Day 2 - Los Angeles - California to Phoenix - Arizona

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Alarm went off at 6am and after having had a pretty good sleep and figuring out how to turn the stupid shower on we went down for the complimentary breakfast which they were actually charging non IHG members USD 20- each.



I had a light breakfast with some cereal bran with toast and strawberry jam with an interesting strawberry and banana yoghurt (I’m not convinced they go well together ?). I asked for a coffee and they give me a coffee urn (seriously one cup is enough to start the day !).



We checked out at 7.40 am and were back on the free shuttle for the 10 minutes trip to LAX to get our Southwest flight. We had already been checked in using the early bird check in system when we we left Brisbane and were allocated boarding passes automatically. Today is again a lovely day in Los Angeles around 25 degrees.



Checking in our bags was a breeze in the shiny new Terminal 1 with so many staff compared with Brisbane (they were actually waiting for us !). Off through security where again it was so organised with staff saying “move through, keep up with me“. They sure know how to keep people moving. Around 20 minutes after arriving at the terminal we were at the gate shopping for my next T-Shirt.



There were two examples that reminded me I was in USA today. One was the funny toilet seat flushing levers (nothing like of our good old buttons on the top) and when you start seeing people walking their dogs to the airport gate. In LAX they even had restrooms for the doggies !



It is so easy using the Southwest boarding system where you are allocated a line in the queue (We had 48 and 49 so not too bad). Everyone joins the queue in accordance with their boarding pass so very civilised. We could sat in Row 3 but overhead storage was used so we ended up in Row 13.



Flight left on time at 10.25am and it was only a 54 minute ride to Phoenix. Plane was then headed to San Antonio (I loved that place) and Atlanta. Many folk did not get off so they get to move up the front to seats vacated by those exiting if they want.



After collecting our bags it was on the 10 minute bus ride to the massive car rental facility (they are building a train to move people here opening soon). We had to wait for a car to be available as we we were 15 minutes early for our 1pm pickup so no dramas and the lady said after a while “check out that white car and see if is ok”. It was a Chrysler Charger and looked ok so she did the paper work and I was about the put the luggage in when I realised licence plate was not the same as the form she gave me ? Looked for nearby cars and found a black car with correct Florida licence plate so maybe white meant black as that was the colour of this Lexus i300 F Sports model ! What a nice car she is and better than the VW Passat we booked.



I forgot to download the google maps directions to our hotel from the airport whilst we had wi-fi access as we won’t have phone access until we get to the AT & T store this afternoon to get some USA Sim Cards so I panicked a bit as to how I would find my way there. Eventually sorted it out getting wi-fi back to download the route on Google Maps before heading off on the 15 minute drive to our hotel. Lots of cactus everywhere. We are staying at Biltmore a few kms north of downtown Phoenix at the Embassy Suites where we have a King Bedroom Suite and we managed to avoid car parking fees as I mentioned to the lady at reception their prices had dropped a little since we booked a few months ago.



We did all the bookings for this trip with options for free cancellations in case we could not get here due to reintroduction of travel restrictions so we paid a bit more when booking so expect this might occur again although with inflation out of control here maybe not ? Room is spacious with a separate bedroom away from the living area and has a huge atrium with fountains and fish in the ponds (a real oasis in the desert.).



Headed off to get the AT & T phone plans from the local store at 3pm about a mile down the road and then planned on having a late lunch and do some shopping for souvenirs. I’m getting used to the Lexus left hand drive she is so easy to drive.



Wow 2 hours to get our two SIM cards. We had no idea the Apple iPhone 14 was being released today so they were super busy and we had a rookie sales guy who had real issues setting up these for non-residents and now we are now late for the world famous Hilton evening reception from 5-7pm (bugger !).



No need to panic though, all I had to do was bring on some gold old Aussie charm. By 7pm we had converted 2 free drinks each at the bar into 4 free Pinot Noir and Margaritas so ended up well. We were planning on going out for dinner but ended up having the Quesadilla’s and Fries at the bar to accompany our 4th round of drinks and what a cool story this is.



The bar was pretty full and we were all having a bit of a laugh at the guy sitting next to us who was talking on his phone (with massive headphones on) and every now and then he would talk or laugh so loud we’d all suddenly be super quiet and just stare at him and he never seemed to care.



Anyway the bartender did not collect our first free drink coupons for Round # 1 so we were nearly done for the night and when we told her about her overlooking to collect our coupons she asked us if we’d like another round and it would have been downright rude to say no right ? Hence Round # 3 begun in earnest.



A little later I saw a couple of people arrive at the far end of the bar and they were pointing at the spare bar stool next to me (that loud guy had left by now) asking if it was free and I picked it up to bring it around from them. No big deal just got me a little exercise. The man was a burly strong guy with a mature looking goatie and was with a petite little lady who was suitably impressed by my efforts to deliver the stool. Definitely Americans.



Turns out it my goodwill gesture was appreciated and Mike and Lisa offered us a couple of extra free drink vouchers they did not need so that explains Round # 4. Appears I got confused with the recent messaging we’ve been getting from home that the only way to avoid wearing a mask in public was to be seen be eating or drinking. We did a bit of both tonight.



We later chatted to Mike about his travels and he has been to Australia a couple of times and probably seen more than us. It is hard to explain to people here we are planning on seeing all 50 states by the end of October and we have still not seen all 6the states of Australia !



Mike told us about his ride on the Ghan Railway and it was interesting to hear his reaction to the news that you can no longer climb that big rock anymore. There is a lot of similarities between the indigenous peoples of both our countries, and the challenges of trying to upright wrongs without using “token” changes.



He said some interesting and nice things about Australia and we had a bit of deep dive into why it is when we travel we tend to talk to strangers and do more listening than we do in our normals lives. I guess it’s something within our control to change if we want. Kerry and I were thinking of how we sat having a coffee the other day at Ginger Root and would not have spoken a word to the many others around us and after just 1 day here I been chatting to a guy from Fargo, North Dakota and tonight a resident of Pine, Arizona. It felt like I was in a a scene from Cheers (I loved that show !). A great start to the trip.



Weather - Sunny not a cloud in the sky

Temperature - Too hot around 35 degrees.



We have a full day here in Phoenix tomorrow before heading off on the first road trip with Madame Lexus.

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Photos

Breakfast at the Holiday Inn LAX
How is that for coffee service ?

Retail shopping at LAX
Plenty of Dodgers gear here and I bought my first T-Shirt of the trip.

Southwest Airlines Flight 1909
Our favourite airline in USA. Great service and always seem to organised band on time.

More Quesadilla's served differently
Don’t eat that jalapeño unless you have called the fire brigade to put out your mouth !

Evening reception (Round 1 of 4)
That is a Margarita and a Pinot Noir in plastic cups. Evening reception you get 2 free drinks but we scored an extra round from the lovely bartender and then we got a fourth as a gift from some local natives called Mike & Lisa from Pine AZ.