Day 85: LA to Home

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Considering we fly out at 9.30 and have to be at the airport at 6.30 we decided to have a quiet day and do a little last minute shopping so it back on a public bus and headed off to Buena Park Mall. It looked great as we passed it the day before but when we got there it was virtually empty, very few shoppers and half of the shops were empty, the recession I guess. We stooged around for a while and then decided this was no good and went back to Anaheim. We then grabbed a cab to the nearest Westfield Mall some 10 minuets and 18.00 dollars away to finish the day. The cabbie we got promised to return and pick us up at 4.00 after telling him how important it was that he be there, we did not want to be left stranded at the mall with no transport. We finished our shopping and went out to meet the cab, yep you’re right he was a no show, just goes to show you just cant trust anyone when you are away, you have to rely on your own resources. We did find another cab and got back just in time to catch the shuttle out to the airport. Going through the usual dramas at US airports seems to us now to be a breeze and we found out that due to the eruptions in Iceland our plane from the UK was late. Going through checkout the Air New Zealand guy there let us off for our excess baggage, some 10kg so that was a great break. Waiting in airport lounges has become second nature so it was straight to Starbucks, the only place in the USA that you can get decent coffee to begin the 2 hour wait. Finally boarding our plane for the homeward run was like starting the last chapter of a book knowing that soon it would be all over, but there was still a little left to read. The trip home was uneventful except for a little turbulence towards the end and before long we were through customs and back on home turf. The greeting we got from family was just fantastic and after a quick smoke outside it was off home.

I hope you have enjoyed our little blog and have found it informative and interesting, it has been difficult to write at times as it was hard to remember what we had done, I am sure I have missed much but there you have it.

Pam took in excess of 24,680 photos over our 3 month trip. It will take some time for her to process them and get the best uploaded to her web galleries, but she has already started. You can view photos here:

http://www.pbase.com/pamrussell

Until next time

Au revior, Areverdici, Auf Wiedersehen, Vaarwel, Adios, good bye!

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