After a long time of trying to get it together I finally boarded a plane on Saturday, August 24. The plan was Santa Fe to Phoenix, Phoenix to LA, and LA to Sydney. I made it to LA. Even that included a few hours hanging out in airports. I should have known!! Don't get to Santa Fe airport on time. They don't even start until about an hour before takeoff. What do you mean, "Get there 3 hours ahead for international flights"?? But LA was a problem. My flights gave me a pretty long layover to start with. I didn't want to chance missing that flight. But then the flight was delayed; a few times. Finally at around midnight they cancelled it. So it was the good old "wait in the queue" to get a hotel room. Got to the room about 12:45 and then I had to fix all of my reservations in Sydney (car and AirBnB). So that was a pretty short night.
In the morning I decided to walk a little and get some breakfast. Here's a classic case of a sign that needed a copy editor. You need a reservation but if the mood strikes, you can walk in anyway. And, looking out of my hotel window: Here's a job ad on a fullsized billboard. I guess that covid hit the local health care industry in ways we hadn't thought about.
Enough whining. We did get off around 11:00 Pm for a 15 hour flight. Tight sphincters on the Sydney landing. We were damn near on the ground when all of a sudden the pilot pulled into a pretty steep climb and accelerated. We did a few minutes of climb and then he came on and said that there was another plane on the runway that hadn't gotten off in time. We made a loop and a smooth landing. It seems like clearing the airport in Sydney is slowed down by the number of passengers incoming early in the morning. But, they do have a system and I made it through without problems. Got my car and eventually made it through town to the way eastern suburbs where my Troopy is being worked on. I've got a reasonable AurBnB...nothing fancy but enough room and a kitchen so it'll work. Weather is still a little cool but not cold enough to need a jacket.
Well, that's enough for now. More on the way.
