Thank you and goodbye

I have been home for a few weeks, and have mostly sorted everything out.  All the clothes are sorted - I have a whole new summer wardrobe bought nearly entirely in the USA on my trip.  I have caught up with a few people & given them the gifts I brought back - and am very glad that so far everyone likes what I got them.  As some of you know a couple of days after I returned home I had a major family upset which has taken up a lot of my time, so I apologise to those of you I haven't caught up with yet.  Couple that with Christmas just around the corner and it has been a crazy, crazy few weeks back home.  If I don't catch up with you before Christmas, I will definitely catch up not long into the new year.  By then I would have read my blog a few times and will better recall where I have been & what I did for the 3 months I was in the USA.

I took 4791 photos & videos according to my camera and of that 4485 have been kept.  OMG!!  Now for the task of resorting them, and trying to remember what some of them are.  LOL  Lucky I have my blog to jog my memory.

I had a most amazing time on my trip.  The people I met were wonderful.  I had some interesting experiences.  And I would do it all again in less than a heartbeat.  Thank you to everyone who made my trip so memorable.  And thank you to everyone who read my blog, I hope it wasn't too boring.  

Pip :-)

LA to Auckland

Got up about 9.30am, showered & dressed, made sure everything was packed away and threw away that which I wasn't taking with me, the hotel room looked like no one was in it, except for the 5 big suitcases & 1 carry-on taking up all the room in the lounge area.

My luggage - 5 large bags & 1 carry-on.

About 11am I went down with my luggage & checked out.  The hotel stored my luggage for me as the car wasn't coming to pick me up until 4.30pm, so I had time to take a last wander down Hollywood Boulevard. And do some very last minute shopping.  LOL  Of course since it was nearly lunch time the first place I headed to was Mel's Drive In.

The Supreme Burger & 50/50 Spiked Shake.  Absolutely awesome last USA meal.

And of course a Chocolate Sundae.

Goodbye Mel's Drive In - till we meet again. :-)

Got back to the hotel about 4pm, sorted out the last wee bit of shopping I had done, then the car arrived, the valet packed my bags into the car and was pleased he got them all to fit.  LOL  Then it was off to LAX to catch my flight home.  Got to the check in counter with plenty of time to spare, checked in my luggage and was well under my weight allowance!!  Allowance is 23kg per bag times 5 bags equals 115kg, my 5 bags only weighed 110.8kg!!  I know, my first thought as well was 'I could have bought more stuff.'  LMAO  Headed over to the x-ray machine and all bags got through fine, then stood in line for security for a while - no jumping the line here, even those flying business class.  Got through security all fine, then made my way to the gate and waited for the boarding call.  Made a last phone call to Vicki (my American Mom) which helped to make the time pass.  Got onto the plane, settled in to my seat and shortly after we were on our way up into the air.  Watched a couple of movies, listened to some music and slept for part of the flight.

This looks very much like the plane I arrived in.  Hhhhhmmmm.  Well it got me here safely, it should get me home safely.

Ulrich making sure our luggage gets loaded.

Got woken up about an hour before landing for breakfast.  Got my stuff sorted, filled out the required forms and next thing you know I look out the window and there it is - New Zealand - felt rather surreal, like I hadn't been gone for very long, but at the same time felt like I had been gone for ages.

Ulrich getting a first look at his new home.

This was SO surreal - the silhouette of our plane on the clouds.

Ah, the green, green grass of home.

There it is, my home 'town', the 'big' city of Auckland.

Once we had landed I turned my phone on & got a text from my brother saying he was going to be a bit late picking me up & hoping my flight was late!  LOL  It was all good tho as I never rush off the plane.  I got off the plane, got a trolley and then waited for my luggage, and didn't have to wait long as it was some of the first bags off the plane.  I went forward & got the 1st bag, turned around & went & got the 2nd bag, I think people expected me to leave at that point but a short while later I saw my 3rd & 4th bags & got them as well, and then the looks really started as I turned around and picked up my 5th bag.  Would have been interesting to hear what people were thinking. Got my 5 bags & 1 carry-on stacked on the trolley and made my way to customs.  Got through customs all good, got a few looks of surprise but when I said "I've been away for 3 months" the looks became understanding.  Got out the arrival doors & didn't see my brother, so I headed over to McDonalds & got a milkshake and when I turned around there he was.  He pushed my bags out to the car - coz he is taller & could see over the top of them - and then it was a short drive and I was home.  Ahhhhhhhh.  Home Sweet Home.

