The trip back to the States

We just got back to Kansas City at 10:15 pm Tuesday night.  I am sitting in my bed right now trying to relax and eventually fall asleep.  It is now 2:00 am Wednesday morning.  However, my body thinks it is 5:00 pm Wednesday night.  I am very sleep deprived, but my mind will not shut off.  So, I thought I would try to clear my head by writing about our journey home.

Our plane left Sydney airport about 1:00 pm Tuesday.  The trip started pretty smoothly.  I gave Carter 2 new books by an Australian author, Andy Griffiths, on the morning of the trip.  He was super excited to read them.  We were all excited about the movie/tv show options that we got on the airplane.  This time I had anti-nausea medicine for the kids and I since we get a little queasy on the  plane.  And, we couldn't think of anything major we left at our home in Sydney.  We all kind of looked forward to sitting on the plane and being entertained for awhile.  

The odd thing about traveling from Sydney towards the US is that you gain a day since you go over the date line.  So, even though we left on 1:00 pm Tuesday, we arrived at 10:15 Tuesday night after just over 24 hours of travel.  The trip went pretty well, but it has been a long, long day.  Especially since I only slept a few hours of it and only about 2 of those being good, solid hours.  By the time the big leg of the trip was over, we were getting off the plane in LA at what our bodies told us was 3:00 am Wednesday morning.  However, it was really 9:00 am Tuesday morning in Los Angeles.

The 5 hour layover in LA was the worst part of the trip.  It took 2 hours to get our bags, get through customs, and drop our bags off again, and then get through U.S. security for the next leg.  There was one nice moment to note though.  We were fighting exhaustion and we had very little patience when going through all the lines and making sure we had all the bags and the correct paperwork.  Then, the customs agent was a really nice man that asked us a few questions about our travels.  After he looked at our passports he said "Welcome home" and I instantly teared up.   

Another nice thing I can say about LA airport was that it had a Starbucks in the terminal.  The caramel macchiato hit the spot.  And I think it does taste different in the US than in Australia.  In my opinion, the espresso tastes much stronger in Australian coffee drinks.  The American version is not so strong and the caramel tastes sweeter.  We also got some Baja California chicken nachos for lunch.  Sean and I have really been craving Mexican food, so we were in heaven.  However, I was basically worthless the rest of the time in LA; my mind felt like it was working through a fog. It is really hard to feel so tired, but yet, so anxious at the same time. 

Finally, at 3:00 pm LA time, we got to board our flight to Denver.  The kids and I cat-napped during the short flight.  We landed in Denver, got a quick bite to eat for dinner, and then got on our final flight home to Kansas City.  So, after LA, we gained 3 more hours due to time changes and a total of 4 more hours of flying before making it to KC.

It was great to see Sean's parents at the airport.  They drove 2 cars and let us load our bags in the Explorer we used to own (before we sold it back to them), and we drove ourselves home.  (Sean did fine driving on the right side of the road.)  It is so weird to be back in our old house.  It feels as though we have just been gone a few weeks instead of 6 months.  Yet, so much has happened to us in that period of 6 months.  Time is such a funny, funny thing.

Thoe family on the plane