Cuteness is not enough. There must be cake!: I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane.....

Have I ever mentioned that I have a very AWESOME little brother? Have I also ever mentioned that I have a very AWESOME husband? Or have I mentioned that I have some AWESOME parents? Well, in case I haven't, sit down-buckle-up-and-hold-on, because we are about to embark on an epic journey.

Our journey begins many, many years ago when my little brother took his very first airplane ride to Colorado to visit our grandparents. He was about 5 years old and he decided then and there that he would grow up to be a pilot. His journey to pilot-hood has taken him across the United States, then to Taiwan, and finally to the UAE (United Arab Emirates) where he earned the position of Captain and he flies the 777.

Everyone has heard of Dubai, right? It's one of the 7 "states" in the UAE. It's also home to the Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world), the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah (the most luxurious seven star hotel in the world), the Dubai Mall (the largest mall in the world), and many many other fascinating things.

My parents go over to visit every February and I've always wanted to go but have never had the opportunity. Cue Christmas 2017. My brother and family were over for Christmas and we were all gathered at my house for a Christmas Eve, Eve dinner....... My darling husband had been planning things with my parents and my brother behind my back. Imagine my surprise and shock when he gave me my Christmas present...... a two week trip to Dubai with my parents. Because I'm the sister, I too would get the awesome first class benefits. It's too bad no one had their cameras out because my jaw hit the ground, my eyes bugged out of my head, I went into shock, started hyperventilating, and finally squealing for joy. I could hardly believe my ears!! I WOULD BE GOING TO DUBAI!!

The end of December, ALL OF JANUARY, and the first half of February DRAGGED BY SO SLOWLY!! I had a long wait to find out the exact date for our trip and then once we knew, the wait until that day arrived. I thought February 22nd would never arrive. I was so excited and antsy that the moment I knew our departure date, I created a countdown calendar......

I didn't like the sound of 30 days so I changed it to count down the "sleeps" until I would leave. That sounded better.

As the days drew closer, I would break out into random fits of giggles. I tried to keep myself contained, calm, cool, and collected, but it was very very hard.

So ya'll have heard of Emirates first class, right? It's the fancy-schmancy airplane with the shower. A first class ticket on Emirates will cost you a cool $15,000.00!!! Mere pocket change, right? Can I just tell you how much I LOVE my little brother???? Because he's a captain and BECAUSE I am his sister, I didn't have to pay anywhere near that much; which made it very affordable. My fantastically fabulous husband was willing to hold down the fort so I could go play in the sun with my parents, brother, sister-in-law, nephews, and niece for two weeks!! How lucky could I be!?!?!

I've shared a lot of pictures of my adventures on Facebook, but I wanted to detail my travels out here on my blog. I want to get all of my memories written down and preserved before I forget them all. So, for the next several days, I will be posting more pictures, stories, and hopefully videos. I believe I took over 1000 + pictures/videos during my two weeks of fun. Don't worry, I won't put all 1000 + pictures up here (I may come close though :P). So, sit back, grab your popcorn and enjoy this journey to Dubai and back.

First of all, let me begin by saying that I am officially a "time traveler." I jumped "forward" in time going over and went "back" in time coming home, jet lag is not fun.

So, if one is going to make a fabulous trip, one needs fabulous luggage. I found myself some awesome luggage. So, the first picture of my journey begins on the evening of February 21st, the night before our departure......

My bags are packed, clothes ready for the morning, and I'm ready to go!!

The plan was to fly from Salt Lake to San Francisco, then from San Francisco to Dubai. We flew to San Francisco on Alaska Airlines. Our flight was scheduled to leave on February 22nd at 7:28 am Utah time, 6:28 pm Dubai time, and 6:28 am San Francisco time.

That meant having to get up ridiculously early in the morning to get to the airport. I did not sleep well that night. I woke up every hour and by 5 am I couldn't sleep any longer. So I got up and got ready to go. My parents had spent the night at our house to make it easier getting to the airport so early in the morning.

Waiting in line to check our luggage. Tired but VERY VERY excited!!

The line to get through security in terminal one was outrageously long so we walked over to terminal two where the line was much shorter. I hadn't realized just how excited I was for the trip until I heard my dad laugh. I turned around to see that I was WAY ahead of them. Getting through security with my ankle brace was fun, but the TSA people were nice enough.

We timed it perfectly and didn't have too long of a wait before boarding the plane.....

Waiting to be pushed back.

And naturally I had to take pictures from the plane......

Flying into a cloud bank.

Goodbye snow!!

Sunrise.

As we were flying into San Francisco, we were "racing" a Southwest plane. I got a video of it and turned part of it into a GIF. Hopefully it will work posting it here.

Our flight was scheduled to land at 8:35 am San Francisco time, 7:35 am Utah time ("time travel"). And this is where the fun of keeping track of three time zones began. Our flight to Dubai wasn't scheduled to leave San Francisco until 4:20 pm San Francisco time, 3:20 pm Utah time, and 4:20 am (Friday morning) Dubai time. So, we had a bit of time to kill. We collected our luggage and made our way over to the international terminals, found the Emirates ticket counters, the Wendy's (for lunch), and a good place to sit and hang out until the ticket counters opened up.

