We are now back in LA, where our trip started over two months ago. The flight back was, ummm, eventful. The first couple of hours were full of heavy turbulence. It got so bad that at one point, they stopped dinner service and told the flight attendents to take their seats. Swell. Then about three or four hours into the flight, there was an announcement asking any police or security officers on board to identify themselves to the flight crew. Everyone on the plane started looking around with a nervous ‘what’s going on?’ feeling. The announcement was repeated a few minutes later, and eventually (we think he had been sleeping) a big guy wearing a Las Vegas Police Department t-shirt went up front. He came back a while later, but was brought back up again by one of the stewardesses. We heard nothing else about it until the end of the flight, when they told us that we were going to be cleared by security before passengers could leave the plane. As we walked out, there were police by the plane’s door, and about a half dozen more at the gate. In line for customs, one of the other passengers said that someone, possibly drunk or high, had gotten belligerent, and had made some threats. We actually got to see the person in question as he was led through customs, handcuffed, and escorted by two police and an someone who looked like an FAA agent. Welcome home.
It didn’t take long to realize that we were back in the US. As we were taxiing to the gate, we saw a lane of airline food trucks driving along. At the end of the lane, just before the edge of the runways, was a sign that said ‘Stop For Aircraft.’ Also, the customs agents in NZ and AU were just like postal employees, government workers in uniforms. The US customs agents were cops wearing guns. Then we got on the rental car shuttle, and were bombarded with loud conversation. The typical bleached blond, leathery skinned, wannabe famous girl was conversing loudly with the big ex-football player guy about the wonders of LA and the entertainment buisiness. She was going on about becoming a star of some sort, and he was talking about all the different aspects of the city. Then he told her she’d do well, because she has a good attitude. He got in line behind us at the rental office, and started talking to us about the silliness of those kinds of conversations, how that’s not what he’s about, and how he just keeps it real, y’know?
So we got out of there, went to pick up Neal, and had burritos for the first time since October. We had been craving them like crazy. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon trying not to nap, so we could go to sleep at the right time. Mostly we succeeded (Sarah failed just a little).
We drove Neal to the airport this morning. He is letting us stay in his room while we are here. He also has a washer/dryer combo, and it was so nice to put on clean clothes this morning (we hadn’t had access to laundry the last week and a half or so). I think we’re just going to take it easy the rest of the week, relax a bit, and catch up on some rest.