Hollywood 2nd visit - Tuesday 13th November

Woke up about 8am, showered and then headed out to Hollywood Boulevard with G to do the last bit of souvenir shopping.  Of course I saw so much more stuff I wanted to buy, they had new t-shirts!!  But I was very, very good & only bought what I had on my list and got the one thing I REALLY wanted which was a USA magnet.  We walked along Hollywood Boulevard for a while and then headed back to the hotel about 10.30am.  G left about 11.15am to head home and I went back up to my room to update my blog, which didn't happen as I turned on the tv & watched that for a bit to relax.  The tv then did an upgrade (???) so turned itself off and I decided to rearrange some packing & re-weigh my bags using the hotel's gym scales.  After that I watched some more tv and fell asleep for an hour or so.  I did intend to go out to Mel's Drive In for dinner, but didn't make it, so I had the bag of Cheetos & box of Raisinettes I bought the other day for dinner.  Then I packed away the few things I had bought today, did some repacking, packed my 5th bag & re-weighed all 5 bags again and gave a HUGE sigh of relief as each bag was under 50lbs - some of them only by a few ounces.  I watched some more tv, updated my blog, checked facebook & emails, watched more tv and finally turned the tv off to go to sleep at 4am.

The Disney Soda Fountain & Studio Store.  This building was surrounded with scaffolding when I was first here.

A new sculpture on Hollywood Boulevard.

Warning!  Apparently this stops anyone being able to sue them if they climb on it & hurt themselves.  

Me by the Mickey Mouse star - my hands are supposed to represent mouse ears.  LOL

Me & Ulrich with Mickey Mouse outside the Disney Soda Fountain & Studio Store.

Souvenir t-shirts for dogs.  Thought about buying one for my cat but I would end up in hospital if I tried to put something like this on him.  hahahahaha

Ulrich making friends in the Frederick's of Hollywood store.

COUNTDOWN: 1 DAY UNTIL MY FLIGHT HOME - 3 DAYS UNTIL I LAND IN AUCKLAND.

Hollywood 2nd visit - Monday 12th November

Woke up about 8am, showered & then had breakfast at the hotel.  Luckily it is free coz it wasn't that good.  After breakfast I did a load of washing and then G & I headed out & about as G had a couple of places she wanted to take me, but would only tell me what one of them was.  We did a Possum Shores mission first & then we drove to another area & that was when G showed me the secret place she wouldn't tell me about - it was a little restaurant/bar place called "Pips on La Brea".  LOL  We then stopped at Farmers Market as G wanted to get some cookies & were very lucky getting a parking spot.  It was a public holiday (Veteran's Day) so there were people EVERYWHERE!!  After Farmers Market we made a quick stop at a friend of G's work to give him a birthday present and then it was on to the next place G wanted to take me - The Pleasure Chest.  After a couple of hours in the store it was off to the place I really wanted to go - Griffith Park.  It is like Central Park in New York except bigger & a whole lot more hilly.  We didn't stay for the sunset as it was getting chilly & I hadn't brought a jacket, so we headed down the hill and to my favourite place in Hollywood - Mel's Drive In - for dinner.  We then headed back to the hotel, chatted for a bit, looked at some stuff on youtube, looked at some photos, and then I spent the rest of the night sorting photos & updating my blog.  It was a good thing G was here coz I needed help recalling where we had been on what days.  I finally went to bed about 4am.

I liked Hollywood so much I decided to open my own place!!  LOL

View of LA Central from Griffith Park.

Closer view of LA Central.

I started getting artistic in my last few days.  LOL

The Hollywood sign as seen from Griffith Park.

Looking out towards the sea from Griffith Park.

Another artistic shot.

Part of the Griffith Park area.

The Griffith Park Observatory.

Sundial outside the Griffith Park Observatory.

Time according to the sundial - 4.10

Time according to my watch - 4.10 - AMAZING!!  LOL

Ulrich outside the Griffith Park Observatory.

Apparently you can hike around Griffith Park.  Didn't find out personally tho.

The start of the sunset.

AAHHHH!!  Mel's Drive In - HEAVEN!!  One of the delicious Spiked Shakes.

I will really miss this!!  Dinner - mozarella cheese sticks, chicken tenders, onion rings & crumbed zucchini with ranch dressing.  

COUNTDOWN: 2 DAYS UNTIL MY FLIGHT HOME - 4 DAYS UNTIL I LAND IN AUCKLAND.

