Today we arrive home completely exhausted, because July 11 is something like 36 hours long for us because of time zones and the international date line. We regain the day that we lost 3 weeks ago when we flew to Australia. We had breakfast in Brisbane, then got to the airport via the rental car shuttle, and since we had just woken up, stayed awake for the entire flight. I watched 4 movies and finished my book. Thanks to our favorite Qantas airlines (who believes that the fastest way to a passengers heart is through their stomachs), we were served dinner; breakfast;a "pizza", ice cream, and chocolate snacks. As well as water bottles and several times walking through with a pitcher of water and cups. We are well fed and hydrated. And did I mention those 4 movies I watched. My experience was a bit dimmed by the guy sitting in front of me that reclined his seat all the way for the majority of the flight. Which meant that I had about six inches of space between my face and his seat back. Using my laptop was out of the question, even reading my book was difficult. There was no way I could pick up anything from the floor or get things out of my backpack (stored under his seat). Meals were a bit precarious and difficult to eat as well. Getting in and out of our seats to use the bathrooms and stretch was an acrobatic experience. People need to think about the person behind them--only recline halfway if you're trying to sleep.
We boarded in Brisbane late because they were having trouble with the cabin temperatures (too hot), but we were only 20 minutes late arriving in Los Angeles. Which decreased our 7 hour layover (yeah, I know!) to "only" a 6 1/2 hour layover. It's morning here and feels like after midnight for us. We're too early to even check in so we found a group of chairs behind one of the check-in desks to wait.
When we arrived in Los Angeles and were going through customs and border control, a toddler escaped from its parents and used the ropes that show where to line up as their own personal maze going in and out. The homeland security people were a bit upset and the parent kept trying to get the toddler, but was slow going through the maze as well. Finally, one of the homeland security staff ducked under the ropes and grabbed the child to return it to its parents. An entertaining diversion as we waited in line!
A thought about our accommodations (we discussed this during out layover). The tops included the hotel in Sydney which was very posh, the house in Fremantle which was well stocked and had a good layout, and the resort in Trinity Beach because of hearing the beach all night.
Our Sun Country flight from LA to Minneapolis was delayed by an hour. I put my chair on the seat next to me in the waiting area and fell asleep leaning on it. I woke up a lot (too many announcements), but slept super deeply each time. I stayed awake on the way home, then we took the train to our stop and walked the mile home in a daze.
The yard is a jungle, the wave petunias have gone crazy, and Shelby ate a lot of raspberries while we were gone (very few are left to ripen). Shelby did a good job of watering the window boxes. She said that it rained a lot, so she only had to water the yard once (almost our whole yard is garden). I talked to Shelby while Randy went to the store to get a few groceries. She shared her stories and I shared ours (she didn't read my blog). She liked the opal necklace we brought back for her.
We are extremely exhuasted and glad to be home!
A thought about our accommodations (we discussed this during out layover). The tops included the hotel in Sydney which was very posh, the house in Fremantle which was well stocked and had a good layout, and the resort in Trinity Beach because of hearing the beach all night.
Our Sun Country flight from LA to Minneapolis was delayed by an hour. I put my chair on the seat next to me in the waiting area and fell asleep leaning on it. I woke up a lot (too many announcements), but slept super deeply each time. I stayed awake on the way home, then we took the train to our stop and walked the mile home in a daze.
The yard is a jungle, the wave petunias have gone crazy, and Shelby ate a lot of raspberries while we were gone (very few are left to ripen). Shelby did a good job of watering the window boxes. She said that it rained a lot, so she only had to water the yard once (almost our whole yard is garden). I talked to Shelby while Randy went to the store to get a few groceries. She shared her stories and I shared ours (she didn't read my blog). She liked the opal necklace we brought back for her.
We are extremely exhuasted and glad to be home!
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