I left Denver International Airport yesterday and had a nice
goodbye with both of my parents at the gate. Of course my dad brought the
camera and I let them take a couple of pictures and then I told him to put it
away J I
had an easy flight from DEN to LAX sitting by a daughter and father who were in
the midst of a volleyball recruiting trip. It reminded me of a couple years ago
with my dad! They were really nice and interested in where I was going and kept
saying how much fun I was going to have. I told myself on that leg of the trip
I would not sleep because I wanted to save as much sleep for the 15 hour plane
ride from LAX to SYD that was coming up. I just read my book and contained my
excitement as we landed safely in LA.
Getting off the plane at LAX I had no idea where I needed to
go. I figured I had traveled a lot before and would easily be able to navigate
to the international terminal. Wrong. At LAX you must exit the terminal, go
outside and stand under a sign “Airport Express” and wait for the “B” bus to
take you to the international terminal. After five or ten minutes of waiting I
asked the lady I was standing by if she was also headed to the international
terminal because at this point I was totally outside of the buildings and had
to back through security once I got to the proper terminal, I just wanted to
make sure I was headed in the right direction. Luckily, she was headed to the
same terminal catching a flight to China and was extremely nice. The bus finally
came and we had a pleasant ride over to the Tom Bradley Terminal.
This is where things get interesting. I should have
mentioned earlier that I am currently wearing a 20 pound backpack and carrying
another 20 pound bag. Curtis’ don’t pack light that’s for sure. Oh and the
weight capacity for your carry on is 15 pounds… I had 40 (just praying somehow
they would not notice and weigh my bag)! Any who… walking into the huge
terminal there were airline ticket counters lined up on each side. There were
not a lot of people in the terminal except a long line at the Quantas ticket
counter. My airline. I still needed to get my boarding pass so I got in line
and within minutes I was informed that my flight, Q12, was delayed 14 hours and
they were putting us up overnight for a next day departure. My first reaction
was laughter, of course. Then realizing “oh great this is going to be fun” and
the real fact I would rather be safe than sorry. So now along with some others
was headed to La Quinta. I met another nice lady on the bus over to the hotel
who was in San Diego for an IT conference. We ended up talking on the bus over
and had dinner at the hotel together. I loved listening to her accent and all
the great things she was saying about Sydney. I learned over dinner that she
lives really close to Coogee Beach and University of New South Wales! She ended
up giving me all her contact info and told me to reach out to her if I ever
need anything. At this point I haven’t even left LA yet and I am loving the
Aussie people. I had a room to myself with a king size bed, a meal voucher, and
my cell phone to call home and let them know what was happening (I had
everything I needed and was happy)!
We arrived at the airport the next morning around 8am for a
12:15pm departure. Apparently they wanted to have us there four hours early (I
have no idea why but it was better than hanging out at La Quinta hotel, even
though, I did get to watch some Wimbledon earlier in the morning). I was able
to distract myself and hang out outside of security until 10:30 or so when I
decided I should head to my gate. I am still carrying those 40 pounds and no
one has stopped me yet. The bags were not abnormally large, just the weight in
them was extreme. I told myself as long as people don’t notice I am struggling
to carry this, I will be just fine! Security was a breeze and I was boarding
shortly after.
This was where they were checking the weight on some of the
bags so I was a little nervous to get through and wanted to be on that plane as
soon as possible. Thankfully multiple Quantas personnel were working with one
of the ladies in front of me and I was able to quickly walk around them as I
put my head down hoping they would not notice. I was SO HAPPY to finally get
through and not worry about those darn bags! I was FINALLY safely on the huge
A-380 double decker airplane, what more could I want? Oh, an empty row would be
nice, right? Haha yes I don’t have anyone in my row, which made the flight A
LOT more comfortable. I am currently writing this on the airplane and watching
Happy Feet. I have already watched Iron Lady, ate some nasty airplane food, and
slept a little. They have all the windows shut where you would not be able to
tell that it is light outside. For all I know right now it’s the middle of the
night (even though its really only 9pm Denver time). I am having a hard time
sleeping which is why I am currently writing this long post! We have passed the
Hawaiian islands and are 7 hours away. Even though there has been some
unexpected events, I am just happy right now to be on this airplane headed for
the time of my life! Signing off for now!
Lots of love,
Stephanie
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