Mexican

It was time for dinner, and what better to eat in LA but Mexican, and I have been hanging out for Mexican for weeks now. So at Lakewood Mall in Long Beach we found a Mexican place to sit down and rest for awhile, they do a great Red Bull Margarita by the way, and the food was great

Shopping

Day one and the first thing we do is go shopping, a typical thing to be doing on day one of a Helen arranged holiday as some of you may be aware of :o). We started off the morning with picking up our car (must get a photo of that for you guys to see, we have a very nice Dodge, Town and Country Van), then we headed off down the road to Coco's at Manhattan Village to have breakfast, by 10am we were on the road to Target. After having a good look around we made out first purchases.

Once we finished there we were off to Galleria South Bay, I did some clothes shopping at Lane Bryant while Peter and Mike looked around at DVD stores etc.

Then we were off in the car again down the road around 5 km's to Del Amo mall, the biggest mall in America, and yes they have just made it even bigger!!!...a quick drink for lunch and we were shopping again, I did some more clothes shopping at Lane Bryant, if you hadn't already guessed it is my favourite place to shop. By 3.30pm we were looking for a Walmart to by our favourite shocks and undies, so off to Long Beach it was, found the right place and now we are all stocked up. By 5pm we had had enough of the old shopping and were now looking for food

Peter and Mike Arrive

Only 5 hours after myself Peter and Mike arrive in at LAX,

unfortunately for them they didn't have as much fun on the aircraft as I did, their flight has late taking off, the flight was very hot, and then when they got to LA they missed their slot for landing and ended up circling LA for a while, in the end they were over an hour late arriving. Coming off the aircraft with all sorts of stories, they were happy to be off the aircraft.

Marriot LAX

If you are ever in LA for the night stay at the Marriott LAX, free shuttle from the airport around the corner, the rooms are a good size, the price is really good, you book it through your travel agent in NZ and it is only $120NZ a night. There is also a free trolley bus that goes every hour from the hotel next door that takes you down to Manhattan Beach and Village. Next to Manhattan Village you will find Fry’s Electronics (www.frys.com) one of the best computer stores in the US, always our first stop when in LA, good pricing, great range of DVD’s etc.

NZ6

Well I had the best flight EVER!!! Luckily as it turns out I was put in a seat on the aircraft that ended up not being suitable for me. I had to ask the chief purser if I could be seated somewhere else, I asked very nicely, and offered to sit anywhere else. There was another guy and his partner, he was really kicking up a stink about his seating arrangements, I felt sorry for the staff on board, I however was very apologetic and said I would be happy to exchange a seat with someone else if that would be possible, and after 5+ mins he came back and said to me “grab your bag and walk to the front of the aircraft as you were meant to be there in the first place".... next thing I ended up in sleeper class. Yes that is right I got the best deal ever, 5 course meal with real china plates, metal knifes and forks, a bed to sleep on, a power point for my laptop, a table big enough to fit 4 laptops on and more room than even I knew what to do with.

See below for a little video I took of the seat converting from my bed to my seat. I came off the flight feeling like I never sat on a flight for 12 hours, the best way to fly. If you have a chance on a long flight, go business class it is so worth it!!!...not sure I want to know what the price would have been however.



Arriving at LAX was pretty good I was second off the aircraft, and that meant second in the queue through customs, baggage took the most time to come, so from landing to getting to the hotel was 1 hour, not bad for LAX.

The Journey has begun

I can't believe it, I have done the first leg of the trip, I have made it as far at Auckland hehehehehe. I can't believe how busy things are, Wellington was so busy Dad and I had trouble finding a table, the queue for International check-in was almost out the door. I then arrived in Auckland only to find the same thing, I guess loads of people travel at this time of the year. Mike and Peter are on a later flight than me so I am flying solo for this part of the trip, time seems to slow when it is just yourself. Luckily for me Auckland airport has a area with tables setup so that you can sit and plug your laptop in to get power, that makes the time go a bit quicker.

The amount of people running for there flights is rather funny the things you get to sit and look at, glad it isn't me!!! I still have 2 hours and they haven't even posted my gate number yet. Well I guess that is it from me for now, next stop LAX.

