What to do at LAX at 2 in the morning

So - I find out I have to medevac out and my super organizing / control freak nature kicks in.  The next days become a flurry of arrangement making - flights, hotels, locations to purchase US sim cards so my cell phone will work, friends to stay with for the nights that there's no hotel room in the entire Bay Area (glad the convention business is booming!)  I've got confirmation emails all over the place, bags packed for the various possibilities and then we head to the airport.

My first flight is fine - long and boring - but no big deal.  And I have an hour and a half to make my connecting flight.  No big deal I thought.

Oh - how wrong I was!

Not only is Miami International Airport huge, but the signage can be a bit confusing.  You walk forever, and then take a mini-train, then walk a forever again before you get to the Homeland Security check-in.  And then of course, I picked the wrong line to stand in.  It looked short, but I got behind several people who required significantly more scrutiny from the DHS people who keep us safe.

Finally I was through and headed to get my bags to go through customs.  I still didn't think I had a problem.  Usually when the airlines are concerned people won't make their connecting flights, they have agents standing by to facilitate the process.  Since there was no mention of any of that, I wasn't concerned - but I should have been.

After getting through customs (again stood behind the wrong people), I followed the yellow dots to the connecting flights area.  But - what's this??  A woman is shouting at me that people going to San Francisco need to go someplace else.  Huh?

Well - it turns out that my flight had already loaded and boarded and was taking off in 15 minutes.  There was no way to make it.  And it was the last flight of the night.  The very relaxed airline agents told me I could take a flight the next morning at 10 AM.  10 AM - that's when my doctor appointment is - West Coast time!!  I explained my situation, trying to keep my emotions in check (stress, annoyance, frustration, sadness, tiredness - you get it).  The agent got me on the LA flight with a connecting flight at 7 the next morning to SF.  But - no hotel, no nothing.  Oh - and the LA flight was starting to board in about 10 minutes and I still had to check in my bags and go through domestic security.

So I'm off - again trying to find my way through Miami airport as fast as I can.  Also trying to login to the airport WiFi as I'm walking along so I can at least Skype my family to let them know what's going on and that I've made it part way.

I get to my gate as they're halfway loading the plane, quickly Skype my husband (not my best conversation - I was way too stressed).

I had to revise my plan - since I wouldn't be getting to SF and checking into a hotel where I could get some sleep, I thought I'd try to sleep on this leg of my flights.  That way, I wouldn't need to sleep from midnight to 5 at LAX.  As luck would have it, I sat next to the screaming baby that everyone dreads on night-time flights.  I felt so sorry for his mother - she did everything she could, but he was having none of it.  But since I'd had a super screaming baby - and he wasn't mine, I was able to sleep through it.

So now, here I am, at LAX waiting for morning and my flight to come.  Everything shuts down here.  The best place to be is the International Terminal.  There the McDonalds stays open until 2 AM and T-Mobile has WiFi spots and there's some lounge type chairs.  And then at 3:30, the security guys reopen the domestic side and I can head back to wait by my gate.

The lucky things are that I was able to sleep for probably 4 hours or so between Miami and LA.  And since I'm still on Brazil time, I'm pretty awake.  2 AM LA time is 7 AM Brazil time - about the time I arrive at the Consulate.  And I got to properly Skype my family this morning and apologize for my crankiness last night.  And I'll be setting a new personal record - 30 consecutive travel hours.