Well we made it but it wasn't without it's pain. Packing is never fun in the farrow household and five weeks with in cars on the move meant a strict limit of three bags was set. I think we have done ok in not bringing too much.
The 0545 departure equated to a 0330 wake up and 0420 departure from home. All went to plan until check-in when the fact that I booked in two separate booking confused the Qantas person. Again the lounge was a highlight for the kids. I did point out the Hedland flight and that this was a contrast to my normal visits to the Lounge
Ash cloud made the trip to Sydney 30mins longer which had the next flight waiting for us and me missing out on my GST refund.
Sydney to LA was long. Kids did ok, Marie got in 4 movies with the down side being not much sleep. Then we arrived in the land of the queue's and long complex conversations that should be simple. Not a good place to be when tired. They included:
1) Plane's too big for gate so it must be towed in
2) Customs
3) Qantas lost luggage (car seats missed connection)
4) Hertz: line a. 30mins
5) Hertz: line b. 10mins
6) Hertz: car not ready 5mins
7) Subway: We made ordering a simple sandwich difficult somehow
8) Hotel: second booking of two rooms not received.
Dinner and sleep solved most of the day’s issues.