sh1ft.org : .. and we're here!

Sunday 19 September 2004
.. and we're here!

okay, so we've been here for a few days now (and still haven't adjusted to the sleeping pattern) but everything's been awesome and i'm having a great time getting to know Regan's mum Sharon, and his twin, Ryan. (those two are so similiar it's freaking me out!! well, not really).

i'll start at the beginning, the flights were surprisingly good. the 14 hour flight to LA was fine except for the no sleep thing (poor tall Regan could never find a good position in the tiny seat). i thought i would get antsy about flying, but it didn't seem to bother me this time around. harry potter, mean girls, the day after tommorrow, hidalgo and the legend of bagger vance played - and which was the best out of all of them? mean girls. yep. what's with that? haha.

we got into LA about 11AM local time, and things were ... fortress/torture chamber like? nah, i wouldn't say that - but there was alot of humidity, smog and security checks like no other - and them came the motion sickness. it had disappeared by the time we got on the next flight and we were on the way to Chicago! the flight only lasted about 3-4 hours or so, which was a breeze considering we just sat on our asses for most of the day but we landed about 45 mins before our next flight .. or so we thought.

my first 10 mins of O'Hare airport was a blur, i know there was running.. and running.. and more running though, all the way up to our gate on what seemed to be on a different side of Chicago. by the time we got there and checked it, the lady over the loud speaker announced we'd be delayed another 30mins which was okay since i needed to recover from the marathon we just ran. after 30 mins had passed, another delay of 1 hour. then another delay of 1 hour. then another delay of 1 hour, until they finally just started saying 'a few minutes'. it was all good though, i had my first american cheeseburger (thank you mcdonalds) and we got to know parts of the airport carpet and pay phones pretty well.

finally, we boarded the smallest plane on the planet at about 11.30PM local time, and landed in North Carolina at about 2.30AM.

so that's our travel story so far, we're definately glad there's no more plane rides for another few weeks - although i think it's going to be easier on the way home since there's a few days inbetween the last two flights.

now... here's to three more weeks of relaxation! there's so many things here that are strange and cool to me, i can't wait to see some more!

p.s. i've posted up the first lot of 'while i'm away' entries up at shutterbug. there were some photos were i had wanted to talk a bit more about them, and maybe get some questions back on. feel free to wander back through the archives if you're free

Replies: messages (11)

i have horrible fears of having to run through american airports to get my next flight. i just wouldn't know what to do! sounds like it was an experience, though. hooray for travelling!

the photos look great, by the way. :D

Posted by sandy @ 19 september 2004 02:18 PM AEST

On your next layover in O'Hare, make sure to check out the corridor between Corcourse B and C in terminal 1 (United). Click on the homepage link to see what I'm talking about. A photographer's dream.

Posted by andre @ 20 september 2004 12:36 AM AEST

So glad that you arrived safe and sound.

I feel happy that you are in my country. The US is a little sunnier with you here.

Have fun, and then have more fun!

Posted by kane @ 20 september 2004 01:21 AM AEST

hope you are having fun! :)

Posted by shar @ 20 september 2004 01:47 AM AEST

I'm curious about the things you find different here. I'm American and didn't realize that the airports here were a big deal. Go figure.

Posted by tiffanie @ 20 september 2004 08:18 AM AEST

Yes! Please whenever you get a chance post a list of the differences! It would be a delight to read! Have fun here in the States!

Posted by AMy @ 20 september 2004 02:04 PM AEST

You just happen to be passing through LAX right after the recent bomb scare, so I apologize on behalf of L.A. Coincidentally, I have an Australian visiting right now. Have fun in the U.S. No hurricanes please!

Posted by alice @ 21 september 2004 07:32 AM AEST

welcome to the Eastern Standard Time zone.

maybe now you'll update while we're awake.

oh and have a fun trip :P

Posted by lrn @ 21 september 2004 02:32 PM AEST

It's always amusing to learn about what people find weird and not because of cultural differences, I would love to hear yours! Glad to hear you're safe in the states. :)

Posted by susan @ 22 september 2004 06:28 AM AEST

andre, i left you a message on that entry - we did actually run through that section really quickly, so i only managed to get 3 shots on the iXUs as i rode the travellator. it really stunned me that something so cool was in an airport! keep an eye out for when i get back and start to post the snaps from all the airports, haha.

thanks for the messages everyone! the security and all that is alright with me in the end, it's better to have it than not!

i definately will make note of what's different - starting with your crazy toilets.

Posted by tracey @ 22 september 2004 06:29 AM AEST

WOW. I love all those photos you posted. So good.

Posted by Su @ 26 september 2004 04:06 AM AEST