Hi all,
Here you will find the notes of all the fun I've had in the last day or so. i have a few pics to go along with them but Blogger is throwing up some minor technical issues that in all honesty i just cant even imagine thinking about just now. I promised a post, so Ill put up what I can for now and tomorrow is another day. After wht felt like days flying and waiting for planes, and then a full day of exploring and touring, to say i am exhauted is a massive understatement. Goodnight all.
7th April 2013
2330
Wow! I'm sitting here at Cairns Airport, ready to board that little bird to fly far away. Excited, nervous, impatient for the fun and games to begin....oh, that's right, they already have! After spending a lovely relaxed day with Mum& Pete and the kids, celebrating Pete's birthday with a most delicious roast chicken roll dinner, Mum, the kid's and I headed for the airport with more than enough time to spare. Pheonix has been a bit off kilter the last couple of days and I could see that this would be a difficult goodbye.
As we were waiting for me to check in, I decided it was the right time to remove my Australian Telstra SIM card and insert my excellent US T-Mobile card ready to be switched on from Hawaii. I opened up the packet to discover that the SIM card they have sent me is for a iPhone 3G instead of my iPhone 4 - much bigger and just will not fit in the little slot!
Poor Pheonix almost had a melt-down then and there! I had the paperwork from the Australian company with me in my trusty little travel book and a brief call to the company informed me that a mere trip to the Apple Store in Venice Beach will have my card pared down to the right size in a jiffy and all is not lost. First lesson learnt - check what I order before I get to the airport. And here I thought I was so well-prepared. Ha ha I certainly showed me, didn't I?
After many many hugs and a few gratifying tears I made my way through the restricted area for the delightful 2 hour wait where I had ample opportunity to think of anything I may have forgotten or left behind. Fortunately, that list is quite small and I figure that if I don't have it with me, I don't really need it. Well, I'm telling myself that.
As most of you know, this trip was originally planned for 2 people - a classic Thelma and Louise roadtrip, complete with Mustang and two best friends unleashed on an unsuspecting America. It is absolutely breaking my heart that I must travel this adventure solo after the devastating news that Kylie has become ill and was unable to travel. I know that we will look forward to planning and executing another trip in the hopefully not-too distant-future, it is so bitter-sweet to be sitting here without my amazing fun-loving friend beside me. Alas, I have a little token Kylie travelling with me (a mere shadow of the real thing) so I would like to introduce you to the eternally voodoo 'Mini K' who will be my stand-in wing-woman on this intrepid journey ahead...
I will also inform you that there is a little 'Mini A' currently keeping Kylie company as she is resting up after her op and building her strength for when the time comes for us to leave our mark on some poor foreign locale.
8th April 2013
0014
Finally on board and airborne...a good half hour before scheduled take-off! First leg is 4hrs and 20 mins on to Guam. I've been served and admittedly consumed my lacklustre turkey and self-administered mustard sauce, plastic cup of luke-warm Coke and the delightful 100 calorie mini Chips Ahoy (perhaps United has worked out they don't want to exacerbate the problem when hauling my post-holiday expanding butt back to Cairns in a couple of weeks). Hey, they were free! But I no complain. It is quite a sparsely populated flight so I'm going to curl up across my 3 empty seats with my ebook - I have been exercising uncanny self-control saving this newly-released book especially for my flight - and savour the perfect opportunity to relax at the start of my much anticipated break...
For those of you who are playing along at home and have not been subjected to The Book, (you'll know if you have) a little overview of my itinerary(as requested)
3 days Los Angeles incl. a day trip to Mexico
1 night in Carmel on the California Coast
2 days in San Francisco incl. night tour to Alcatraz
A visit to my dear niece, Emma's, resting place in Sacramento
2 night at Lake Tahoe
A quick drive across the Nevada Desert
5 days in Salt Lake City, attending the National Academy of Emergency Dispatch Conference
3 days in Las Vegas where I get to catch up with a lovely past work colleague, Rhonda, as well as meet Steve and Itoshi's friend and take a much anticipated helicopter flight to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
1 night in Kingman, Arizona, from where I will traverse the last part of Route 66 back to LA
A final night and breakfast on the beach in Hawaii on my return back to Cairns.
Hawaii
7th April 2013
1850
Aloha. I have arrived in Hawaii and have my feet firmly on American soil. Wow, I thought shift work was great for messing up the body clock! It is now about 650pm yesterday and in a couple of hours I will board a plane, fly for about 5 hours and it will be yesterday morning where my big challenge, aside from LA traffic, will be to stay awake for the entire day. I actually managed to catch a few upright zzz during my last leg so I'm not feeling too bad just now. Hopefully I'll manage a bit of sleep en route to the main land and I should be good to go.
I've managed to see quite a few US soldiers in uniform between both Guam and Hawaii - and I can't help but take a double look. I know my dear brother is tucked up safely in Germany with his family and my visiting sister, but I have to check just to make sure!
My poor bottles of jarrah coffee have had more than enough close security inspection at each airport so far. Every time they rescan them my heart beats a little faster and I'm praying furiously that they don't relieve me of my treat from home. Come on, you've got me standing there in my socks with my bags all scattered and you're having intense whispered conversation about my admittedly delicious instant coffee. I suspect they may just want a cup themselves.
Honolulu airport is lovely. The Chinese gardens are really quite peaceful so I'm enjoying an iced Starbucks (it certainly is warm here) next to a really sweet water feature as the sun sets 'again'. I must say that I was rather disappointed that I wasn't lei'd upon my arrival here in Hawaii. TV lied. Maybe when I have my stopover here on the way back home. :)
Well, I have a couple of hours to waste before my next leg. There isn't enough time to go and actually do anything here and be sure I will be back in time to board. My beautiful daughter has put quite a few movies and Revenge episodes on my iPad so I might kick back for a bit now as I don't expect there will be too much time for passive media indulgence once I hit the mainland and the adventure starts in earnest!
8th April 2013
830
Landed in LA at 0530 this morning and just walked straight out of LAX. There is much to be said for carry-on luggage only. I'll let you know whether it has been a good idea or not once I have been here for a while and have attempted to find something to wear after a few days of travelling.
The car hire was easy and I've ended up driving a Toyota Corolla, just like at home, so that has gone a little ways to reducing my stress whilst participating in the extreme sport that is international driving. The original plan saw us cruising around in a Mustang Convertable. However that one will be saved when Kylie and I get to take our road trip together one day. It has been such a spin out to be cruising the streets of Santa Monica this morning - driving down Wiltshire Boulevard, passing by Chateau Marmont. I've manage to only once turn the windscreen wipers on when trying to indicate a turn. I know in Europe it took me a good couple of hours before I got the hang of it being on the other side. One of the benefits of so much traffic in LA is that it is really easy to remember which side of the road to drive on when you just need to follow the masses of traffic.
I'm currently sitting on the beachfront just down from Santa Monica Pier. My original plan had me walking along Venice Beach to the Pier. But we all know about the best laid plans...I'm now waiting for the t-mobile store to open to see if they can cut down my SIM card so I can make contact with the rest of the world again. I took an early morning walk down the Third Street Promenade to the Apple Store who pointed me to t-mobile. Goose chase! But I guess this means I get to explore with a mission...
Everyone I've met so far has been friendly and super helpful. As the illustrious Annie once said, 'I think I'm gonna like it here...'
No comments:
Post a Comment