"Australian Waypoint." Los Angeles Travelogue by grandmaR

I have not been to Los Angeles since 1965. And this visit I didn't even get out of the airport.

My complimentary beverage

I had my bag packed a couple days in advance and it weighed 48 lbs and didn't have everything in it so I took out some things and put in some things and it still weighs 48 lbs.

The scooter that I rented didn't come Friday so I called and they said it was somewhere en-route and that if it didn't come Monday I was to call. So I called and they said that it probably wouldn't be delivered until Tuesday in the afternoon after we would be have left for the airport. It was a Travel Scoot - a lightweight scooter that had no back up - you pushed with your feet to go backwards.

Since it wasn't expected to get there, the scooter guy said he would order a new Luggie to be delivered to my son-in-law's office on Tuesday. When I called him to tell him that the Travel Scoot had arrived after all, he was flummoxed. Bob took the scooter out and set it up and it looked complicated and it was way heavier and bigger a box than the scooter guy had said. So I told Don (the scooter guy) that I would take the Travel Scoot to Miami with me as arranged and I would leave whichever scooter I decided not to take in to the office for pickup on Thursday. He seemed to be OK with that.

Bob took me to the airport and I had no trouble checking the scooter or my bag, and I got a wheelchair to the gate. The wheelchair guy was very helpful and nice and I tipped him $5.00 - did all the bag checking in for me as there were no sky caps. I did find that when I looked, I had the shoes on the wrong feet after I did security.

I had a nice uneventful flight down talking to a lady with her arm in a splint - she said she broke the bones in her forearm. There was no food, and I was hungry because I only had a banana and some ice cream for lunch, so I bought some cheese and crackers and a cookie on the plane.

Scooter being charged

My daughter met me at the airport and by the time I got a wheelchair down to get the luggage, she already had it. So we walked across the street to the garage and she took us home. Jim (my son-in-law) had already unpacked the scooter and ridden it around and put it to charge. He fed me some pulled pork. I was sleeping in my grandson's room (he was at college) and it is like an icebox in there. When I get back, I'm going to wear all my clothes to bed.

My granddaughter was already asleep when we got there. I printed out my boarding passes for the MIA to LAX flight and also the Qantas e-ticket. I'm sure I did that once before but I don't know where it is. I couldn't print out the Qantas boarding pass because it was too early.

We went to bed. The clock said 5:45 when it was really 11:45 but I could read the time really well (better than my watch).

TV screen in the airplane

In the morning, my daughter's friend Carol came to drive the truck back from the airport and we all (me, my daughter and my granddaughter) went to the airport. We tried to curb check the bags, but the scooter was a problem for them so we went inside and eventually my daughter talked them into checking the bags all the way through. She also bought some lunch food for us.

We got on the plane early and had a relatively smooth flight - My granddaughter watched movies and TV shows - she has noise canceling headphones

Admiral's club pizza

My granddaughter and I are in the LAX Admiral's club, thanks to my daughter's friend who gave us passes. There is free wi-fi so I can compute while waiting for our Qantas flight out tonight. For some reason my phone keeps getting discharged, but I have it charged up again, and have figured out how to put it on airplane mode. There is supposed to be someone from Qantas here about 5:00 PDT who can issue our boarding cards. My back hurt so I lay down on the floor. Later, I lay down on one of the couches in the Admiral's Lounge and had a nap. I got a pizza from the grill also. It was really hot and I burnt the roof of my mouth.

I tried to change the return tickets to Miami on the 27th but the agent said that there was no value left in the tickets so I would have to buy a one-way ticket. So I made a reservation at the Westin LAX for the night of the 27th. They charge for internet, but they have a free shuttle to the airport. We get in to LAX at 9:45 on the 27th and leave just after midnight on the 28th.

Granddaughter and noise canceling headphones

My granddaughter finished her book and did some drawing. She looked at the Trip Advisor for Sydney but when they asked her if it was the one in New South Wales, she didn't know that was the name of the Australian state that Sydney is in (she just picked up on the Wales part), so she thought that wasn't it.

The Qantas person did come in and issue us boarding passes and figured that if we left the Admiral's Club about 9:30 we could get on the 10:00 shuttle to the Bradley building. My granddaughter fell into a deep sleep about 8:45 so I had to wake her up at 9:30, which I hated to do. But she awakened and we did get the 10:00 shuttle. On the way we went and changed some money.

Repacking carry - ons in the LAX airport

Everyone waiting for the flight was weighing their carryon as there apparently is a weight limit for them on Qantas. People were disassembling their carryons all over the floor of the lounge.

The desk person came over and asked me about the scooter. They seemed very upset that they didn't have the scooter. Finally, after two or three times around, I said that it looked like a regular suitcase. After that was straightened out she assured me that the scooter was on the plane - so I started to worry about it, which I hadn't really done before.

The wheelchair lady took me to the door of the plane and we were the first ones on. We didn't take off right at the scheduled time but I don't remember why. We were in 48 C and D and I thought I had picked a window seat (and I had - 72 A and B). The plane was not full and my granddaughter had the seat next to her and in front of her vacant. I was on the aisle but the lady in front of me who had a LOT of leg room as she was in back of the bathrooms, was reading (and had the light on all night) and reclined her seat so I could hardly move.

Schweppes 'lemonade'

My granddaughter fell asleep right away and in spite of the instructions we should eat dinner even if we were tired, I let her sleep through and I think she slept for 5 or 6 hours. I had chicken (the option was salmon). I didn't care much for most of it and I was particularly annoyed that when I asked for lemonade, I got a carbonated thing. I slept some too.

My granddaughter woke up and watched some movies - she used the Qantas headphones as hers didn't work on their system. I used the eye mask.

At breakfast, she got the Continental and I got the scrambled eggs. I got to talking to the lady across the aisle and she suggested that we go up in the tower for dinner, so we may do that. She also said had been much colder and wetter this winter than usual in Sydney.

Next - we see what winter is like in Sydney