It's always the way. Once the party's over - the party's over. We were keen to get started on the trip home and of course the prospect of "forever" in the plane was daunting and can't believe that at some stage we had thought it was a great idea to go home via Sydney.

The morning was leisurely with even some time thrown in to make a last stop at Macys to finish off the shopping. Afterall, there was still room in the luggage for a few more treasures. It was a specialist trip with a focus on Christmas bargains to add a little taste of New York to the gift giving next December!

The big news was keeping track of Michael and Anthony as they dodged cancelled flights. The weather had changed dramatically and snow and bad weather had them in an endless loop chasing flights under standby conditions. Their mood ramped up from disappointment to frustration and eventually to outrage as they "just" missed out on a series of seats. Ended up they lost a most of a day in Vegas and at one stage were threatened that the accommodation that they had booked and PAID FOR was about to be reallocated to someone else. A definite series of sad circumstances, but they "made it" eventually.

Meanwhile, our trek had us on a flight from the west coast to the east coast followed by the Los Angeles to Sydney leg and then the flight home.

What can I say? Mac was so much better on this flight home - it was guaranteed. He had his tablets and his stockings and I topped up these certainties with an insistence that he accompany on quite a few walks to the bathroom. We had a great two seater at the back of the flight so had extra room for our stuff and our legs. The flight was made up of the normal combination of food, reading, a few drinks and some movies. But there was no joy in landing in Sydney. It was hard to believe that we were relatively soooooo very close to home - but still had one more flight to go.

Glad to be home. Of course it was accompanied by the immediate mad rush to work the washing machine on overtime. And we had the extra fun of following Michael and Anthony's adventures as they explored Las Vegas. 
What a great trip! It was just a handful of days but we combined family time in the ice and snow of Whistler and then ticked off the bucket list New Years Eve celebrations in New York. We didn't do the "overseas thing" with the kids when they were young - but it has been a treat to travel with them as adults.
Thinking maybe we can try this again - perhaps another adventure is around the corner in Europe....or South America.....or Africa.........hmmm, I wonder.