Day one of our stay in the USA is coming to a close (it's now midnight on 13th June). Gordon is sleeping peacefully, but I need to keep up to date with what's been happening here, so here I go...
Our son Jason took us to the airport last Saturday morning, and we hung out with him there for a bit, answering questions for one of his Bible College assignments, so it ended up being a very interesting discussion on perceptions of success. Not long after that, our friends Pete and Jill met us for lunch and we had a lovely time catching up with them, before heading off through security.
We ambled through one of the duty free stores looking for a gift for the folks we are now staying with, then walked towards the departure gate. It was now 2:20 and we were due to take off at 2:35, so I suggested to Gordon that we may need to speed up a bit. However, he had to answer a call of nature, and while I was waiting, getting a teeny bit anxious about the time, I heard one of those announcements that would usually make me smile, but not this time, when it happened to be directed at us - "Would (names) travelling on Qantas flight 25 to Los Angeles please board your aircraft immediately. The plane is ready to depart, and all the other passengers are waiting for YOU!" Unfortunately, this announcement did not have the desired effect of making Gordon materialise, so I was forced to wait another few minutes - which seemed a lot longer - during which time I debated with myself whether I should (a) charge into the men's toilet and drag Gordon out of there, (b) leave him behind and make a run for it myself, or (c) play the dutiful wife role, patiently waiting and smiling sweetly when he finally did reappear. Fortunately for our marriage, I decided on option c, and then persuaded Gordon it was time to put our skates on. We got some very disapproving looks from the airline staff at the boarding counter, so I felt compelled to attribute our lateness to Gordon's need to visit the restroom, and said it in such a way as to discourage debate. After fluffing around once we got to our seats, we sat there waiting until 3pm before finally taking off! (Thank you Karen for praying that God would give us a sense of humour if things didn't go according to plan!)
The flight to LA was just under 12 hours, and we were looked after wonderfully well by the cabin crew, who served up a great array of meals and treats. Between us, we managed to get about 1 1/2 hours of sleep, with the more generous portion going to Gordon, who had the luxury of sprawling over two seats, then putting his legs across my lap (it's OK - I said he could), with his feet protruding into the aisle. This last little detail is important, as it caused Gordon some grief. Due to his black socks and the lack of lighting while everyone was trying to get some sleep, all the people walking along the aisle managed to bang into aforementioned feet, which I found rather amusing.
Gordon had the last laugh, however, when it came to filling out the green forms required by the US government. I was trying to be ever so careful to get all the details in the correct place, as we'd been told that errors were not acceptable. Would you believe that I had to ask for three extra cards! Gordon finally decided he should fill his own form in, by the time the steward delivered the last card. There was some consolation in the fact that there was one other woman on the flight who had managed to desecrate the same number of little green forms as I had.
Our flight arrived pretty much on time at 7:45am on the same day as we had departed - we crossed the date line - and it was a great relief to get up and stretch our legs. Gordon's cousin and wife were there to greet us, waving a welcome sign. Hugh and June had spent the night in a hotel next to LAX so that they would be on time to greet us in the morning. I was very excited to spot a humming bird sucking nectar from a New Zealand flax plant in front of the hotel, but wasn't able to get a photo, so you'll just have to imagine it.
The drive out to Banning took a couple of hours, by which time we were truly exhausted, so we fell into bed and slept for 2 1/2 hours. We both felt almost normal again by this time, and spent some time chatting to our lovely congenial hosts before Gordon and I went for a walk around the shops nearby. It just felt so good to get out in the fresh air and get some much needed exercise. We visited all the grocery stores and had no joy in finding any gluten free bread. I'm so pleased I brought some G/F cereal with me.
We dined out at a casino at about 9:30pm, and after a fight over who would pay the bill, Hugh insisted on paying (don't you hate it when that happens?). We informed him we'd get him back next time. Just one observation on the casino - we were interested to note that the only people smiling in the humungous barn of a casino filled with gambling tables and pokies, were the occasional croupiers. I concluded the gamblers were looking for joy in the wrong place. On that philosophical note, I'll retire to bed.