Jun
03
2009

The Final Leg

(Add / View Comments) (0)Wednesday, June 3, 2009 - 06:20:00 pm
(Posted Under: Operation Desert Rock, Travel, Livin' In The USA Livin' In The USA)
Finally, about 5 hours after our original departure time, we're on our way to Kansas City, Missouri. The last leg of this adventure known as moving to the United States! Well, for the very short term, anyways. And not a moment too soon I would say - as we head into our 27th hour of traveling.

Ironically this is the first time I've pulled out the laptop in the air the whole trip, and it's the first time someone in front of me has reclined the seat - though it's not too bad. The sun is setting as I speak and I got some cool shots of that, which pleases me. As the sun begins to set, it really makes this feel like a 2 day ordeal, which maybe it has been - I don't even know anymore. But it's definitely been a wearing experience. The fact that I keep falling asleep in mid sentence is really proof of that! However, it's almost over - 2 and a half hours to Kansas City, once we make it there we'll be able to relax somewhat!
Jun
03
2009

Back In Phoenix!

(Add / View Comments) (0)Wednesday, June 3, 2009 - 05:33:44 pm
(Posted Under: Operation Desert Rock, Livin' In The USA Livin' In The USA)
So now I'm in Phoenix, Arizona. Just inside the airport terminal, since it doesn't make sense to venture out, but even so, it rocks my world. I love this place. With how ridiculously busy everything has been, there has been virtually no time to think about what we're doing. Though, yesterday after getting on the plane, I did get flashes to coming over here in 2005 anf 2006 - and had to remind myself that it would be a little while before I was going to get to see Phoenix. So being redirected through here with a 2 hour layover rocks my world! It's about 105 degrees here today (significantly warmer than LA) which was really notable when disembarking from the plane. The other awesome thing coming off the plane was that smell of the desert. Immediately it felt like I was home.

To be honest, we're both starting to run on petrol fumes - after everything with packing and getting no sleep, the 14+ hour flight to get to the States, and now our arrival being pushed back until 11:05pm tonight (we'd otherwise already had been in Kansas City) - so I'm getting to the point of travelling being done. I love it, and in someway, I hardly ever want it to be over, but at the same time, you can only go for so long. And it's certainly feeling like we're approaching that point, despite how awesome being in Phoenix is.
Jun
03
2009

Hello U.S.A

(Add / View Comments) (0)Wednesday, June 3, 2009 - 02:19:00 pm
(Posted Under: Operation Desert Rock, Livin' In The USA Livin' In The USA)
Ahh, the land of large Cokes that are large. We're at LAX, waiting for a flight to Phoenix, as because of the delay to our Sydney to Los Angeles we missed our direct flight to Kansas City. Which originally seems like a huge pain in the ass, but the fact that we're connecting through Phoenix as a result rocks my world. I might just have to jump off there. [wink]

It's also preferable to the flights originally suggested by the South West ticketing assistant, which was LA to El Paso, to Dallas, to Kansas City. And this point, that many connections just wouldn't have been fun. I love the whole flying and traveling thing, but with the amount of carry on luggage we have, getting off and on planes is a real pain!

In anycase, entry into the US was very smooth and arguably quicker when I've been here on holidays with visa wavers. Since this time around I was in a different line (first time immigrant), the process was very streamlined, since there weren't that many of us (I was the only person in the line). It turned out that the immigration interview on this end was just going through customs, and getting finger printed. The processing was done while we went and got our luggage, and was waiting when I went back up to the counter where I'd come in.

Getting through customs was just as easy, though it was a huge line. Since our flight got in late, we were pressed for time, and I was dreading the potential delay at customs, since we had no shortage of suitcases with our whole lives packed in them. But it turned out to be a very quick process, with the only concern being whether we had any food products.

From here it was just a case of getting to the South West terminal - in about 20 minutes. Just like when I was here in 2006, it sucked doing the walk from Tom Bradley International to Terminal 1, especially since that with all our luggage it didn't make sense to try and get on a shuttle. Despite deciding to go the other way before getting here, I directed us to go clockwise around the airport, which once we got to terminal 1, seemed like a bad call (though, looking at the LAX map in highensight, it was absolutely the right decision). It really seemed like a deja vu of 2006, rushing around in a circle with luggage, pouring sweat. The only caveat this time was that we were pretty sure there was no way we were getting on our flight to Kansas City!

After getting all our luggage rechecked, and paying the US $120 in excess baggage (which is actually great given what we have) there was sometime to relax somewhat and have a smoke. Funnily enough, the desk clerk at South West, who was quite helpful, asked whether we wanted to repack our bags, to somewhat avoid the excess baggage fees. Little did she know of our packing ordeal of last night (what it actually last night? Now that we're in a different timezone, I don't even know anymore!), and we were MORE than happy to just pay the full excess baggage fee!

It's been a completely wild ride, with absolutely no time to fully process what is going on, and standing outside the terminals of LAX was the first time that I've really been able to take in the fact that we're here - we've done it. It's been a long time in the making, and so much work over the past year, but now, here we are, in the USA. There's still a lot of work ahead of us before Operation Desert Rock is complete, but still, we've moved all of our stuff, we're here and I'm now officially a permanent resident. It's interesting how you can work so hard and put so much effort into something, and then standing at your destination, it all seems like it was relatively easy and there is a sense of surprise that you're there. I think there are a lot of contributing factors to it, and one of the large ones being how busy we've been and not having time to dwell too much on the reality of making the move. In anycase, it was finally really exciting realizing that we're here!

After a little decompression we headed through security, which was incredibly quiet in terms of people - maybe because it was Wednesday afternoon - which was a much appreciated thing, as going through security at LAX is almost always a stressful experience due to the volumes of people. After that there wasn't much left to do but get a drink, head to our gate, and wait for our next flight.
Jun
03
2009

T Minus 2 Hours And Counting

(Add / View Comments) (0)Wednesday, June 3, 2009 - 08:00:00 am
(Posted Under: Operation Desert Rock)
The sound of your name after a single hour sleep is like knives. Or not, given that I ended up virtually ignoroing Katie attempting to wake me up at 6am, thinking I was dreaming. Notice of our ride being here however got me sorted out pretty goddamn quickly however. So, we're leaving the the US today, and I've had under an hours sleep, and Katie has had under or half an hour!

This morning has been fairly utilitarian, taking care of the bare baics needed to get us overseas. It definitely feels like nothing could be better than more time, now it's crunch time, it needs to happen.

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