Reflection and post-mortem

Good to be home. Not 'glad' to be home, as that might incorrectly suggest that we couldn't wait to get home because we had had a terrible time - nothing could be further from the truth. But it is nice to be back in familiar surroundings; in one's own bed, with one's own pillow, and one's own toilet (even if the seat is not soft-closing). Driving on the 'correct' side of the road. Money which you can identify with just a glance, and not having to fiddle with one cent pieces. Adelaide weather which gets 5 loads of washing dried in one day.

The trip itself - didn't miss any flights. Didn't lose any luggage. Didn't break any of the glassware we had packed away in the suitcases (2 bottles and 3 glasses - 2 from the N.Y. Hard Rock Cafe, and 1 from Bubba Gump). Didn't lose any personal items, although Julianne did come close a couple of times (mobile phone in Denver, glasses in Disneyland). Didn't get mugged (at least, not in the traditional hold-em-up, hand over all of our money manner). Didn't have any accidents in the cars. Didn't fall perilously ill, only the minor chest infection in Knoxville. Even the wooden hurley (stick used in hurling) which we had posted back from Ireland because it was too big to go in any luggage arrived in one piece. None of the usual sorts of things that I imagine most travelers concern themselves with. And there I go ending a sentence with a preposition again. Mind you, we'd been back on terra firma australis for less than 36 hours and the dish-washer decided to pack up - it was on its way out, but it wasn't the greatest timing in the world - perhaps in a way this very minor flooding was a salient reminder that we were incredibly fortunate to have missed the flooding in New York by a matter of only weeks. Are dish-washers blessed with such insight as to be able to highlight the often seemingly random interconnectedness of life events? All in all we probably wouldn't have changed much if we had the benefit of hindsight - perhaps a few days more in certain places (New York in particular), but given our time constraints this was always going to be our dilemma.

Many people to thank. Sonya for organising all the flights, accommodation, tours etc. etc., which is probably why it all went so swimmingly - helped tremendously in making the trip the success and the enjoyment for all of us that it was. Cheryl in London for having us stay, especially when life is so busy for her at the moment - as I have said earlier, it was lovely to catch up as if we had only seen each other the week before. Jean and Mick for showing us such wonderful (dare I say Northern) hospitality in Preston - sorry we couldn't help to bring PNE over the line Mick. Sean, Diane, Tarryn and Jenna in Ardee for going well and truly above the call of duty by actually moving out of their home for us!! Pam and Alex for showing us such wonderful (dare I say Southern) hospitality in Knoxville - I'm just sorry Pam that we didn't get the opportunity to catch up with John in L.A.. John, Valerie (when she eventually returned home), Hannah and Elliot for showing us the sights, the colour, the glamour and the excitement that is Iowa City - Go Hawks. But above all else, thank you to Julianne for making this trip the complete success that it was. At times it is possible that I may have been slightly less than supportive of Julianne's need to have everything pigeon-holed and triple-checked hours, days and even weeks beforehand, but it doesn't mean that I didn't appreciate all the hard work and effort that she put into making this the trip of a lifetime. I can only hope that she was able to relax enough to enjoy it as much as I am sure that the rest of us did. I know I did.

Oh yes, and thanks Allan for paying for all of it.

Statistics.

English counties -

1. London - sightseeing
2. Hertfordshire (just driving through)
3. Bedfordshire (just driving through)
4. Buckinghamshire (just driving through)
5. Northamptonshire (just driving through)
6. Warwickshire (just driving through)
7. West Midlands (just driving through)
8. Staffordshire (just driving through)
9. Cheshire (just driving through)
10. Merseyside  (just driving through)
11. Lancashire - B&B, Preston and Blackpool
12. Cumbria - the Lake District and B&B
13. Derbyshire - B&B, Alton Towers and the Peak District
14. Nottinghamshire - Nottingham
15. Oxfordshire - B&B and sightseeing

Ireland (North and Republic of) -

1. Dublin - hotel and sightseeing
2. Meath - Newgrange
3. Louth - Ardee
4. Down (just driving through)
5. Antrim - Giant's Causeway and Bushmills
6. Londonderry/Derry - Londonderry/Derry
7. Tyrone - B&B
8. Armagh (just driving through)

American states -

1. New York - hotel and sight-seeing
2. New Jersey (just driving through)
3. Tennessee - Knoxville
4. Kentucky (just driving through)
5. Indianapolis (just to sleep)
6. Illinois (just driving through)
7. Iowa - Iowa City
8. Missouri - St. Louis

Flights -

1. Adelaide to Sydney
2. Sydney to Singapore
3. Singapore to London
4. London to Dublin
5. Dublin to London
6. London to New York
7. New York to Knoxville
8. Cedar Rapids to Denver
9. Denver to L.A.
10. L.A. to Sydney
11. Sydney to Adelaide

Day 30 + 28 = we must be home

Back home and time for the post-mortem.

