You might have laughed
if I told you, you might have hidden a frown. You might have succeeded in
changing me, I might have been turned around. It's easier to leave than to be
left behind. Leaving was never my proud. Leaving New York, never easy, I saw
the light fading out.
- R.E.M.
R.E.M. said it best – leaving New York’s never easy. The
same could be said for America as a whole. This country has it’s
well-documented problems, but, at it’s heart, the USA is a place full of
wonderful people, amazing placed and great customs. That’s why I love coming
back here, and why leaving is so hard to do.
I didn’t get much sleep during the night – not after
spending a good two hours packing my two bags. I never knew how much stuff I
had until I had it all laid out in front of me. It was good to remember all the
places I bought various things; like a
trip down memory lane. The forecast is for 66 in New York City today (about 19
degrees Celsius) so I didn’t need my parka. That takes up a lot of space in my
bag, as do the Nike runners I bought in Chicago. I just managed to squeeze
everything into my two bags for the long journey home. My pound of Dunkin’
Donuts coffee is safely lodged in my backpack. Not trusting the United or
Qantas baggage handlers with that precious cargo!
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| I travelled with these crazies! And loved every second of it! |
On two hours of sleep, we headed to Newark’s Liberty
International Airport to begin our two-flight marathon back to Sydney in time
for Christmas. The terminal was absolutely steaming hot. I don’t know what was
going on, except to think that maybe they had the heating automated, assuming
it would be hot outside. The security queue seemed to last forever, and I was
sweaty as anything once I cleared the TSA checkpoint and got into the cooler
boarding gate area.
The weather is going crazy! 66 today and down into the low
teens by Tuesday or Wednesday. It’s spring-like at the moment, and Toronto,
just a few hours north across the Canadian border, is suffering through it’s
worst-ever ice storm. There are literally hundreds of thousands of people without
power and transport is affected badly, too. That’s exactly what you don’t want
on Christmas Week.
Thankfully, our plane was significantly cooler than the
terminal, and the 5-hour flight west to Los Angeles was pleasant enough. I had
the window seat, which I don’t really like, but the views of the Grand Canyon
and the snow-covered Midwest plains (there was a big storm through there the
other day) were pretty spectacular, both in bright sunshine. I wish I’d had my
camera handy but it’s packed like pretty much everything else.
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| Santa Monica Beach |
Arriving in Los Angeles, we had a ten-hour wait before our
flight home, so we organised a car and headed down to Santa Monica and it’s
famous pier – one of my favourite places in America. Of course, the pier gained
notoriety as being the end point for Forrest Gump’s run across the country in
the classic Tom Hanks movie, and was where the two main characters in Titanic
talked about visiting. It’s also a great place to enjoy the sun on the Pacific
Coast, mercifully free of the bad air that plagues the city inland.
We had a late lunch at Bubba Gump’s Shrimp Co. right on the
pier and set about filling up whatever space left in our bags – not a whole lot
for me – with shopping. A few streets back of the beach and pier is the Third
Street Promenade, which has a collection of shops, including Forever 21, Gap,
Nike and Levi’s, where I took advantage of very cheap prices and got a few new
pairs of jeans. There was an interesting street show taking place, where a guy
was getting wrapped up in a snake. Only in LA…
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| Yes, that guy is biting a snake's head! |
After sunset, we headed back to LAX and checked in and went through
the TSA security checkpoint one last time. I understand why we must do the
whole tango there, but it does grate on you if you do it a few times in a short
space of time. It’ll be nice not to have to take off shoes, belt, watch and
seemingly everything else before stepping into the big full-body image scanner.
Just like not having to live out of a suitcase will be nice! Leaving America,
not so much.
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| Santa Monica Sunset |
***
Prologue: Christmas Eve, 5.00pm
Home! Because I was totally wrecked, I slept the best part
of 11 hours on the flight home. I wasn’t awake for take-off, had to be woken up
for dinner and was asleep before they’d even collected by trash. A solid
effort. It was coming, eventually. We were all pretty tired, and sooner or
later your body says, enough! That moment came for me on the flight, and I feel
much better for it.
My bags are unpacked and my Christmas presents are wrapped.
I’ve watched the Florida Georgia Line DVD I bought, and have related to my
folks some of the stories from the last four weeks. It’s been an incredible
ride, visiting great places and seeing great things, whilst hanging out with a
collection of awesome Americans.
The list is too long to name, but you all know who you are.
From Los Angeles to New York and everywhere in between, we’ve been warmly
welcomed by great friends, and made to feel like family. The hospitality doesn’t
ever go unnoticed and it’s appreciated greatly – more than words can accurately
describe. I’ll keep coming back as long as you’ll have me!
But it’s the three people I travelled with who really made
this last month amongst the best of my life. Nathan, Trevor, Lauryn – I can’t
tell you how much fun I’ve had with you guys. We’ve seen some great things,
right? I’m privileged to call you friends and family. I appreciate all the laughs, and the way we all sung the chorus to “Cruise” with varying miming success. America wouldn’t have been quite as much fun without you!
So, that’s that. Thirty one days: Los Angeles, Chicago, San
Francisco, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, Washington D.C., New York City,
another dip into Los Angeles and, finally, home. It’s good to be back. It’s sad
to not be in America. It’s also Christmas tomorrow. That’s exciting!
Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!
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