03/12/12

After not much sleep, Danielle and I headed off to the airport with Liz and Alyssa. Alyssa wasn't very happy when Nan & Auntie Nel got out of the car and left her behind, which was really sad, but once we got inside the terminal building it finally hit us that we were leaving and the excitement began. We checked in at VAustralia and then had a look around the shops upstairs before proceeding through customs and immigration. We then had a look around the shops downstairs and had something to eat and before we knew it, it was time to board the plane. USA here we come. It was a very uneventful flight really. We both slept the majority of the time so it went by really quickly. I had a rude awakening at one stage when one of the stewards ran into my left knee with the drinks trolley. After a lot of apologies and some ice it was ok though. Luckily it wasn't my right knee! There were a few patches of turbulence but nothing too dramatic at all. We had a lovely lady sit in between us who was really little so it was quite comfortable. We landed at LAX just after 6am (they have a 6am curfew at the airport) and it took us just over 2 hours to get through customs and immigration. There was only our flight there but it was the most thorough check I have ever been through in LAX. The family who sat opposite me on the plane went through in front of us so we chatted while we were in line so it passed by quite quickly also. After we finally got through we dropped our bags straight in at the transfer desk for our next flight then went upstairs to wait for our flight on to Phoenix. We had some breakfast at McDonalds which was absolutely horrible then looked around the couple of shops there then decided to just sit at the gate lounge. The time passed by so slowly while we were waiting here but Danielle managed to get some more sleep sitting in the chairs there. I had a bit of an upset tummy so didn't sleep but kept occupied playing some games on my ipod (still no more music) and reading in between "nodding off". We boarded our flight and left on time at 12.50pm and arriving in the terminal at Phoenix around 3.15pm (clocks forward an hour). We went on the bus and picked up our hire car and drove down to Buckeye. It doesn't even feel like I've been away!!!! We got to Buckeye around 5.15pm and met with our lovely friends Ken and Chris where we are staying. We chatted for awhile then went out to dinner at the "Native New Yorker" and had a lovely dinner a some yummy margaritas. We fell into bed around 10pm and dropped off to sleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow.

04/12/12

What a fantastic sleep. I woke up around 5.30am but managed to go back to sleep until around 7am. Danielle woke up around 7am then went back to sleep until 11am. Chris had a bit of a sleep in also, so Ken and I watched my TV then had breakfast when the others woke up. Yep breakfast at noon. We're on holidays!!!!!! Chris took us out shopping at a new outlet mall in Glendale called Tangers Outlets and we had a lovely time looking around and buying the odd bits and pieces. We then went to the Westgate Mall and had a look around there. They have a Bellargio style fountain there but a lot smaller but it is lovely to look at. They are playing Christmas songs so it's nice to just sit and watch and listen to the music. We had a look around there and saw the mechanical bull at the Saddle Ranch Chop House. We tried to talk Danielle into having a ride but she wouldn't be in on it….. another girl at a go while we were there though. We looked in on Margaritaville and had an ice cream from Cold Stone before finally heading home around 9pm. Even though we weren't really hungry, Ken hadn't eaten so Chris cooked dinner which we ate around 11pm. Danielle and I went up to our rooms around 1am and chatted for awhile before finally heading to bed. What a lovely day!