And We’re Home
I am happy to report to all and sundry that we are home, safe and sound.
I’m writing this from the living room of Kelly’s parents home on the other side of world (for most readers at least) at 1227am Monday morning. Can you believe it, we are actually back on the other side of the world? I certainly can’t.
We left our hotel in LA not long after 930 on Thursday night to begin what was to be one heck of a long flight back home. It never really dawned on either of us that it isn’t really the 14 hour excursion we had been telling everybody about. Sure, the flight is 14 hours long but when you take travel to the airport, checking in, waiting, boarding and the subsequent delays into account the whole experience is in fact alot longer than you first consider.
Add to that the time it takes to land, taxi to the terminal, alight the aircraft, go through customs and down to baggage claim and it’s more like a full day than anything else. From door to door, that is, the 7th floor of the Doubletree in Santa Monica, CA to the hallway of Kelly’s Mum and Dad’s house in Sydney Australia we had spent 21 hours in transit. No wonder we were buggered by the end of it.
So far as the travel itself? Luc was well asleep before we left the hotel which made things easier and Ben, our 3 year old who hasn’t taken a daytime nap for the last 9 months, was wide awake after a 3 hour sleep in the afternoon. That was how we had planned it so, for the beginning at least, things were looking good.
By the time we made it to LAX Ben was buzzing with excitement and Luc, no longer asleep, was lapping up his brother’s enthusiasm.
At about 20 past 10, Kelly and I, with 7 suitcases weighing a combined 460 pounds (209 kilos) made our way into the terminal and checked in with plenty of time to spare. Having cancelled our flight from 2 nights before we were given the only seats available, right at the rear end of the plane. This wasn’t such a big deal. Having to pay an extra $2,400 for the privilege though was. We were told upon cancelling our original flight that the reason for the increase in fare, despite Ben’s sickness, was that we were buying a different “class” of economy seat. If this is what we got for $2,400 more I would have hated to have seen what “class” our original seats were in?
After enduring the customary 45 minute delay (are these just expected now?) it was in the air and on the way home for us.
Ben, now that we were in the air, was fast asleep with his head on Kelly’s lap and Luc, like he didn’t need another wink of sleep for the rest of his life, was jumping around like a cat in a goldfish tank. He was so wired that I honestly didn’t know what to do. After 3 hours he had calmed down and finally gone to sleep. That was 2 bottles, about 100 wrestles and at least 1000 kicks to the seat in front of us later. I’m sure the guy ahead of us would have bopped me one if he had the chance.
Ben slept for the first 7 hours of the flight and Luc, worn out from all of his hullaballoo did well to go through to about the halfway point aswell.
With that, the fun and games began again. The next 5 and a half hours were insane. Totally insane. Luc was doing his best to perform every dance move known to man whilst attempting to high, long and triple jump all at the same time. Ben had decided that he wanted to get off the plane now that he was awake and proceeded to answer every question with “bart (but) I wanna git outta of here” The first few times it was totally adorable, after that it just became difficult.
Exhausted, Kelly and I looked at each other for a little support and all we could muster was a wry smile. You know, the eyebrows raised, almost defeated but not giving up just yet type of smile? That one.
For the last hour and a half both boys slept and Kelly and I did our best to regain some sort of energy. A little shut eye, a little TV, a little stretch for stretching’s sake.
We touched down not long before 10am, went through the drama that is customs with 2 little boys running like Olympians and made our way through the gate to see Kelly’s parents for the first time in almost 6 months.
It was a tough 20 or so odd hours but the way it finished made the journey more than worth it in the end. We were home and Kelly (see top photo) could barely contain herself.