Fullerton to Hollywood - Sunday 11th November

Let myself sleep in until 10am, then I got up, showered & dressed and continued the packing mission.  About an hour later I had packed the 3rd & 4th bags and this was when the real stress set in.  I had 1 bag that was overweight by 10lbs and I had 26.4lbs of stuff that needed to be packed.  Was I going to need a 5th bag?!?!?!  I did some research and found that it would be cheaper to post the extra stuff rather than take it on the flight as a 5th bag, BUT only if the extra stayed below 50lbs - it was the same price to post 50lbs as it was to take a 50lb 5th bag on the flight.  OK, so I just wouldn't buy anymore stuff and would have to box up & post some stuff home.  Not a problem.  G arrived at 2pm to pick me up, I checked out of the hotel and we headed to Burlington Coat Factory to return the items I didn't want.  Of course I couldn't just do that, I had to have a quick look at stuff, and in particular I wanted to see if they had the really nice dresses the store in Austin had had.  G & I could only find a few of the dresses I was looking for, we checked the Junoirs section but couldn't see anymore, however I did find a couple of other dresses.  I decided chose one of the fancy dresses from the front of the store as well & headed to the checkout, where I asked the lady if they had anymore of the fancy dresses & she told me where they were - the only place in the store G & I hadn't looked - so I went to have a quick looksie, which is never the case, and about 45 minutes later I headed to the checkout with another couple of dresses.  Well, that was the decision made then, I was going to be taking a 5th bag on the flight with me.  We then headed to the hotel in Hollywood where I would spend the last few days of my holiday.  We arrived about 6pm, checked in, got upgraded to a 2 Queen bed suite, which was lucky as G was staying for a couple of nights.  We managed to get all the bags & boxes up to the room with out incident, and I started the mission of repacking using a 5th bag.  About midnight, after much rearranging, re-weighing and sighing it was done - I had 4 bags packed and all under 50lbs.  Yay!!  Now just my main bag to go and no more buying anything.  I then started updating my blog as I realised it had been just over a week since the last update!!  I headed to bed about 2am coz my eyes were getting sore.
No pictures taken this day.

COUNTDOWN: 3 DAYS UNTIL MY FLIGHT HOME - 5 DAYS UNTIL I LAND IN AUCKLAND.

Fullerton - Fri 9th Nov & Sat 10th Nov

Friday 9th November - G arrived about 9am & we had breakfast at the hotel before we headed out for a day of shopping as there were a few things I needed to get.  We went to Wal-mart first to get me another suitcase and a couple of dvd's.  We then went to Kohl's to look at boots but they didn't have any for wide feet so I had a quick look at the clothes on sale, which turned into a long look, and G left to go & check her mail to see if the box I had posted from San Antonio had arrived, and came back to get me. We had some lunch, then went to the Disney Depot store which didn't have as much stuff as we thought it would, but I still bought a couple of items.  We then went to Best Buy to look at mobile phones & tablets, and a couple of hours later I walked out with a new tablet.  We then went to the Burlington Coat Factory to get a couple of things for a friend of mine and had to leave without trying anything on as the store closed.  Argh!!  It was ok tho as I could return the stuff that didn't fit.  G dropped me off at the hotel about 9.30pm and I went up to my room.  I tried on the stuff I had bought & sorted out what I wanted to keep & what I would return, and then I started sorting everything into piles for packing.  I went to bed about 2am.
I didn't take my camera with me so no photos this day.


COUNTDOWN: 5 DAYS UNTIL MY FLIGHT HOME - 7 DAYS UNTIL I LAND IN AUCKLAND.


Saturday 10th November - got up about 8am, did a few things on the computer, looked at the time & then rushed to have a shower & get ready - it was 9.20am & G was picking me up at 10am.  Our first stop today was a laundry so I could get some clothes washed, then we went to the 99c Store to get G's Saturday paper and then we went to Big Lots for a looksie and I found some really neat christmas stuff which I bought.  We then headed to La Brea Mall to check out a couple of shops there, and again I bought some more stuff.  As it was nearly dinner time we went over to The Cheesecake Factory and had dinner & cheesecake.  This time I had the Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake, and got a slice of the Snickers Bar Chunks & Cheesecake to take back to the hotel.  G wasn't feeling well so she dropped me off at the hotel and I went up to my room to begin the packing mission.  I got 2 suitcases packed & the 3rd half packed before I went to bed at about 4am.  Started to get stressed out about how much stuff I had bought so did not sleep very well.
I didn't take my camera with me this day, took a couple of photos with my phone but can't get them off my phone.  Will have to post them later.


