The ChapOtto Blog...: March 2011

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Thank you Qantas for taking good care of us. Never ever ever ever thought I would say that considering who we work for. Slept like a baby, partly due to a nice tablet! Can't forget the Premium Economy seats which became our home for the past 15 hours!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Thank you Vegas!

It has been a fun filled 9 days, but looking forward to being in our own surroundings, not looking forward to the washing!!

It must be said, we have no reason not to fly QF or AA again. What a lovely experience so far. However we do have one BIG flight remaining. We had different bookings, an AA one and the QF one, the lovely lady at AA checkin (american airlines) merged our bookings and checked us all the way through to BNE. Nice to be treated like a proper passenger and not some sort of standby scum.
In 18 hours this all may change, but I am doubting it.

Boarding our MD80 now.. Yay! Havent been on one of these before .

Packing is sooo over rated!!

Mission complete, it only took 3 hours. A wee bit of a hangover may also have something to do with why it took so long. Ryan's packing technique is ummm well let's say "creative".

Time to rehydrate before the 14hr jumbo trip home... One thing on our minds.....VEGETABLES! Until then...we are off to Denny's! Oh and have to take a video of the hotel and nose bleed elevator ride.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Last night in Vegas

Well here we are... 52 floors up, about to that the Batlift to ground.. Such an ear popping nose bleed distance downward.

The wind has swung around to a northerly and the view is now somewhat "exciting". Ryan is getting ignored...not on purpose, but when you have a view of McCarran International, and aircraft quizzing past during takeoff, at eye level when they get to us, it really is a major distraction.
Don't worry Dad I will video it during daylight hours before leaving tomorrow. On average there seems to be all sorts of aircraft moving past 3 or 4 every minute.

Phantom was just brilliant. The entire theatre was renovated to depict the Paris Opera House, even the ceiling. Totally awesome!!

Time for that lift ride to the mad street below x

Shopping complete

Had to Ryan to bed for an hour as he is literally shopped out. We had to buy another bag to put the new things in, our luggage allowance might be a weee bit tight!

Might need a nanna nap myself soon as we are off to Phantom this evening. Cant wait!

Large drink...

Or little head?

LV clearance outlets...

Holy Phark! We came here last time and spent $.... Not saying the exact amount, this time we have kept the wallet in the pocket and completed a reconnaissance lap first. So now 2 hours into it. Time to try things on and spend some $$.. Conscience call... We have worked hard and rarely go shopping. Right that feels better saying that. The choices are difficult...We don't often buy "labels" but when they are dirt cheap why not!! Does Ryan go for the sexy Oakley sunnies or the Ray Ban ones which we have nick named the "Beibers". By the way JB is big here, and we love him. Anyhoo... Then there are the $25 Calvin Klein jeans... And we can't forget shoes!

Tracey - wait until you see what we have found for Caitlin, out of this world shoes!

Well lunch finished... A foot high bagel Yum! Off to spend a little x

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Balls of Steel?

Wasnt our balls we were thinking about today. We have just been on the worlds tallest thrill ride perched atop the Stratosphere, that was after going in the other two rises up there...1100ft above sea level. Beyond words right now!

Sunset over the desert!

If you look closely you can see the shadow of the Stratosphere tower...

A view from the top...

Keeping lunch down???

Stratosphere here we come. White knuckle rides, a long way up!
Hope We don't see our Denny's lunch twice!

Had fun shopping at Houdini's... More magic tricks for the kids at work!

So it's 0230...

Home now with a few vodkas under the belt. We put our life savings into a pokie.....well three bucks of it....last of the big spenders. With all the winning, Losing, Losing, winning, losing and losing it took all of 7 minutes to finally lose it. Somehow all of the bells, whistles, flashing lights made it entertaining and worth while.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Midnight in the desert

Ok so I am sitting here 52 floors above the madness, it's midnight and there is a traffic jam...only in Vegas. Maybe Kim Kardashian is in town stopping traffic, hang on nope that was last night by all accounts - visiting a frikkin lollipop shop on the strip.

Treated ourselves today and splashed out on tickets to Phantom Of The Opera on Monday evening.

I would say goodnight now, but this is Vegas baby, time to venture into the madness below!

Welcome to LV

...or "Lost Wages"...
Don't you just love the pokies in the main concourse of McCarran Intl!!

Welcome aboard Southwest 737-700

So far so good, didn't get our boy bits grabbed going through security, or the full body scan. Had my best on underneath just in case. Lucky though as the TSA folk aren't known for being attractive :)
Good airline, well organized and polite.
Sometimes the cheap option is the best one!

Thanks San Diego

It was s fun couple of days. San Diego is a beautiful city with welcoming people. The only shame is seeing the many homeless sleeping on the streets. Some are ex-servicemen/women some are a product of the GFC and had lost everything.

San Diego is a military city and it seems that the government doesn't do a good job of looking after those bold folk who have served. They don't stalk you for money, just sit quietly on the edge of the sidewalk.

Apart from that it was great to be in a city with a harbour, spring arrived finally too.

There is a lot of aviation history here, an old chap called Lindberg helped put the place on the map. Saw his aircraft yesterday - The Spirit of St Louis.

See you next time SD, now off to Las Vegas! Look out the 1cent pokies! Big spender yeah right, but the same can't be said for the designer factory shops. Maybe we will find Dad's elusive shoes there!

Don't know if the hotel has free WiFi but I am sure we will find Starbucks or Maccas. Funnily enough we haven't had any MacD's since being here, actually downtown SD doesn't have one!

Good place to come to drop a dress size!

Friday, March 4, 2011

Planes...old ones and outta space craft..

So a very patient Ryan was dragged about this building. A special exhibit of Apollo craft and artifacts from various Moon and space missions were on display...

Balboa Park San Diego

Well today the walking shoes went back on and we went for a hike to Balboa Park, a historic centerpiece of San Diego. Lovely Japanese gardens and serene setting, with low flying aircraft on final approach to SAN. I didn't mind :) and then there was the Aerospace Museum...

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Tired now!

Big day so far, time for a cuppa tea and a nanna nap. Too buggered to go to the Aerospace Museum, might be on the cards tomorrow when we hire our bicycles!

One of these things is not like the others...

But which one??
The deck crew on a carrier wear different colours depending on what job they do on the flight deck (runway / catapult) area.

Biggles

Certainly looking the part for a day flying!

USS Midway visit

Today we visited a retired US aircraft carrier, which is berthed in San Diego harbour. We were able to view everything from the engine room, Admirals quarters to the Control Tower and hangar deck.