Blogs from LAX, Los Angeles, California, United States, North America - page 5

Our last day at sea we followed the Mexican coast of the Baja California coast. Sweaters and long pants are in order as our top temperature of the day is 16c. We ordered breakfast in again today and spent most of the morning packing. We all ventured out to the Onboard Outlet sale but this time I was not tempted by anything. The rest of my morning was spent in the Casino waiting until we could go in to lunch which was one of the best yet (liver fried onions and bacon). After lunch we went back to Leisa’s and visited in their room. We are always watching the water and Rick spotted a whale we all rushed out in time to see this huge creature and the spray from its blow hole. Then we spotted ... read more

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 ... read more

The night (with the seats in day-mode again) went fairly well, except that the air was so dry that I had continual nosebleeds and chapped lips, and the dry air itself seemed to be contributing to my cough. I slept for about an hour at a stretch; then stopped and wrote up my blog for future posting, then catnapped again, and so on. In the night we went from Mountain Time to Pacific Time. By good luck I woke just at the change point, in Needles, and was able to change the time on my watch and computer just at the right moment. Breakfast was served at 5 a.m. Pacific, which was just as well, as no one's stomach had adjusted to the new time zone yet. Surprisingly, it went well. Debbie came to the dining ... read more

Well today was our last day on US soil. Took the promised City tour of LA, and while we got some nice shots, it was more a case of filling in time than an enlightening experience. To make matters worse, our driver guide (named Wolf for Wolfgang I suspect) was so obscure with his English language that he was barely understandable at least 50% of the time – and not at all for the balance. At the end of the trip he stood at the front of the bus and virtually insisted that he receive a minimum 15% gratuity. You can imagine how well he did with that with your correspondent. In fairness, to ensure that IO wasn’t being too tough, I checked with the Chancellor of the exchequer, and she signed off on the NIL ... read more

If I had called up my best friends and family and boldly proclaimed to them back in February that after that semester I’d be taking some time off, heading back to work at my second (actually, more like my first) home in the middle of the woods, fall completely off the face of the facebook world, bum around on the couches of friends homeless and jobless, then come October just jump on a plain to New Zealand to hike, explore, and do god knows what all before actually graduating, jaws would have dropped, marbles would’ve been lost, and I most definitely would have been checked into a residential treatment facility for my mental health. So I did the responsible thing. I planned a perfectly acceptable and responsible adventure in which I would acquire my last credits ... read more