The breakfast at the Holiday Inn cost
$30 per person for the full buffet or $16 for continental, so we thought we'd
outwit them by ordering room service for two which would be more than enough
for the three of us.
The knock on the door at 8 AM produced
an enormous tray for one with continental and a huge pile of scrambled
eggs, bacon, and sausage, but only one coffee and one set of cutlery. We
improvised a bit and shared and all ate plenty. Hilary took off then as her
flight left at 11:55. Ours didn't leave until 3 PM which wasn't quite enough
time to go downtown, so we just sat and read until noon.
Fortunately we left plenty of time as
the departure and check-in process was lengthy. First the Qantas man said that
our Airbus 380 plane was full, and that he wanted to change our aisle and
window seats, since that configuration would be awkward for the person in the
middle as we would be talking over him/her! We argued for a bit (Qantas has had
our payment for these seats for a year), but he seemed determined, so I went in
the middle.
The USA doesn't seem to care if you
leave the country, or not, but other countries do. We went into a very large
room with five rows of people winding slowly back and forth in order to get the
exit stamp on our passports. One and a half hours later we breezed through
Security and got out to Gate 9, and shortly thereafter joined the mob to get on
the plane. The lady in "my" aisle seat was up and down all night so
it actually was better to be in the middle as once the seats were reclined, it
was impossible for Bob or me to get up. The seats in the 380 are 1" wider
than the 747, but there is No leg room for anyone tall.
 |
| Randy's Donuts - you know you're back in LA |
The movie selection was excellent and
we survived and landed at 9:50 AM, Friday, same day, in rainy LA. Getting all
the baggage off the huge aircraft turned out to require over an hour. Seems
like the 380 is an aircraft to be avoided whenever possible as there is no
advantage for the traveler.
We drove home in a rental car, picked
up Miss Maddie, who did howl at me when I walked into the Cat House Hotel,
which was gratifying. She is now walking across the computer,yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
and we're all settling in after a wonderful vacation!
XXX, Katy
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