Los Angeles

I feel the need to release a big sigh every time I think of our time in Los Angeles last month. This was a weird trip. I’m still processing and reconciling three weeks later.

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It was quite a last-minute decision for us to book a trip to L.A. After our mini family reunion in New Zealand in January, it became apparent that Mom needed to be closer to us. So, we got the process started. We’re still in the middle of it, but a major part of it is over. We packed up Mom’s house during the 2 weeks we were there and brought her back with us to Canberra. It was so stressful and emotional.

It was overwhelming to go through her things and to find old photos and documents and to learn new information about our family. Her home in Alhambra was the longest place she’s lived – 17 years. She bought the townhouse and moved in around the same time Nicholas was born. I know she was going through some huge feelings, and we were all trying to be mindful of that while we cleaned up and packed her things.

Although we were there mostly to work, we did manage to see some friends and family, to go to the Natural History Museum, Universal Studios, Arizona for the Grand Canyon and Sedona, and The Los Angeles County Arboretum. My heart was full being with old friends whom I missed so much. It was also heart-warming to see and meet relatives from Lola’s side. I wish we could have done more things in L.A., but it was nice that we did little things like going to diners and eating American food which the kids enjoyed.

It was also a bit surreal going back to Universal Studios again since we were there just as the first case of the coronavirus was reported in L.A. We never thought we would be back there again. Many things have changed with travelling in the U.S.A. since the pandemic. We noticed a lot of travellers with (non-support) dogs in the airports and airplanes, pet relief areas and many travellers needing wheelchair assistance. A pleasant surprise was how efficient and uneventful it was to arrive at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX. Flying United Airlines across the Pacific Ocean and back was also a pleasant surprise. I woudn't mind flying them again.

Flying to Phoenix was an adventure. Travelling on Southwest Airlines was still as I remembered and not bad. The airport car rental terminal in Phoenix was a nightmare. We arrived only to wait 3 hours for a car that never arrived. The lines were massive at every car rental company counter. We finally decided to try another car company and they sent us to an off-site car rental company called Last Resort. Despite feeling so uncomfortable and anxious about using this car rental, we got an older Camry to drive straight away. It was all good in the end as we got to the amazing Grand Canyon, Sedona and back to Phoenix safely. That part of the world is still as awe-inspiring as the first time, and it was wonderful to see it again with the kids who also appreciated the beauty around them.

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Even with the dodgy car rental, all our rental cars were good as we were our accommodations thanks to Phil’s meticulous planning. We’ve missed the American breakfasts that usually come free with hotel accommodations.

Our flight home was another adventure. We flew home from LAX via San Francisco (SFO) and Brisbane (BNE). Our flight from SFO ended up being delayed 3 hours due to a computer fault. Although we enjoyed hanging out at SFO airport (good Japanese food and an outdoor airplane viewing deck), it was not fun sitting in the plane for hours. We ended up missing our connecting flight from BNE to Canberra. We were also split up and mom was put on a Qantas flight while the rest of us were on Virgin Australia. After we managed to coordinate mom’s flight time with ours, we spent a while at the Virgin lounge, enjoying the food. Mom’s Qantas flight was scheduled to leave before ours, but it was also delayed so she ended up arriving just minutes after our flight landed in Canberra. I guess it all worked out in the end.