Later...when I wake up. Suffice to say that bowel function is AOK, and has pleasingly resumed normality at a surprisingly fast rate. Everything else pales into insignificance by comparison, so that's a win already.

whatever happened to Day 30 + 27 = 57?

What the hey? Where on earth did Saturday go. We must have blinked and missed it.

Day 30 + 26 = the end

No earthquakes yet. Fingers crossed.

First real drama - Qantas have managed to get one of the passport numbers incorrect, making it difficult to confirm our flight. And there was I singing the praises of how good Qantas have been compared to the other carriers we have used this trip - at least they are still good in the air - let's hope that continues.

Most of the day at Disneyland again - fairly safe to say that we are all Disneyed and theme parked out. Looking forward to seeing little ol' Adelaide. As an aside, theme parks must be an OCD's worst nightmare - the rapid turnover on the rides with all sorts of smelly, greasy, germ-ridden people passing through each seat with nary a sanitising wipe-over in between. Likewise, it would probably be an ideal place to undertake live exposure treatment - I wonder if there is any money in Southern Mental Health to fund a treatment programme over here - or in Queensland at the very least.

Not sure what was going on with Qantas, but Julianne sorted it out - now all we need is a good ride out to the airport, and this blog will almost be at its end.

Day 30 + 25 = the penultimate day.

Please, no more queues, no more queues, I'm begging!

All day (11 hours and 45 minutes) at Disneyland. Spent most of it in queues for rides. The remainder of the time was spent waiting outside shops. If it weren't for strollers, gophers and people in wheelchairs the park would have almost been deserted - felt like an outcast being able-bodied. Even both the kids made the comment independently of each other that they could break a leg and get pushed around in a wheelchair for the rest of the day [I think they meant breaking their own leg, rather than their sibling!].

Julianne boldly went on all the rides we went on - even enjoyed them it turned out.

Almost missed out on the grand parade at the end of the night as the waitress serving us at dinner assured us that there was no parade on week nights - luckily we caught it half-way through as we had decided to wander out to get back to the hotel rather than stay a bit longer.

Time to get packing.

Day 30 + 24 = 54 - Disneyland and NBA

Spent the day at Disneyland - need I say more? Weather glorious - may have even got a touch of sun. Felt a bit queasy on the Alice in Wonderland teacups ride - not a good sign. Disappointed that the Indiana Jones ride has been closed until winter - it was probably the one I was looking forward to doing again. Interesting see that recycling is alive and well in Disneyland - what was the Swiss Family Robinson tree-house 20 years ago is now, with a few minor tweaks, the Tarzan tree-house, the Captain Nemo ride is now the Finding Nemo ride (complete with good use of underwater animation), and the Pirates of the Caribbean ride has been updated to include some decidedly Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush look-alikes. Similarly yesterday, the Simpsons ride we went on was identical in form to the Back to the Future ride we went on last time. Interestingly it seems that Disney have missed out on a lucrative scheme by not having pictures for sale of every ride that one goes on - perhaps they have worked out that it is too costly to install, with very little return - it certainly is with the Higgins family.

Left early in order to catch a taxi to get to L.A., as we were assured that this would be the easiest and most reliable (if not necessarily the cheapest) way of doing it - and at $180 'they' might well have been right. Nevertheless, our driver got us there and back both safely and quickly - less than an hour each way, and all without the aid of a continous lecture about life, religion, politics, what the Dodgers did wrong this season, what the United Nations is doing wrong all the time, why Bob Geldof should be made a saint, why Bono shouldn't, and why world peace is inevitable but only if we all become Scientologists. In fact we barely got two words out of him for both trips - made for a very pleasant ride.

Pre-season 'warm-up' match between L.A. Clippers and L.A. Lakers - and even though it wasn't an actual league game, it was still played with what seemed like a fair intensity and passion - good crowd (nearly full) and incredible stadium (Staples Centre) and facilities. Clippers won, in what was a see-sawing score-line.

Day 30 + 23 = 53 - an amazing, awesome day

What I said about use of the word 'awesome' yesterday goes equally for 'amazing', especially when used by precocious poppets trying to prove what amazing and awesome talents they are. Enough said.

Back to plastic and polystyrene implements and plates etc. for breakfast - I am half tempted to go and buy some cheap crockery and cutlery and use them every day; however, ideals and principles come at a price - clearly $10.99 is too high a price for me - next time......maybe.

Bus drive out to Universal studios. Typical day at a theme park, with the added bonus of being on an actual movie-making set, lot, thingy. Lots of fun, even the kids enjoyed it. Nothing particularly stand-out or noteworthy. Somehow managed to not spend a small fortune, other than the initial entrance fee which we (Julianne) had sensibly organised in Adelaide.

Quick nod to the tour buses that Sonya has teed us up with, especially the ones here in L.A. - excellent service, and we would recommend them to anyone needing transfers and transport between hotels and sights.