Car and plane, ship and train...now home again!

---

...admittedly the train is a stretch! Only one we used was in Vancouver to get to and from one side of the city to the other but 'Gondola' doesn't really rhyme with anything that helped...so we stretched it a little.

Last day in California was a little bit of a fill in day really. Only had to be fair 5 or 6 hours to fill so not long enough to get too adventurous and a little too long to just sit around. Also a little wary of LA freeway traffic as needed to be well amongst it to return Frostbite to Alamo and get to the airport for before 7pm.

Left Carlsbad Seapoint Resort a little after 10am. This place was great, a little pricier than we normally pay but the services, set up and apartments themselves were just brilliant. Easy 30 minute drive from central San Diego, 5 from Carlsbad Beach. May well use them again. If you can, consider the 2 bedroom option as the cost difference is not that noticeable but the space and comfort that comes with it is.

Took a casual drive through Carlsbad Village and then drifted north and into a mall that Sandy remembered from her first trip to the USA (last century) with her family, South Coast Plaza. Parked Frostbite about 12.30 and escaped the sweltering heat into the plush air conditioned mall. Very upmarket mall, not a lot of chance of us buying too much as nothing from Tiffany's, Bloomingdales, Hermes etc... really appealed and the prices appalled. Good to wander for a while and had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe there.

Got onto the freeway just before 5 heading the last 35 miles to drop off the car. Our flight check in was in 2 hours, freeway was a car park. Averaged about 15 mph for the first 20 minutes so a little nervous about the time if that kept up but then it cleared and we were at Alamo by a little after 6pm. Again, cannot speak highly enough of the service and set up here. Same as last year, just exemplery.

At the airport and checked in by 7pm. Check in counter attendant was amazing. We had 5 bags, we had checked online and been told this additional bag would cost another $50 and we were happy with that. At the counter however found out this was not correct and it was going to cost at least twice that. Not so happy but going to suck it up. Attendant was not having any of that. The bags, now that we could weigh them, were mainly around the 21 kg mark but one was much lighter, but chokka regardless. Our new friend insisted and then assisted me right there at the counter, as there was no queue, to repack the contents of the lighter bag across the other 4. We were successful but I was sweating like a dog (do they actually sweat) by the time it was all jammed in. Could not have done it without the check in counter assistant who stood on packs, tugged on zips and crammed items into every conceivable nook and cranny. The left overs went into kids day packs and the now empty pack became my 'hand luggage'.

Went through usual nonsense security procedures with TSA and I am refraining from ranting, save to say I watched them for a few minutes and they accomplished nothing and supplied limited if any security. Plenty of staff but few actually involved in the process.

Flew home in the newest plane in the Air New Zealand fleet, Boeing 777 300ER livieried out in black. Fantastic flight (got a little lumpy part way through) with great service and a credit to the airline. It was the standard 12+ hour flight but the kids both slept for the bulk of it. Arrived home and dad transported us, early start for him as we landed at 6.30am, and our mountain of luggage home.

And thats it. Trip over, all done and dusted.

Truth be told we are a little selfish. We weren't ready to come home, just having too much of a good time. Kids wanted to see the dog, but that was really the only draw card because it was just such a good and varied trip.

Kids want to travel again. We want to travel with them. They travel so well and while in years to come they will come to realise how fortunate they have been, for now they took without complaint of any note the early starts, sometimes late at night starts, long days and long flights that were necessary to make it possible to do what we did and see what we saw. Both Caitlin and Reuben rate the cruise as the main or premier highlight.

Sandy keen to start planning the next venture... we are torn on destinations. Drawn back to Canada as so much else to see of this vast and beautiful country, but keen to venture into Asia, Thailand and Vietnam in particular and still Europe holds that allure for us to return to and show the kids. Suggestions welcome.

"twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain

---