Getting There is Half the Fun

Today was a really long day - and that's not just because we went back two timezones!  My mom and I woke up around 4:30 this morning to get ourselves ready, and we hit the road just after 5:00.  Shortly before 7:00, we arrived at the hotel near Joliet where my mom will be staying after she flies back on Wednesday.  We boarded the hotel shuttle to Midway airport, and soon enough we were on the plane headed for Los Angeles!  The flight was about 4 hours actual time.  That's relatively long compared to most flights I go on, but it could have been up to 40 minutes longer!  I like flying on Southwest Airlines, too, so it was okay.  We took off at about 9:00 a.m. Central time at arrived at LAX at about 11:00 a.m. Pacific time!  Once we got off the plane, we made our way to the baggage claim area.  I tried to do some celebrity spotting along the way, but I had no luck.  There was a bit of a backup at baggage claim, so it took a while to claim all our stuff.  After we had everything, we got on the shuttle that took us to our rental car agency.  We had to wait a while there and get some help because the self-service kiosk was about to charge my mom way too much.  After everything was settled, we got in our rental car and took off for the Oakwood Apartments.  I signed in and got my key and other important stuff, and then we left to get some lunch - by that point, it was past 2:00 p.m. local time!  Much to our delight, we discovered that Bob's Big Boy is very close to the apartments!  We stopped there to eat some delicious burgers.  We saw a really nice old car parked there, so I thought maybe Jay Leno was eating there.  I looked all around the restaurant, but I didn't see him or any other famous people!  Mark my words, I will spot a celebrity sometime during this semester!  Anyway, I took a picture next to Big Boy after we were done (as you can see below).  After lunch, we drove around a little bit and shopped at Target.  Then we got some Krispy Kreme donuts and decided to call it a night!  My mom ended up going to bed before 7:00!  So far, I've met one of my roommates from Texas.  I'll probably stay up for a couple more hours, but I need to get some good sleep, too!  Tomorrow is the day we see The Price is Right!  I'm very excited!