The rest of the way

The 65th anniversary of Pearl Harbor today. Always remember.

Okay, now the rest of my trip back to the States BY MYSELF! I expect to always have company in the future.

Los Angeles to Dallas: After around 13.5 hours of flying, we came into LAX on a bright sunny Monday morning although you could see the sludge in the air over the city. It's much better than it used to be. I remember flying in and seeing a distinct brown layer over LA in 1987....haven't seen anything like that since. We got a great view of Santa Catalina Island off the coast. The landing was a rough one, we came down hard which seemed wierd since it didn't appear that you could blame the weather conditions on it. When we got to immigration, the lines were long (the Sydney flight came in just before ours) especially in the non-American line. Us US citizens had a long line ourselves to deal with but we got through immigration quickly enough, then picked up my bags much faster than the last time I was here. Breezed through customs and got my bags forwarded for me right then....wish it had been that easy back in May....that was a nightmare!

The rest was killing off time in Terminal 4 at LAX. I didn't see any movie stars (a few years ago I found myself standing next to Alec Baldwin in this same terminal) but I did overhear a fellow at the shoeshine booth telling the shoeshiner about doing a film with Robert DeNiro. He wasn't bragging and was only answering a question. In this place you never know if you're walking by a future star or a current one that you can't recognize in the real world. Eventually I went to my gate, 42A, and just layed down on the carpet and snoozed with my new Jakaru hat over my face. Then they called my flight, I boarded the 757 and settled down for the 3+ hour flight to Dallas. I slept practically the entire way, using ear plugs, eye shades, and a neck rest....I was comfortable! We came into Dallas where it was already getting dark.

Dallas to Longview to Bossier City: Had two hours to pass so I grabbed something quick at one of the food booths, then took the fast super-rail train from Terminal C to Terminal B. Then we got on one of those small SAAB turboprops (which I don't mind flying in) with about 30 other people. It was a full plane! A quick 30 minutes to Longview when Dad and Gladys picked me up and drove me back home.

My fourth trip to Oz was done! I want Jonnene with me the entire way the fifth time I go!