People watching is fascinating. There are quite a few interesting people you meet. There was a lady wandering around the airport and I don't think she was all-together-with-it. I couldn't finish all of my fries and she came up asked if she could have them, then just sat down and started eating them like crazy. It was weirdly awkward so we got up and moved closer to the ticket counters.

They had three ticket counters for Emirates; economy, business, and first class. The economy line was very long and crowded. People started lining up for it about an hour before they opened up. We were able to just walk straight up to the counter without having to wait in any lines.

I upgraded from Peasant to Royalty.

We didn't even have to wait in the long security lines which was awesome. It was so awesome to hold my first class ticket.

The anticipation of getting on the plane was killing me. But boy was it ever nice to get to go to the first class line and skip the massive line for economy.

That's my plane!

We boarded on the upper walkway, the lower walkway was for the peasants.

Now let me tell you, first class did NOT disappoint. It was everything I had expected and heard it to be. I was shown to my seat by the Purser, who took my hoodie and hung it up in the little closet I had in my cabin. Since it was my first time in first class, one of the flight attendants showed me how to work all of the controls. They were all very friendly and helpful and they were more than happy to take pictures. While we were waiting for take off, they served drinks (I had a Sprite with a twist of lemon in it). They brought around roasted nuts, fresh fruits, and chips (all in china dishes). Then I was brought my first class kit.....

Nice cloth bag containing my pajamas or Pyjamas as they put it.

The back has a space for your slippers and your eye mask.

These pajamas were so comfy!! And the top has pockets in it.

The slippers were so soft, fuzzy, and comfy.

First class toiletries kit.

This is everything that came in the toiletries kit.

There was a mini vanity in my first class compartment that this was in.

And a first class writing kit.

This was everything that came in the writing kit.

This is the first class amenities and they gave me a nice canvass tote bag to put it all in.

So, after I finished my pre-flight snacks, took tons of pictures, and changed into my pj's, they brought around those really nice hot wash cloths for me to refresh with.

That's only just the beginning of my first class fun.

Look at all that room!!

Sitting in my chair looking at my private TV.

Big enough for me to stand in my mom's compartment with plenty of room left.

First class goody tray.

My mini juice, soda, and water bar.

Real, fresh orchids.

So much leg room!!

There are are three cameras on the plane; the tail, the belly, and the nose. So you can watch the progress from your flight from any of those cameras. I liked the camera in the tail the best.

First class from my cabin.

My mom enjoying her first class cabin.

They have LED lights in the ceiling so that when they turn down the cabin lights it looks like a starry night. It was really cool.

If this does what it's supposed to, this should be a video of my first class suite.

The first class bathroom was something else to behold!! It was huge and opulent. The floors were heated so that your feet stayed nice and comfy. They cleaned it after every use. They had fresh flowers everywhere, including in the shower itself!! And real hand towels to dry your hands with. A couple of hours into our flight, my flight attendant came by and asked me if I would like to schedule my shower, of course I did!! I scheduled it for 3 hours before we landed. The shower was lovely. You get a five minute shower and let me tell you, it was very refreshing.

View from the door to the bathroom.

The shower.

Look at all that space!!

Yeah, I know, I'm weird.

Those are the fresh orchids on the wall behind me. There is a timer to make sure you don't go over your five minute time. So it pays to keep an eye on that.

If it works right, this should be a video of the First Class Shower.

And again, I had to take shots of everything.....

Waiting for push back in San Francisco.

Picture of my live video feed of our take off.

In the air!!

Lovely view of the ocean.

There's a boat of some kind down there.

I just loved this feature.

I haven't even got to the food yet. Holy cow, the food was magnificent!! The flight was long enough for me to get three meals, however they give you a lot of food and so I was only hungry enough for two meals. In economy and business class, there is a set time for when you get the meals. However, being in first class, I could order whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and as much as I wanted.

So yeah, this is the menu they gave me for the duration of my flight.

Very fancy.

I just stuck with a Sprite with a twist of lemon.

My first meal I ordered the steak and eggs.

The cream of sweetcorn soup was divine!!

I didn't try any of the main courses, I stuck with the breakfast options.

I didn't get the chance to sample any of these selections.

Cream of sweetcorn soup.

You get a basket of fresh baked bread with every meal.

Steak, eggs, and hash. Sadly that is beef bacon. No pork :(

When they come to serve your meals, they put down a linen table cloth. Your linen napkin is folded in a pretty design. You get served all of your meals on china with nice silverware.

Breakfast, first course.

French toast made from a croissant, covered in pears and a pear sauce....very tasty.

My after breakfast dessert and the after shower fruit.

After all of that pampering and luxury it was hard to believe that I had spent 15 + hours on an airplane. We have decided that we got three vacations; the plane ride over, the time in Dubai, and the plane ride home.