ARE WE THERE YET?

I've been to California before - remember last year for Ba Co's 80th birthday party?

But for whatever reason, Mom was still a little nervous about my ability to travel cross-country without incident. I am proud to say --- there is no incident to report. Of course, the circumstances of our flight out could have easily led to disaster. You see, we had to get up at 4:30 in the morning in order to catch our flight! 4:30 dudes!!!!! Here I am in all my glory on the shuttle bus from long term parking at Dulles Airport.

No worries though. Even though I was a little bored at the airport waiting for our flight ... (we probably got there a little bit earlier than necessary. But better safe than sorry, right? Mom is different now that she travels with a kid. No more of that rollin' up to the wrong terminal 20 minutes before departure!)

We flew Virgin America and it was great. There was a tv screen on each seat just like Jet Blue, roomy seats, and Mom and Dad brought along lots of things to keep me occupied on the 5 hour flight. Like the DVD player so I could watch all my favorite They Might Be Giants videos.

Don't worry. I didn't just veg out the entire flight. We read books. I took walks. And I even colored.

Our long day wasn't over once we landed at SFO though. We still had to wait for our luggage. And wait we did.

Luckily, Dad and I found a way to kill some time ...

While also burning up some of my bottled up energy. Did I mention that we landed in California at 3:00 p.m. EST, and that even though I'd been up since five in the morning, I still hadn't taken a nap yet?!?! DUDE!

I love buses. I love transportation vehicles of all sorts. So, I was kind of in a dreamworld (even without sleep) on this trip. Car ride to the airport, shuttle bus from parking lot to airport, strange shuttle vehicle which elevated from security gate to our terminal, airplane, monorail to rental car, and a mini-van equipped with a DVD player! NIRVANA! Here I am on the monorail. Can you see the California sun shining in? Why am I still in my jammies?

Finally, a fresh set of clothes when we got to the rental car spot. What's the driving age in California? Can I take this puppy for a spin?

At last, on the road to Ba Di and Ong Duong Ut's house. I was awake for the ENTIRE TRIP until .... wait for it ... the last 20 minutes of the drive.