Friday, October 16, 2009

For the first time in a couple trips, we actually left on a Friday night (as opposed to Saturday day). It's much more convenient, and you get an extra half day. The flipside is that you have to deal with LA and OC traffic. We left Vista around 5:30, figuring we wouldn't hit anything too bad by the time we got further north. It turns out we didn't hit anything too bad, but we saw a ton of traffic and other disasters. We saw between 5 and 10 really bad accidents, including a couple on the 73 that looked especially bad. One had just happened, and one of the cars was smoking and steaming really bad - the fire department and police had not even showed up yet.

For dinner, we ate at Hans' in Costa Mesa, right near where we used to live. Ironically, we've eaten there far more since we moved than we ever did when we lived there. While sitting at dinner, we saw about a half dozen police cars checking out various stuff - it seemed very sketchy, and we couldn't figure out if there had been some tip that something was going to go down at one of the local establishments. Fortunately, we made it out unscathed, and very full. Justin had a pint of the chocolate raspberry truffle ice cream, otherwise known as God's dessert.

We got to the LAX Hilton (good place for long term parking, especially if you book in advance) just after 8, a little ahead of schedule. Alas, we waited 30 minutes just for the bus to pick us up, and then it was another 5-10 before we left, as people were getting on and off two buses right next to one another, banging into one another and generally creating a mess. Then it took another 15-20 minutes to get to the gate. We were hoping the Pink's would have opened in the International Terminal, but we read earlier in the day that it would not be open until January (which is why we ate at Hans'). So, for the fourth trip in a row, we got a drink at the one and only restaurant in the terminal, the Daily Grill. The waitress was really nice, and convinced Justin he should get a Long Island Iced Tea. Crystal got a Cabernet. We both figured we'd be fast asleep after the plane took off, in Crystal's case, perhaps even before.

On the plane, we were next to a gentlemen from Adelaide, who told us a bit about Australia, and whether any of the slang we learned about was actually used in practice. Interestingly, it all was. Perhaps we'll actually use some of it. We were in an aisle and middle seat, which is unfortunate if you want to sleep a lot, because if the person in the window seat wants to get up, you don't get to sleep any more. We did make it a bit past takeoff, and a bit past midnight, before we were out.