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Published: January 17th 2011
Arose on the morning of Saturday 15 January to another glorious day in southern California. The big fella had had a much better night and whilst still off was ready to travel.
Slow morning, with a late breakfast and finalising packing while the kids kicked back. New flight is scheduled to depart 2330 hrs so no hurry to get moving as they are going to be moving all day and late into the night just to get aboard the flight.
Cannot speak highly enough of the staff at Homewood Suites, Del Mar Heights. They were so helpful and assisted so readily with annoying jobs like scanning documents and sending faxes (trying to keep our travel insurance provider satisfied) and on top of that we never incurred any additional charges for these services. The Westin in particular would have billed us just for asking. Very comfortable, not salubrious, but well appointed and a huge step up from hotel rooms in both what they offer and the cost. As walkups we paid $199 per night with breakfast and dinner included, but our last night was the reduced rate of $159 with the same deal. Breakfast is basic cooked option with variety of cereals, toasts, muffins, fresh fruit, juices and make your own waffles. Generally the same as or more than we would normally do at home anyway.
At midday bid our newest and bestest new friends a sad farewell as we checked out of the Homewood Suites and started the trek north back towards Los Angeles and LAX. Of course, Sandy has worked out we have double the baggage allowance as now with Qantas and we have 9 hours to fill it, and thanks to input from good 'friends', we made a short detour to the Carlsbad Premium Outlet Mall...yay!
This appears to be the same chain as the Orlando ones but this was just a much nicer environment and better set out. Not as big as the Orlando ones it did not seem, but nicer feel and in most of the shops we visited, (and that was most of them) a much better range...particularly in shoes...another yay!
I went to suss out a couple of things whilst Sandy was in Gap and I walked in several minutes behind her and immediately saw her smiling and with arms laden...I smiled back, possibly could have been interpreted as a pained grimace, did a quick 180 on the spot and left to return after suitable recon with a newly acquired piece of sizeable luggage...a BASS travel case, $100 price tag, at half price with another 15% off... stuff like this makes for some good buying.
I added a couple of items to the Gap pile and then when Sandy had paid for it loaded it into the case and put that back in the car...back seat of course as the boot was already chocker with 2 cases and 2 packs. We had a few hours to fill in, there was good stuff for the kids to be purchased so both Sandy and Caitlin ended up with more shoes... By the completion of play at 5 pm the new case was now an easy half full and we were able to move a few items from some of the other over stuffed, over weight cases into this. So all good.
Headed back north towards LAX and had magnificent sunset for a good hour over the Pacific. Also drove briefly through the seaside resort type township of Carlsbad and this looked very nice and right on the beach front. All thought this could merit a return trip.
Tracked back to Alamo Rentals near the airport and dropped the vehicle off at their depot where they run shuttle buses every 5-15 minutes between there and the terminals about 10 minutes away...a phenomenally well run and incredibly organised business. Highly recommend Alamo for rentals as over extended periods they have the best prices, the vehicles we had from them where excellent and they run such a tight organisation. We will use them again.
Shuttle to terminal 4 where Qantas flies out of...check in and baggage security and personal security screening was a doddle and not the kerfuffle we had been expecting...suspect this is more relevant at Terminals 1 and 2 where the bulk of the overseas carriers fly out from.
Terminal 4 is pretty drab and there is little in it so it made for a long 3 hours waiting for the flight...not too bad though.
Flight boarded on time and we braced for some unpleasantness for Reubs during takeoff with change in cabin pressure...but he had fallen asleep as soon as we boarded and woke up an hour into the flight to complain about worsening pain and the fact that the plane had not taken off yet...when we pointed out we were actually cruising at 38,000 feet he seemed a little more relaxed. Dosed him up and while the flight was long and generally unpleasant as all night flights are, the kids slept for a few hours and Reubs had no problems with pain. Great relief all round...even landing was fine.
Moment of humour at MAF X-ray when they spotted boots in one of the packs and asked where had been tramping, was skeptical when told they were brand new and asked what about all the other shoes in there and was told, 'yep all brand new...21 pairs'. They were slightly gob smacked!.
Cleared MAF and then into arrivals and met by the family.
Pleased to hear Reubs and Caitlin both asking where our next trip is going to be too. Caitlin is keen to come back to the US as is Reuben but he is also throwing out Japan for some unknown reason...best I can come up with is that it is the home of Sushi and also great noodles...that would be enough for Reubs. Both keen to come back and see the Grand Canyon, apparently it gets visited in several episodes of Ben 10...and again for some unknown reason, Las Vegas!! Both keen to go sooner rather than later and this is encouraging given the pretty lousey few days the boy has had and we had worried it may have marred the whole trip for him...it didn;t and he has it in perspective. Kind of a kick to hear them both telling their cousins and grandparents what they had done and seen in such an animated manner...just another little something that made it so worthwhile.
In closing...San Francisco was fantastic and we would all love to go back, Orlando was a good base for what we did but as a town has no soul and is an empty facade to facilitate the location of the theme parks...that was our feel, others will see it differently. New Orleans was dirty and raw but had an infectious charisma and a unique style with so many cultural flavours intertwined over such a colourful history. Again would love to go back, perhaps with older children, obviously our own and not just anybodies older kids, who would appreciate it a little more. Cannot comment on LA cos we didn;t see it other than the area around the airport and in a time when there was some pressure on. San Diego was an unexpected side trip and a pleasant and needed surprise that offered some respite as we dealt with the young fellas confusing illness. Seems a warm, friendly place and we would all like to go back and see it properly and without distraction.
All in all, even with problems of last 5 days, this was a fantastic experience on so many levels...main one being just to spend so much time in such close proximity to the kids. Unforgettable experiences are interlaced throughout, things like Caitlin ice skating outside Macys and Reuben getting a kick out of holding an alligator at Cypress Lakes. And thats without even mentioning the money we saved on shoes!!!!...hell the trip probably paid for itself just off the savings we made on shoes...Yeah Right!!
As to the blog...despite my earlier reluctance, it is a great way to diarise a special trip and to keep friends and family informed in a real way...highly recommend it. Now looking forward to someone elses efforts so we can travel vicariously through them.
Game set and match...trip over!
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helen
non-member comment
thanks so much
for such a fabulous bog - i've really enjoyed reading all about the trip - highs and lows! Hope Reuban is continuing to feel better. see you tomorrow Sandra! Helen