6 - 7 October 2018

John Steinbeck said "You don't take a journey; a journey takes you".    I fully agree.

I arrived at Brisbane Airport VERY early for my 5:50 pm Qantas flight to LA on Saturday Oct 6. I took advantage of this and had the best lunch at one of the franchises. This was just scrumptious.

Vegetable Pad Thai 

I toddled off to gate 86 as advised and waited....and waited.....and waited.  There were pilots every where. 12 at the last count so it was OK if one ate the fish - but no plane. 

A herd of pilots

Why are they taking pictures of
the plane? Is it broken?

Seems the plane was in another part of the the airport. Why? I started to get a bit worried that it may have been broken on the in coming trip but it seemed fine when they finally got it to the right bay an hour later. For some reason the pilots stood up and took photos of it so this too seemed a bit weird.

We were finally allowed to commence boarding and I was immediately pulled aside. The little SS on the bottom of my boarding pass apparently means Special Scrutiny. They said this is triggered by the US Government and I knew immediately that I should never have said those nasty things about Trump on Twitter, even if they were true. I was quizzed and scanned, more than the usual bomb testing. Why? Why? Why? Then I had to go and sit on a special chair for a while and ALL the other passengers were still lined up watching me....suspiciously I'm sure. I know I would if I was them.

Special Scrutiny

The good news was that the plane was less than half full so once we were airborne we all spread out and could sleep, albeit uncomfortably. I managed to only see one movie and a few sitcoms and slept on and off for most of the flight. We won't discuss the food. We were an hour 40 minutes late into LA due to head winds, so on top of our delayed departure we were waaaay late.

After the "Special Scrutiny" business in Brisbane I was half expecting to get a full body search and a colonoscopy at LA Immigration and was scanning for the best looking Immigration Officer but all went well and I finally popped out the other end.

Welcome to LA

The next three hours did not go well. I wanted an Uber to the Hotel - no Ubers available. Then I wanted a Shuttle Bus but I was directed to the the right end of the terminal and then upstairs to the centre and then back downstairs to the left. All this with baggage and crowds and a case of the grrrrr's. Finally found my man and it took another hour to get to the Hotel. Hot, sticky and tired....... and yes,  a wee but grumpy.

I ventured out to find food and ended up with chicken and "sides" which tasted wonderful.

YUM!!!

Back in the hotel all I wanted was a shower, jammies and bed BUT... The man in the room next door had other ideas. The  connecting door, whilst locked, makes sound travel very easily into my room. He was on the phone talking LOUDLY. 
I could even hear the person he was talking to!!! He finally hung up at 4:18 am .... not that I was counting. Anyway they changed my room today as he's staying another night. The concierge informed me that he's a very famous man in LA but he wouldn't say who. Further interrogation revealed he is from a 70's band called the Dazz Band and also sang with the Temptations. I never heard of the first but definitely the second. Still, he shouldn't have kept me awake!!!

I managed to get a few zzz's in the morning and stepped out to go to T Mobile to get a sim card for my phone. I forgot it was Sunday and they wouldn't be open but it was fortuitous for me. A small cafe across the road called Lulus, a beautiful Sunday morning and a kerbside table meant a very enjoyable brunch and a chance to decompress.

Another delicious meal

T Mobile finally opened and it was a simple task to organise the sim and am waiting for it to activate. It was only a short walk then to my favourite shopping precinct in LA....The Grove and the Farmers Market. It's such a great place....the Disneyland of shopping.

You can even take your
 dogs INSIDE the stores

I ran out of steam mid afternoon and returned to the hotel for a nap. Missing my little puppy so much.....he normally naps with me. I'm currently waiting on delivery of some Chinese food and I plan an early night to hopefully catch up. I've got a big day tomorrow. Wait!!  It's here. Bloody hell. Was supposed to be for one.