COUNTDOWN: 4 DAYS UNTIL MY FLIGHT HOME - 6 DAYS UNTIL I LAND IN AUCKLAND.

Disneyland - Thursday 8th November

Got up about 8am, showered & got ready for a day, well part of a day at least, at Dsineyland.  Had breakfast at the hotel then headed off about 9.15am.  We arrived at the carpark at about 9.50am and I was amazed at how many people there were.  It was a bit overcast with some bits of sunshine and not a public holiday.  We got onto the Disneyland tram that takes you from the carpark to a part of Downtown Disney close to the entrance, we made our way towards the entrance, went through the security bag check, got our tickets then entered Disneyland at about 10.05am.  I was a bit disappointed at the entrance, I had expected it to be a WOW moment but there wasn't even a sign saying "Disneyland".  Anyway, we went through the tunnel and out on to Main Street, which is where most of the shops are.  We checked the map to decide which way to go and started to the left with "Adventureland" and watched the Tiki show, which was animatronic birds & flowers talking & singing.  It was actually quite enjoyable.  Next we went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, followed by the Haunted Mansion, on which I kept expecting spiders to jump out at me, none did tho.  We then made our way to Critter Country and went on the Winnie the Pooh ride.  When we got off the ride we saw a line of people & saw that they were lining up to have their photo taken with Tigger, so we joined the line.  We got our photo taken with Tigger, went around the corner & there was Eyeore, got a photo with Eyeore, went around the corner and there was Winnie the Pooh, who we also got a photo with.  We then headed back to the New Orleans Square and had a quick lunch before heading off to explore more of the park.  We made our way through Frontierland, didn't go on any rides here, to Fantasyland - the entrance of which is the iconic castle one sees in most of the Disneyland photos.  I went thru the Sleeping Beauty Castle which has books in glass cases which tell the story of Sleeping Beauty below dioramas depicting that part of the story.  It was quite fun actually, and I saw a little girl (about 7) dressed completely as a princess - so cute!!!  We then made our way to the Matterhorn Bobsled ride, which was fun, altho I kept sliding from side to side on my seat as we went around the corners.  After that we made our way towards the It's a Small World ride, and I got sidetracked by a face painting stand & got my face painted.  I then saw a name painting stand, so got a couple of those done, and then we got into line for the It's a Small World ride.  G was surprised that I knew the song and that I had grown up with the World of Disney on tv, just as she had.  This was probably the longest ride we went on, and it was just as I have seen on tv & in movies, except part of it was christmas themed.  I didn't get many photos as we were always moving and my camera was not being co-operative.  I did get video tho.  When we came out of the ride it was starting to drizzle and we made our way to Mickey's Toontown.  We spent quite a bit of time in the store there looking at all the merchandise, then we left and walked down the road towards Chip & Dale's Treehouse.  We then went into Mickey's house and followed the directions to his movie barn to get out photo taken.  We got our photo taken with Mickey, followed by a photo with Goofy as we left the barn.  By this time it had started actually raining, luckily I had brought my umbrella with me.  We made our way out of Toontown back to the name painting stand to pick up my items and then it was onto Tomorrowland.  By the time we got to Tomorrowland it was dark but that was ok as both the Space Mountain and Star Tours rides were inside, and both had the longest lines of all the rides we had been on.  They also weren't just a ride, they were an experience which made it all the more enjoyable.  After the Star Tours ride we made our way back to Main Street and decided not to go to Disney California Adventure as it was 6.30pm, we were a bit wet & quite tired.  So we went to the photo place to look at the photos that were taken by the Disneyland photographers, and I got 3 of them printed out.  I can access them online via a Disney website and thought I could download them, but then found out that it was $14.95 per photo (10 photos would cost $149.50) so decided not to do that.  We then made our way up Main Street looking at a few of the shops, decided not to buy anything as we would visit the Disney Depot store the next day as they would probably have cheaper stuff, and finally left the park at about 7.15pm.  We caught the tram back to the carpark & headed home.  Next to the hotel is a Denny's Restaurant so we decided to have dinner there.  G dropped me off at the hotel & headed home and I headed up to my room where I transferred, sorted & renamed photos, checked emails & facebook, skyped with my brother for an hour or so and finally headed off to bed at about 2am.

COUNTDOWN: 6 DAYS UNTIL MY FLIGHT HOME - 8 DAYS UNTIL I LAND IN AUCKLAND.