We had mentally prepared ourselves for the long flight back to L.A. The time flew by! (No pun intended.) I watched several movies, a couple TV shows, and played some Sudoku. Whoever thought to put TV screens on the back of everyone's seat is a genius!We arrived at LAX a tad bit late, so we had to hustle to retrieve our bags, pass customs, recheck our bags, unceremoniously pour out our water bottles into the trash, pass TSA screening, and hot-foot it over to the domestic gate at the other end of the terminal (lucky for us, same terminal). Whew! Despite the rush, we enjoyed this U.S. arrival more than our last one at JFK in New York (still the dirtiest airport I've ever seen.) Our one complaint: they didn't stamp our passports upon arrival (or departure for that matter). That's okay. We got some awesome (full ink!) stamps from Australia (twice) and New Zealand.
Ma's sister Peggy picked us up in Madison. (Yes, we departed from Milwaukee and arrived in Madison. And it was somehow cheaper that way!) We celebrated our trip with a meal in Cambridge on our way back to Ma's house.
Having not slept but a few minutes on the Sydney-to-L.A. leg, you would have thought I'd be beat. Not so. I had trouble getting to sleep that night, and the next, and ended up late for work on Monday, morning, too!
Our trip "Down Under" was such a blast. I think we hit all the highlights. A few final thoughts.
- I managed to keep the same water bottle the entire trip. Ma threw hers out on the first day because she said it was flimsy and wouldn't last. Ha!
- The guidebooks were a disappointment. Please, Rick Steves, start writing guidebooks for the Pacific!
- I didn't carry my purse much after the first few days. This time it was just plain annoying. I'm still not certain why. The backpack worked much better here.
- The itinerary was again a godsend. I'm so glad I took the time to plan.
- It was helpful to have gathered the sunrise and sunset times and put them on the itinerary. Each city was drastically different.
- I remembered to bring my bandanna. It was very helpful as a hair accessory, a washcloth, and a cool compress on my sunburn.
- I didn't end up needing the paper fan I brought. Ma didn't end up using her electric fan either.
- While not essential, the head lamp came in handy on the nighttime trips to the bathroom in Yulara.
- Ma and I both caught colds during the trip. Guess the Purell didn't work so well this time.
- My sunglasses ended up somewhere in New Zealand. The last I saw of them were in the Rangitoto Island pictures.
Happy travels, everyone!
