I'm up and ready to go home around 6AM. After showering and breakfast, I finish packing my wheeled duffel bags. I put all but a couple of the gift items in the one new bag I bought in Cairns yesterday.
I'm not sure if you heard but yesterday a mother stabbed to death her seven children and a niece here in Cairns. First the Sydney cafe tragedy standoff and now this, has left the population of OZ just devastated. The Aussies will get through this but now they will have to start looking over their shoulder....something I know that they never thought would every happen.
I hit the airport around 10:30AM, for a 1:10 PM departure. I get to the check-in desk, weigh my bags, both cleared the under 70 lbs. international limit. But, I run into a problem my new bag's handle will not retract. It took a few people behind the counter and myself to try and pound the handle down into the bag...nada. So the broken bag gets checked in, with the handle still sticking up.
I have $50AU left so I try and find a place to unload the last few dollars and it just so happens I have one more Christmas present to buy.
The flight takes off on time as we pass over the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House for the last time. I get to be in business class again, so I have the fully flat seat that makes into a bed. Hopefully I can get some sleep on the long 15 hour flight to Los Angeles. It doesn't take but ten minutes into the flight and we are already over the Pacific Ocean. We will be over the water the entire time until we land in LA. I look at my international clock app and I'm going to try and get sleep using Oklahoma time as my gauge. That means I need to try and sleep about 6 hours into the flight, which puts it about midnight central time in the US. So at about 5 hours into the flight, I start asking for glasses of wine, for a bit of inducement. Actually, I do end up sleeping about 4 hours and that should do the trick.
We land into Los Angeles about 6AM Pacific Time and I'm doing okay. I start to go through immigration and its takes just 10 minutes with the new automated system that the airport has installed. Next, I go to pick up my baggage and it's some of the first to hit the conveyor. I walk to customs, give them my declaration document. "So, Mr. Stephenson, seems you been to a few countries along the way." Ding dong, I get sidetracked to have all my bags inspected. The inspector was very nice and actually apologized, but said since I had been to so many places, it caused an automatic inspection. He pulled out EVERYTHING in my special bag for presents. I had everything identified with a marker and its price, so it made it easy for him. He said, "seems as if you were doing some Christmas shopping while you were away?" Yep, I have four kids and nine grandkids. He looked at me and said, "You have nine grandkids?" He said what are their names? I guess this was a trick question to see if I was telling the truth. I rattled off everyones name. At that point, he happened to pull out the box of wrapped Cuban Cigars that I bought in Thailand...damn I forgot about those. He said I could go ahead re-pack everything and he walked off with the box of cigars. He had a discussion with someone at the end of the conveyor, where my bags were stripped open, came back handed me the cigars and said Merry Christmas.
I find my transfer flight baggage load area. There I hand over the two wheeled duffels...one still with the extended handle broken. I now fly to Salt Lake City, where I have a six hour layover. I spend my time in the executive suite for Delta catching up with NetFlix. The time goes by quickly and the flight to Tulsa is leaving on time.
I arrive in Tulsa where my son Bronce, daughter-in-law Robby and my sweet little red-headed grand-daughter Aly meet me in Baggage Claim. I hope she remembers me....of course she does! I'm greeted by Aly with a "PaPa" hug, which is a big squeezing hug where we both let out a big grunt. Then as was our regular routine, I count her ribs, where she gives out the most precious giggle...that I sorely missed. Oh yeah, I missed you too, Bronce and Robby. We pick up my bags and drive to Bronce's home in Collinsville. There I take his truck home since my little Lexus convertible will not hold the two humungous bags that I've brought back to the US. I drive home to Lake Skiatook, it's about midnight. I get to my lake house where I find my grandson Jaden and my mother JoAnn waiting for me.
It was a great trip, but now I'm home.
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