Sep 25-27

In which we fly from Fairbanks, AK to Auckland, NZ.

Stayed up late (1:30 am or so) on the 24th, packing and finishing last minute details. Leaving the country for 2.5 months is hard!

In the morning on the 25th we got up at 4:30 (Heather) and 5:00 (Chris), showered, got the kids up, and headed to the airport at about 5:40. Made it through security by 6:20, and they were just beginning boarding for the 7:00 am flight. Slept a little on the plane to Seattle, where we had a 7 hour layover. The pic is of an Alaska Airlines jet with a salmon painted on it, hadn't seen that one before. We met up with our friend Amber Walker, who picked us up and took us home, where our kids played with hers, and we had pizza. I ended up sleeping while the rest of them took a walk. Back to the Sea-Tac airport, short flight to LA where I didn't sleep at all.

In LA there was *no* signage telling us where to go to get to the international terminal, but a nice lady we met on the plane who was also going to NZ had asked, so we figured it out. (Wait at gate 39 for the shuttle. The sign at gate 39 says "Wait here for the shuttle" but doesn't say where it goes, heh.)

The 11 hour flight from LA to Auckland was pretty nice, despite being in economy class. Comfortable seats, with very nice headrests (adjustable wings that were very strong, which could hold your head in good position.) The in seat movies/TV on demand had probably 50 movies and 5-10 episodes of another 50 TV shows. The meals (2!) were good, and the beer was free. I had a Victoria Bitter (blah, but ok) and a James Squire Golden Ale (yum!) Also got a few (5-6) hours of fitful sleep.

Arrived in Auckland about 8:30 am, on Sunday the 27th. Crossing the international dateline, we lost the entire day of Sep 26th. We'll get it back going home, of course. But still, that was around 31 hours of travel, so we were pretty tired.