It starts late. My friend tells me she is going to be late and is only 10 minutes late – but you know me … I start to fret. We get to the airport with more time than is needed for an international flight and I am just going to LA. Well – for now.
I clear security in a heartbeat, having not a single soul in line. Even my two computers and 3 bin requirement for all my detritus don’t deter me. I check the departure screen to see what gate I am at and discover that my flight has been delayed. Great. Hours to go and missed Gary's call – my phone not ringing loud enough for me to hear it.
I get something to eat, purchase the Internet, because I discovered that I could download the new Photoshop CS5 30 day trial about ½ hour before my friend picked me up. The clincher? It takes over an hour to download and Gary has downloading restrictions with his Internet provider in Australia – thus my friend wisely suggested that I use the time sitting around in LA to download to my laptop. I decided with the two hours I had – I would do it in Houston. Barring my battery failing. I had a trough of diet coke with all the refills that I could handle and started the download.
No go – my poor battery was not going to make it. Darn! But then I decide to wander the restaurant and see if I can find a plug and what do my eyes spy? But a plug right by a table! Moved my stuff and completed the download – boring – but gives me PLENTY to do in Australia – there are a bunch of new features and the tutorials are already out on Adobes web site.
I get to the terminal with about 10 minutes to spare. Get on the plane. E-mail my missing husband that I am on the plane … where was he? No response. Maybe something in LA.
The movie actually looked good, so I got out my headphones and watched - made the time go by quicker. The 3 hour and 13 minute flight is just a practice in patience for me – trying to set the mood to get in the AIRPLANE ZONE …
The movie ends – unfortunately there is still an hour to go in the flight. Bummer. Get out my trusty baby laptop and here I am … typing away as the sun is setting. Should get into LA at 8:00 with my flight to Australia leaving at 11:30 – so I need to prepare for the AIRPORT ZONE … or just go shopping ….
*********
Arrived in LA at 8:00pm – a full 3 and ½ hours before my flight to Brisbane. I didn’t go shopping – I just basically sat and vegged – well – people watched – a hobby of mine – but got incredibly bored. I was worried that I was bored out of my skull with one hour before boarding and THEN had to endure the 14 hour flight …
I was counting on the entertainment system – or if the row was empty – to lay down and try to sleep. It was not empty …. Just wasn’t my night – so the entertainment system it was – and I hijacked three of the seats for ½ hour intervals just to give my legs a rest – the lady sitting in the other seat was very nice about it and apparently could sleep sitting up – something I have yet to master …
So – I’m watching movies – some good, some not – but they pass two hours so that is a big plus. I reward myself after every movie by walking the plane and taking a potty break.
Almost there – one hour to go … I’M GONNA MAKE IT!! This is about the time the captain comes on the PA and tells us there is fog is Brisbane and that we are diverting to a dinky airport in somewhere called Rockport. He mentions we are also low on fuel because my stress level was not ramped high enough as it should have been. So landing and refueling in Rockport and waiting for the fog to clear in Brisbane. I was less than excited about this and said a few choice words, but then, hey – I was watching the most dismal movie (The Road) of all time so it seemed appropriate and fit in with the theme of that two hours …
Diverting to Rockport:
We get nearer and nearer the ground and all I see is cow pastures – this is a LITTLE airport. Since it is not an international airport, we cannot clear customs so we cannot get off the plane.
Airport - (window is fogged up - but you can still see how dinky ...
I swear there are cows out there:
Gary has a 3 day … something … and is not going to be at the apartment, but said he would stay until I got there and then leave. This sort of put a damper on that, and I had no way of letting him know I was not going to show up at the appointed time. So being brave – I asked a perfect stranger if I could use her phone and let him know not to wait for me … she was very gracious. So no Gary when / if I finally arrive in Brisbane But there is a bed … a really, really nice, comfy bed ….
So here I sit – blissfully typing away – because – hey – what else is there to do? Sitting on the jetway watching the cows?
*******
It occurred to me that I was in a (pardon my French) 'big ass airplane' and in a little town – thus on a little runway. I was a bit worried about the takeoff. Since the captain had made it clear we were landing there because we were out of fuel … I had my doubts about getting this behemoth off the ground before we ran out of runway. Who knew you could punch a jet to do THAT? Sort of like a roller coaster ride – which does remind me that this was the BUMPIEST ride so far in all my bumpy trips to Australia. They ACTUALLY PUT ON THE SEATBELT SIGN … 4 TIMES!!!
Qantas just doesn’t do that. They turn off the seatbelt sign while you are still at that steep pitch climbing – try going to the toilet during THAT - trust me – it is an experience!
But since the captain was in a confessing mood he had said that we had burned extra fuel while being buffeted by those horrifying winds and thus the reason we were running on empty. So – FUN TIMES ALL ROUND!!!
We clear the runway, make to Brisbane – to a beautiful sunny day – the fog just a memory. Then the waiting in the customs line, then the waiting in the line of ‘did you bring something naughty into the country’ (oh, don’t go there – you know: fruits, nuts, sawdust, soil, etc …). Was sent past the dog instead of the x-ray – the airport god smiling down at me for the first time – till the dog honed in on my bag – but then another smile when the dog handler believed me when I said I was not carrying any food of any sort (true) and was not strip searched because a beagle could smell Charlie or something on my laptop bag …
Got to the taxi stand and in a taxi with an obviously new driver. I told him to take me to 30 Howard street – across the street of the downtown Marriott taxi stand – and he seemed to know where that was, but I was unsure. Would I know if we were going the right way?
On the freeway we go – for longer than I thought that I should have been on the freeway, but then like silent sentinels my buildings and landmarks I recognized started popping up. With each one, I calmed down from this 30 hour wild and crazy ride just a little bit more. BP’s buildings A, B and C, Breakfast Creek and the hotel, the river and the old boats tied up on the docks. I can see downtown and it is so comforting to know that I was almost there … almost home.
Inside I find a new fan in my bedroom since it is cool here now at night, but my room has no ceiling fan, and, of course – flowers - POTTED no less! No withering and dying here ...
E-mailed Gary and told him I was here. It just might take me the three days he is gone to get feeling better. It is so late now in the day (about 1:00pm Wed) that it would be dumb to go to bed now...
... and it is just too beautiful a day in MY city to sleep through it...
See ya tomorrow ...
3 comments:
i gotta say, that was a HIGHLY entertaining read. I was right there with ya, feelin your pain bc you're so good at describing. i was about to post a long complaint on my blog about the 27 hour drive to idaho i have to take with my kids this summer but i think your story kinda takes the cake. glad you are in your city, just the same. it is GORGEOUS and makes me wish travel was part of my life, even after that horror story.
The best people watching is always in airports. or New Orleans. Take your pick.
Glad you made it! Have a WONDERFUL time.
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