Bon voyage! July 15

So, we flew from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles and had a layover of a few hours.  It was fun getting to know some of the young missionaries who were also making the trip.  While we were waiting at SLC, I called daughter Paula, and she mentioned that Eleni was in L.A. and that we ought to give her a call.  Maybe we could see her, since we'd have some time.  Once we landed at LAX, I texted Eleni and found out she was actually there at the airport!  She'd been booked on a flight home to Portland that morning, but it had been cancelled, so she was stuck at LAX until evening.  So we got to see Eleni and visit for an hour, while we waited in a long line for Philippines Airlines.  That was an unexpected treat and made that long wait a lot more fun!

One last glimpse of family before we left - - our beautiful granddaughter, Eleni!

I still haven't quite wrapped my head around it, but somehow, we left L.A. very late that Monday night, flew for 13 hours on a huge 747, and arrived early in the morning on Wednesday.  Our trip was made a lot more enjoyable by a delightful Filipino lady I sat next to on the plane.  Her name was Cheryl and she was going home to visit her family for the first time since she'd left, six years earlier.  We'd been told that Filipinos were very warm and friendly, and Cheryl was proof of that, and our first Filipino friend.  She introduced us to all her family when we arrived in Manila, and they helped us with our luggage.  Such nice people, all of them.  Cheryl and I exchanged email addresses and will remain friends.  : )
M.A.