One More Sleep

Well the packing has finally started, both Mike and I have got our suite cases out of the storage room and have started to pack, the bedroom now looks like a wreck.

I was just checking the weather for the locations we are going to over the next week or so and it is looking very very cold in some places, better pack that winter jacket, gloves, and hat of mine

 

Anaheim

Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday
src="new_page_1_files/image001.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1027"> 59° F | 43° F 15° C | 6° C	src="new_page_1_files/image001.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1028"> 61° F | 45° F 16° C | 7° C	src="new_page_1_files/image001.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1029"> 65° F | 46° F 18° C | 8° C	src="new_page_1_files/image002.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1030"> 67° F | 46° F 19° C | 8° C	src="new_page_1_files/image002.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1031"> 68° F | NA 20° C | NA
Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Clear	Clear

 

Laughlin

Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday
src="new_page_1_files/image001.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1034"> 54° F | 37° F 12° C | 3° C	src="new_page_1_files/image001.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1035"> 56° F | 39° F 13° C | 4° C	src="new_page_1_files/image002.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1036"> 61° F | 41° F 16° C | 5° C	src="new_page_1_files/image002.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1037"> 63° F | 42° F 17° C | 6° C	src="new_page_1_files/image002.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1038"> 59° F | NA 15° C | NA
Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Clear	Clear	Clear

 

Grand Canyon

Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday
src="new_page_1_files/image001.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1041"> 30° F | 6° F -1° C | -14° C	src="new_page_1_files/image001.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1042"> 36° F | 12° F 2° C | -11° C	src="new_page_1_files/image001.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1043"> 41° F | 18° F 5° C | -8° C	src="new_page_1_files/image002.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1044"> 40° F | 12° F 4° C | -11° C	src="new_page_1_files/image002.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1045"> 39° F | NA 4° C | NA
Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Clear	Clear

 

Page

Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday
src="new_page_1_files/image001.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1048"> 31° F | 23° F -1° C | -5° C	src="new_page_1_files/image001.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1049"> 36° F | 27° F 2° C | -3° C	src="new_page_1_files/image001.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1050"> 41° F | 28° F 5° C | -2° C	src="new_page_1_files/image001.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1051"> 36° F | 26° F 2° C | -3° C	src="new_page_1_files/image002.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1052"> 37° F | NA 3° C | NA
Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Clear

 

Monument Valley

Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday
src="new_page_1_files/image001.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1055"> 32° F | 25° F 0° C | -4° C	src="new_page_1_files/image001.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1056"> 38° F | 29° F 3° C | -2° C	src="new_page_1_files/image001.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1057"> 43° F | 29° F 6° C | -2° C	src="new_page_1_files/image001.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1058"> 40° F | 24° F 4° C | -4° C	src="new_page_1_files/image001.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1059"> 40° F | NA 4° C | NA
Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy

 

Las Vegas

Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday
src="new_page_1_files/image001.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1062"> 48° F | 28° F 9° C | -2° C	src="new_page_1_files/image001.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1063"> 51° F | 30° F 11° C | -1° C	src="new_page_1_files/image001.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1064"> 54° F | 32° F 12° C | 0° C	src="new_page_1_files/image002.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1065"> 56° F | 32° F 13° C | 0° C	src="new_page_1_files/image002.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1066"> 52° F | NA 11° C | NA
Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Clear	Clear

 

Almost there

Not long now, less than a week to go. I have spent the weekend going through the itinerary making sure we have everything, all the paperwork is now together, I have a bundle of paperwork 2 inches thick of all our reservation. The Garmin GPS has been updated with all the American maps, I have waypointed all of the locations we are to visit, hotels we are staying at, address for the family members we are visiting. So all that is now left is packing and getting on the aircraft.

A spot of last min planning

Not long now, each night Mike and I are going over our plans and finalizing the last of things here and there. Tonight was setting the route we are going to take to get up to the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, and Page.

This is Mike sitting at his laptop using the only tool made for the job Google Maps :o)

This is Mike's handy work.
Things are all coming together now. I have family in Las Vegas and Page, so we have managed to arrange meetings with them to catch up, it has been 2 years since I have seen them all, and this time we get to see other parts of the country that I haven't seen yet myself, Monument Valley and Page, AZ here we come!!!