So, I have arrived safely in Austin after the long flight home from Melbourne. By my count, I have been awake now for about 32 hours (having slept for only about 1 or 2 hours along the way). I wasn't able to sleep on the flight from Melbourne to LAX, but fatigue did get the better of me for part of the flight from LAX to Austin.The flight went pretty well in that I managed to watch a bunch of movies and, essentially, pass the time. As we came into LAX, we flew past the Hollywood sign - this was the first time I had ever seen that. The customs process was pretty straightforward and I was glad that the process went without any trouble. As I was going through passport control, the guy who was working at the desk was really nice. After processing my passport and stamping me back into the country, he handed me my documents, looked me in the eye, and said "welcome home". Sometimes it is just the little surprising things that make the most impact...
After getting through customs, I had to go through security at the domestic terminal. Since it was about 8:30am in the morning on a Monday in LA, the place was quite busy. I had to get in line way out on the curb - but the line moved pretty quickly and I had something like 5 hours before my flight... After getting through security and making some phone calls, I was able to get on the internet and catch up on some e-mail. I also visited the American Airlines counter to ask about getting a seat change for the flight to Austin. Luckily, I was able to get my seat changed to a window seat (not the middle seat). I was really glad that they had something else available! Several other people were in line at the customer service desk because people were missing flights due to the long lines at security.
I had lunch at the Chili's Too restaurant. By this point, I was really feeling tired since I had been up for about 24 hours at that point... Lunch was okay, but I was getting to the point where I was actually feeling sick. I still had some time to kill, so I tried to walk around for a while to keep my mind off feeling lousy. Finally, it was time to get on the plane to go back to Austin!
The flight was pretty straightforward. It is about 3 hours from LAX to Austin and that feels so short after a 14 hour flight - haha. I ended up napping for probably an hour and a half on the flight - this definitely helped me to feel much better. Landing in Austin was great since I felt like I was finally home. It was even better once I collected my luggage!
Zach's wife, Gina, picked me up at the airport (Zach is in Colorado skiing - I wish I could have gone with them this year, but maybe next year). Her mom and grandma were in town, so she invited me over to have dinner with the 3 of them. This was so nice since I had no food at my apartment and wasn't looking forward to figuring out something for dinner. We had a nice time and really good food. It was great to just talk to people after having spent most of the previous day not really speaking to anyone.
My car had been at Zach and Gina's apartment while I was in Australia, so I was able to drive back to my apartment [staying on the correct side of the road :) ]. My apartment looked great when I got home - though it smelled a little musty. I gathered my 10-weeks worth of mail and started the process of unpacking the absolutely necessary items first. I think it will probably take a few days to get everything unpacked as this week will likely be very busy.
In any case, I suppose it is time to finish up this blog since my trip is now finally over! Thank you to everyone who has been reading this! I hope you have enjoyed learning about the many awesome experiences that I have had over the past 10 weeks or so. I think it is time for me to go get a good night sleep in my own bed!!
After getting through customs, I had to go through security at the domestic terminal. Since it was about 8:30am in the morning on a Monday in LA, the place was quite busy. I had to get in line way out on the curb - but the line moved pretty quickly and I had something like 5 hours before my flight... After getting through security and making some phone calls, I was able to get on the internet and catch up on some e-mail. I also visited the American Airlines counter to ask about getting a seat change for the flight to Austin. Luckily, I was able to get my seat changed to a window seat (not the middle seat). I was really glad that they had something else available! Several other people were in line at the customer service desk because people were missing flights due to the long lines at security.
I had lunch at the Chili's Too restaurant. By this point, I was really feeling tired since I had been up for about 24 hours at that point... Lunch was okay, but I was getting to the point where I was actually feeling sick. I still had some time to kill, so I tried to walk around for a while to keep my mind off feeling lousy. Finally, it was time to get on the plane to go back to Austin!
The flight was pretty straightforward. It is about 3 hours from LAX to Austin and that feels so short after a 14 hour flight - haha. I ended up napping for probably an hour and a half on the flight - this definitely helped me to feel much better. Landing in Austin was great since I felt like I was finally home. It was even better once I collected my luggage!
Zach's wife, Gina, picked me up at the airport (Zach is in Colorado skiing - I wish I could have gone with them this year, but maybe next year). Her mom and grandma were in town, so she invited me over to have dinner with the 3 of them. This was so nice since I had no food at my apartment and wasn't looking forward to figuring out something for dinner. We had a nice time and really good food. It was great to just talk to people after having spent most of the previous day not really speaking to anyone.
My car had been at Zach and Gina's apartment while I was in Australia, so I was able to drive back to my apartment [staying on the correct side of the road :) ]. My apartment looked great when I got home - though it smelled a little musty. I gathered my 10-weeks worth of mail and started the process of unpacking the absolutely necessary items first. I think it will probably take a few days to get everything unpacked as this week will likely be very busy.In any case, I suppose it is time to finish up this blog since my trip is now finally over! Thank you to everyone who has been reading this! I hope you have enjoyed learning about the many awesome experiences that I have had over the past 10 weeks or so. I think it is time for me to go get a good night sleep in my own bed!!
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