We made it!

Wow, what a ride! Last Monday, October 29, we had dinner at Dan & Emily Gutierrez' house (world's finest roast beef, whipped potatoes, green chile stew, and tiramisu! You guys ROCK!). That night we went home to "finish packing" and get some sleep before our flight... Well, we never even made it to bed. When Pastor Ray and sister Patsy drove up at 4:30 a.m., we had just tucked the last sock into the last suitcase.

Flew from ABQ to PHX to LAX and then, at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 30th - on to Narita Airport, Tokyo (for more about that story, go here).

I will say the connections were amazing. We got off the plane in Narita (not Narnia), breezed through immigration, trekked a mile or two to the baggage claim, and then, just as we walked up, all our luggage came out together (a miracle, considering our plane holds 400 people and it looked pretty full). We got waved through customs and walked out into the main airport.

Using my well-honed, traveling skills, honed over years of... well, traveling, I marched straight up to an information booth and said "I have no idea where my hotel's shuttle is supposed to be" to which the young lady replied, "It's right here outside this very door. It's the last one for the night, and is leaving in 10 minutes."

So we stepped out the door, and onto our shuttle, which left us by the elevator to the lobby of our hotel.

Strange. This doesn't look like our hotel.

Do you remember that scene in Willy Wonka, where Gene Wilder leads the group down an ever-narrowing hallway to a tiny door at the end of the hall? Remember the surprise when that tiny door opened up to a huge space?

Well our tiny door didn't do that.

We had to take turns walking past the bed. The closet had 3 clothes hangers that didn't fit (the closet). How does this hotel survive in today's competitive international market? Well apparently there is a whole community of frugal, middle aged men, who believe that just because they CAN book their own rooms online, that they SHOULD ("What a deal, Veronica! No one is going to fleece us with hidden fees and commissions").

And while I saw a number of foreigners at the Narita U-city Hotel, no one complained. We all had the decency to say nothing and merely nod sheepishly and knowingly at each other as we passed in the lobby. We self-sufficient captains of our own destiny were not about to draw attention to ourselves. We all knew how we got there.

(Oh good grief! The warnings were there all along, I just refused to see them. There's my exact room...)

I will say that the staff was EXTREMELY polite, helpful and accommodating, and that the room (though not the carpet) was entirely stain-free and spotless. 

Best part was getting carryout from the 7-11 (yes, you heard right) and the Bento shop.

In spite of the hotel (which I picked), this has to have been the smoothest trip we've ever taken anywhere! No missed anything, no delays, no strip searches, no lost luggage. 

I bet a thousand people were praying for us... 

Thank you for your prayers. God is good. 

Coming soon - The rest of Japan (yes, it really exists, and we're there!)