The Flight and the First few Days

3w

The hardest thing to do is figure out how to begin one of these things. I'd like to say something witty, but really, my brain is just too fuzzy at the moment. So in the interest of getting this thing done and "out there" tonight while I actually have time to do it, I'll skip the small talk and get straight to the narrative.

I did get plenty of sleep Monday afternoon and night, we headed out to the airp0rt just before 4:00AM. The flight to Melbourne was uneventful. We didn't have very long in Melbourne to get from one flight to the next, but everything went smoothly and we were on the flight to Los Angeles before we knew it.

The flight over the Pacific was much longer, and a bit more interesting. We were seated on the very last row, which was great for me since proximity to the toilets is always a plus for me. Unfortunately, it was also right next to the back emergency door, which is where everyone seemed to want to congregate when they got up to stretch their legs. Sitting in front of us were a group of about 8 Victorians who were headed for LA and decided to start celebrating their holiday early. The more they drank, the louder they got. Eventually, the flight attendants cut them off, but the damage was done. Next thing you know one of them was screaming at the rest of them and we were getting worried that things were going to come to blows. Quick as a whip though about 4 male flight attendants had popped out and quietened things down. They stood near the partiers in question for the next half hour or so till they were sure everyone was quiet and settled down, and they kept one eye on that area for the rest of the flight.

Meanwhile, all the kerfuffle made it rather difficult for us to hear the sound from the movies we were trying to watch, but we soldiered on minding our own business. I turned on some classical music, lay my head on Chris' shoulder and managed to catch a couple hours of sleep, which was a pleasant surprise.

We arrived in LA after that very long flight, got through homeland security and customs with surprising ease. I think we looked too boring (or too exhausted) to be any sort of threat.

Here is the ONLY picture I took on the entire trip over, of Chris in front of the international terminal in LA, finally on US soil.

From LA, we flew American Airlines on to Nashville, with a stopover in Dallas. That was, most definately, our least pleasant flight. We boarded the flight at 1030 local time. It was a bit early for lunch, and we figured it would be served on the plane, but there was no meal. We thought we might get off and grab some lunch in Dallas, but in the end didn't have time. Finally, we guilted a flight attendant out of a snack pack of cheese, biscuits and nuts to tide us over.

Mom and Jessie were waiting for us when we arrived at the Nashville airport. We headed out of Nashville heading for West Tennessee. We stopped at a lovely country restaurant in Dickson where we were treated to a nice country spread. Real cornbread even! We got back to mom's late, saw Justin and Jessie's daughter Sis, and visited for a long as we would last.

The next day, Wednesday, was our first full day there.was a bit better. We were still feeling jetlagged.

We decided to stay close to home, but Chris did go out for awhile to introduce mom to the fine fun of "geocaching". Mom actually quite liked it, and is now going to get her own GPS and have a go at it.

I mostly just sat around the house with Justin, who took the day off to spend some time with us.

Jessie hung out with us at the house as well

Jessie's daughter Sis came by with baby John, whose the sweetest thing

And her daughter, the lovely Shelby, who was so excited to see her Australian relatives and tickled with the souveniers she got.

Thursday we decided to go up to an old civil war site on the Tennessee River. I drove while Mom and Chris went looking for some caches on the way there

Mom got her first find and was hooked.

We went up to the Nathan Bedford State forest, went through the museum there and took in some of the sights before heading home.

Today, Friday, we drove up to my son's house, picked up the grandkids and had a great day. Tomorrow we're taking them up to Reelfoot Lake for a picnic. It's late now though, and I'm tired, so I'll have to continue with photos and stories of the grandkids in the next day or two.

Till then...

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