Toronto AM – Los Angeles PM

Don’t forget to visit the web page to see any photos. The photo above is the first view of mountains as we approached California.

We went to sleep with a wake up call set for 5 AM and the iPhone alarm set for 4:50 AM. Neither was necessary. We awoke almost simultaneously at 4:40 AM. Shower, coffee, repack and off to find the airport shuttle. Terminal 1 was busy when we arrived at about 6 AM. Of course the checkin for USA flights was at the opposite end of the terminal where the shuttle discharged us. For those of you unfamiliar, all shuttles discharge passengers in the sub basement and take the trip to the departures level in a freight elevator large enough to handle a small car. However, it makes for a very short trip between terminals.

The check-in kiosks seem to have improved so we didn’t need to fight with it to get our luggage tags. The luggage drop-off machines were a different story and needed an Air Canada employee to intervene. Perhaps the airport folks need to take lessons from FedEx.

We are always grateful for Nexus. The line to security for the non-Nexus folks seemed to have no end. There were 10 people in the Nexus line and we didn’t have to take out our bag of liquids or take off our shoes.

When we did the actual Nexus check-in we were both directed to passport control rather than the “hi – goodbye” line but that added only about two minutes to the trip. With all formalities completed, we found a breakfast venue that actually served to the table rather than having to order through a faceless tablet device. The prices were typical of airports—way too high.

Boarding was simple enough but there was really no way to get a good photo of the first Dreamliner in which we have been able to travel. When the time came for us to push back from the gate we were informed that security and Border Protection services were running slowly and 50 passengers were being held captive by the delays so wait we would. Push back was delayed only about 15 minutes but its seemed much longer. Once the cabin crew managed to herd errant passengers to their seats away we went.

The Dreamliner is a BIG plane with between 240 and 350 seats. I think ours was a 350 seat version with nine seats across the economy class cabin. Using two doors did seem to help with boarding. In flight, the airplane is noticeably quieter than others and the cabin air seems fresher but nose and leg room is no better. This flight carried quite a large number of children some of whom were barely noticeable while others were quite noticeable. Who knew that some kids can cry for 5 hours. The music in the earbuds helped. The flight itself was smooth except for a couple of bumps as we passed over the mountains.

It took a while for our luggage to fall off the carousel. I had been convinced to gate check a third suitcase (at no cost) and it was, of course, late coming off the belt. Our Princess Cruises representative met us, waited patiently for the luggage and waited even more patiently for the hotel shuttle to arrive at the curb.

It is only a 10 minute ride to the LAX Marriott and although check-in time is normally 3 PM they found a room just after our noon arrival. That’s 3 PM in Ontario isn’t it? After check-in came lunch at a little restaurant operated by a Korean family. Good food, good price.

We managed to wait until after 5 PM to go for dinner, that’s 8 PM at home and we rarely eat dinner at 8 PM. When we arrived in the Marriott Hotel lobby the Princess Cruises representatives were there so we stopped by to get our morning instructions. That delayed dinner by 10 minutes. The plan now is to try to stay awake for a while and avoid the 4 AM automatic wake up.

Today’s photos are in the right sidebar.

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