beautiful and amazing. I was careful to be very respectful as I wandered around, talking quietly and respecting those around me. I would say under me but I truly believe I was surrounded by the dead and not just their bones underneath me.

For the most part it's green trees with more green trees, a lot of water and a shit ton of snotty people. Not even snobby just privledged with this overall sense of "I'm better than you" kind of mentality. The thing I remember most when going from store to store and walking around is not ONE time was the phrase "excuse me" uttered. People barrel into you and through you or make that exasperated nose as they walk past you if, God forbid you stop to actually stop and grab something off a shelf. The people are different and that's okay. I'm just glad I live where I live. Nothing is so important that I have to treat other people like crap just because I have something to do.

By Sunday morning we were ready to be back home and I easily got up Monday morning to head into NYC. As there are a few decades between Lex and her parents, I now see why there is such a fight on going home for her. It really makes me wonder how much genetics play a role in how a person ends up as an adult because Alix is nothing like the surroundings she was raised in.

Most importantly, I'm glad I could go and be there for her. She has been so supportive over here and it was nice to be there for her to lean on me for a change when her mom was on a comment after comment rampage. I think I served as a pretty good buffer too. I'm glad she shared her town where she grew up with me.

Maybe not the most relaxing of trips but I've decided it's soooo much more fun to fly with someone, I love traveling with Alix, she rocks!