24 hours left on the plane, 24 hours left! Take a Dramamine, swallow it down, 23 hours left on the plane ...

So, yeah.  By the time I landed it really did feel like I had had 99 bottles of beer -- or well, at least 4.  I spent a combined total of about 24 hours on planes to get to Cape Town. Plus another -- what 7 -- in airports?  Yeaaah ....

But first, I had to say goodbye to my parents ... so hard!  I mean, I think you can see it on my face, right?

Then I had a 4 hour delay in Minneapolis.  Two of which were spent in the plane, on the tarmac.  Not the airline's fault -- it was due to bad weather in Chicago.  Still, I hates delays, precious.

So whilst I waited, I started making a little pouch for my camera.  I had some extra yarn laying around the house and I thought a little crafting would help pass the time...

 

Unfortunately, thanks to the 4 hours of waiting, I was done with it before the plane even took off:

 
But cute, no?  Crafters unite!  (PS, for crocheters out there, it's done in half double crochet to make it nice and cushy.)

Anyhoo, we get to O'Hare and then it is a literal dash to our plane.  I was the second to the last person they let on the plane before they shut the doors!  Oh, and thanks to O'Hare security I had to dump out my 40oz. bottle of water which I had been hoping would sustain me for the next 10 hrs. (I believe I am part camel in my never-quenched thirst.)  So there I am, sweating most unlady-like and already waterless. Boo.  But hey, at least I was on the flight!  One of the flight attendants told me there were another 40 people who didn't make the flight!

As much as I'm sorry for those poor 40 people stranded at 11 o'clock at night in O'Hare instead of on their way to Istanbul, the fact that there were so many empty seats meant that I got to lay down and at least attempt to get some decent sleep.  There was also a lot of I'm-about-to-barf-in-this-bag type turbulence, so Lorenita popped herself a Dramamine, made a nest with all the Turkish Air pillows and blankets (Boo on US airlines for getting rid of them by the way), put on the lovely Turkish Air eye mask and socks and fell asleep.  For like an hour, and then up and then asleep and then up and then asleep. 

Eventually, it was kind of morning, and after a yummy breakfast (dudes, seriously, Turkish Air was kinda great) we landed.

I had over 5 hours there, so I got intimately acquainted with the Istanbul Airport.  Oh, and hey, note to the Instanbul Airport commission:  PLEASE INSTALL WATER FOUNTAINS.  I spent over $20 on water, I kid you not.  But such was my need.  On the plus side, their food is a little better than your average airplane food -- I had a lovely salad with grilled hellim cheese.  (I decided to forgo the "fajitas" on the menu.)

And later I had, "cake with fruits, including grapes" ... and more water of course:

 
Other notes:  It seemed every kind of person from every corner of the earth was in the Istanbul airport.  And their duty free area was amazing ... especially the jewelry section!  Hey, don't judge, when else was I gonna be in Istanbul, I ask you?  And these people know their jewelry!

After wandering aimlessly for hours, I can't tell you how happy I was to see this:

And then it was a crazy melee of a line, and then I totally smuggled my now full 40oz. water bottle (I was NOT about to dump out $20 worth of water) on to the plane.

And sweet succotash, this flight was really empty too!  I switched seats after take off, and look, I had a whole row to myself!!!  Lorenita was happy!

 Then another 10 hours, then a stop in Johannesburg, an hour on the ground ... and then finally, FINALLY, Cape Town! 

Where -- of course -- I was the last person left by the baggage claim, eyes raised futilely to the heavens ... long after all reasonable hope ... yup ... my 2 Suitcases went AWOL!