On the way to USA

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Geo: 44.069, -123.082

We embarked on this very long day at 6-15am when we headed to the airport in Adelaide. Flight to Sydney at 8am was fine having 3 seas for just us. In Sydney we had time for a great Chicken Laksa in the Qantas Lounge before boarding the plane for LA and leaving at 1-25pm. We were on the new A-380 upstairs in Economy but got the short straw in seats. I was in the middle of a row of four with two brothers next to me, Queenslanders in their late 20s who could only discuss drinking, Rugby, girl friends and hooning around in cars. Difficult to read with them nattering on.

It was a 12 and a half hour flight. I dozed a little,(while said brothers were engrossed in watching Captain America) read my book, Anzac Girls,(looking forward to the ABC series) and then watched The Iron Lady. We arrived in LA at 9am of the same day in the new Tom Bradley Terminal. This is a vast improvement on the old ones. We were able to get through Passport and Customs very speedily, resend through our luggage to Eugene and walk to Terminal 4 where we found the Admiral's Club, American Airlines Lounge, where we rested for an hour. Then it was onto a shuttle bus to the "remote terminal" to board the small plane to Eugene.

We arrived, on time, at 2-25pm and were greeted by our dear friend, Peter Thompson. I hadn't seen Peter since 2003 when he was in Australia so it was a happy reunion. He drove us into Eugene and to his unit which overlooks the golf club and some water and vegetation.Once settled in and changed we were taken to a local winery, Sweet Cheeks for a tasting. The weather was sunny and warm and great to be back in shorts and blouse and sandals!

The winery is on the top of a hill just 20 minutes drive from the city. It has a lovely outdoor area for eating and functions and a great tasting room. There we were served by Mallory, a lively dark haired girl who was extremely welcoming. We tasted their Pinot Gris which was very nice and the Reisling which did not have the acid of Australian ones. We also had a viognier which actually came from Victoria as did the Merlot.

After a pleasant hour there we came back to Peter's and while he made us a delicious salmon salad for dinner we sat out on his balcony in the gathering twilight, enjoying the view and the conversation. After a great dinner and cheese washed down by a few Oregon reds, it was off to much needed sleep. A great start to our trip.

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