Day 1

Well the first day of this odyssey began just like I expected. I obsessed over whether or not I had packed my wallet and my electric shaver. I knew I had packed both, but I couldn't visualize them in my bags. That meant I made Colleen stop and let me dig into my bags to check. Of course, they were there, but it just proves my point. I have no business packing early. Doing so drives me crazy.

The flight to Dallas was mostly uneventful. I found it fascinating that Mikey had to fly coach class on the Domestic legs, when most of the team had flown business class the whole way, which meant first class for anything still in the states. I started in getting a little hammered, since I wasn't really looking forward to the flight in general. I don't hate to fly, and don't have an irrational fear of flying, but that hardly means I love to be in the seat of a plane. The shaking a feeling like I might drop out of the sky seems to be my biggest challenge. WHAT A COWARD! :-)

The flight to LA was interesting. It turned out that Steve was actually booked on the earlier flight, which meant he spent an extra hour in LAX while we spent it in Dallas. If not for the Admiral's Club attendant, he likely would have missed his flight. We all met back up in the Qantas lounge and tried to chill for a few hours until the flight started boarding. At least we all did make the LAX to Melbourne flight. I know that some of the folks doing setup had missed connections in LA, and I'd hate to get stuck in an airport for a day. The Melbourne flight is 15 hours. Not many of those leaving per day (I believe just the one) so missing your connection means you sit for at least the 24 hours until the next flight.

I must say that the Admiral's Club lounge is a bit inconsistent in the offering. In Dallas, we got drink coupons. In Raleigh, we had a cash bar. In LAX, we were provided a few bottles and asked to serve ourselves. A very interesting mix. Not quite sure why. I do know it should be reasonably similar across any location, but then again, Raleigh isn't exactly a bustling hub of air activity.

Well, the first day really was about the domestic legs. Left Raleigh at 2:20 ET and got onto the plane for Melbourne at 11:15 PT. That means 12 hours just crossing the states and day 2 will be full of nothing but the flight to Melbourne. I lose Thursday in the air.

I forgot to make mention of this, but I thought I'd share. Colleen's parents called to wish me a good flight the evening before I took off. I thought that was a really nice gesture. I was also tickled that her mom asked for one souvenir, and she wanted it to show up at our house 9 months from now. ROFL. I thought that was funny. We'll definitely be putting in the time. WORK, WORK, WORK!

Well, we'll see how this goes. Not sure what I'll report on Day 2, but it should be interesting.

Cheers!