and other bits of insanity.
Getting in/out of the Port of San Pedro is insane. Yes, there is a cruise terminal. But really, it is a huge, industrial shipping port. The kind that moves thousands of containers a day. Passenger traffic is an inconvenience at best and a danger to everyone at work. There are acres and acres of containers stacked high. There are forklifts and cranes moving about. And there are trucks. More trucks that one usually sees clogging up the major highways in hilly country. More trucks than I want anything to do with. And there are a couple of long bridges. Serious bridges. The kind that I would not want to be on in case of an earthquake.
The early morning was chaos. The buffet was so jammed that it wasn’t possible to find anyplace to eat. And this was not early. I decided to play the “senior cruiser card” and managed to get the three of us seated in the restricted restaurant. And then we waited in one of the lounges till close to 0900. The terminal itself was complete chaos. Even with waiting till almost the end of the line it was a madhouse. Find the luggage, haul it along. Attempt to get through immigration with a toddler who doesn’t want to face the camera or remove fingers from mouth. Followed of course, by figuring out where the RideShare pick up area was located.
Managed to get everything down to the alleged pick-up point, one of the security people said that the area was reserved for drop offs….. Even tho the sign clearly states that the area is for pickups/drop offs. I waited till that person moved down the line and then asked the security person if our ride could grab us there since the luggage and toddler were too difficult to relocate. Someone with a heart – she helped watch for our ride and let him to the curve.
45 minutes in the car getting from the port to the junction with 405. From there it was just a few minutes to the Hampton Inn on the back-side of the Long Beach Airport. And the lovely woman who checked us in? With an official check in time of 1500? Yes, she had a room ready and we could have it early. And a luggage cart!
Lev has had his ups and downs today. Shana is pretty tired. Interesting way to spend her birthday……
and I had the pleasure of a long time friend making the time to drive from Irvine up to say hello, meet Shana & Lev and let us spend a few minutes catching up.