LOS ANGELES AIRSHOW

Ok so the airshow was a while ago, but it took Andrew a while to post. He's a busy man, who clearly dislikes writing and will distract himself no end when I ask him to write a post. But hey, he's done it now!

Having had a very busy week just before the airshow weekend we decided that we should probably just give it a miss, but after a last minute gift of VIP tickets from some friends at church for the LA Airshow (yes VIP!) we shot down there to enjoy a couple hours of chilling and watching aircraft in the sun. I'd say that's the best kind of relaxing!

Here are a few snaps of the airshow; including some crazy pilot who threw their aircraft around and the very very patriotic Thunderbirds. They are the US Air Force's version of the RAF's Red Arrows. I'm afraid we can't say they are better than the Reds but we might be heavily biased! ;) But they did put on a good show, take a look. 

A

SURPRISE!

Some of you may have seen this picture pop up on Instagram. Hopefully you caught the significance of it. At the beginning of October Andrew and I successfully executed the best surprise plan in the world. We managed to fly back to England and arrive at our parents doorsteps and surprise them without them suspecting a thing! Seeing their faces as they opened the doors and registered that we were standing there was amazing. I genuinely couldn't believe we had pulled it off! We then got to spend a wonderful 12 days in the UK visiting family and enjoying the brilliant British weather. Lots of cold and rain. Fun!

There are lots of photos we want to share with you but currently I am swamped under the piles of washing and sorting as the house is somewhat chaotic after returning and Andrew going straight back to work. I will get onto the posts as soon as I can though, so keep your eye out!

H

THEY'RE HERE!

They're here! Yay!

It was quite an eventful drive down to get them; which included sat nav malfunctioning, a tearful phone call to Andrew, the RAF lads directing me via phone and lots of shouting at idiotic drivers. But after all that drama I finally got there and met them. Well Mum chased me down the terminal and attacked me from behind as I had walked past her!

They are settling in now and getting accustomed to the heat and the time difference. Then after a night of sleep we'll be ready to explore and see all the California has to offer. Well some of it. 

H

MACINTOSH MONDAY

As most of you will now be aware Macintosh is here in the States with us! The day he arrived I was really quite nervous about the whole proceedings as it involved dealing with paperwork at the airport cargo area and customs but in the end it went more smoothly than planned so that before we knew it we were at the nerve wracking moment of waiting for him to be brought out to us.

He was brought out still in his travel crate and once we opened the door an extremely nosey dog appeared making lots of squeaky noises. It was the first time he had been out of it since the Wednesday morning UK time, so he'd been in there about 12 hours. He had no collar on though so stopping him from running off was a little more tricky than usual. Plus we didn't really want to touch him too much because a dog who had been stuck in a confined space for 12 hours doesn't smell so great as they've been sitting in some...well... not so pleasant stuff! Yeah it wasn't great. But anyway he was happy to see us.

                 

We then had to load him and his extremely smelly travel crate into the back of Victor the Volvo and travel home. The only trouble was by that point the freeway had turned into a car park as everyone was travelling home from work. Our journey instantly became over 2 hours and meant that we became very accustomed with Mac's awful smell. Yuck! 

Since Wednesday Macintosh has had a steep learning curve of getting used to the heat overview and the crazy desert landscape. As a result he hasn't been the most active of dogs as he quickly becomes hot and sweaty. So what you tend to see is him lying around the house in various spots and positions. See...

                 

                 

                              

Occasionally you do find him laying outside in the sun. This doesn't happen too often or for too long as the concrete can get pretty hot and it tends to burn his tummy. But he's a nosey dog and loves to watch people out in the street plus he always enjoyed sunbathing in the UK, he just hasn't realised how different it is here yet! 

                                 

This weekend we have begun to see him moving around more and being a bit more cheeky as he's acclimatised. Knowing Macintosh as I do I would predict he'll be back to his liveliness pretty soon and that only means one thing...chaos!

H

WE'RE HERE!

Finally after months and months of planning and sorting we have arrived in California. It was a pretty long day as all in all we were up for over 24 hours. Getting onto the flight was fun and games in the beginning as our luggage was at its limit and Andrew's hand luggage was slightly too heavy. Apparently we have far too much technology! Once we had got through and said our emotional goodbyes we were able to settle down for a good meal before boarding.

This was our plane. 

We flew with Air New Zealand and to be honest it was the most comfortable and enjoyable flight experience we've ever had. The food was good; the two notable bits of food include chocolate and orange icecream and a scone with jam and clotted cream! The seats were comfortable and we didn't have to climb over anybody to get out. The air crew were great, all with wonderful Kiwi accents! They didn't do the Hakka but did have the craziest uniforms I've ever seen. The highlight being the men's waistcoats which said G'day on them!

Andrew and I both love flying so we really enjoyed the experience, especially looking out over the different countries. We flew with the sun so it gave us some spectacular views. The highlights for me include seeing Greenland, the Grand Canyon, the Hoover Dam and the huge desert we are about to live in! 

Here are some of the photos we took from the air of these insane places.

We have struggled to sleep so far and have a busy day ahead of information gathering and sorting. Guess I better go fill up on American pancakes before we get started! Will update you all as and when we can with what's going. Check out our Instagram feeds for more pictures too. For those of you who don't do Instagram if you look to the right of this post there are some of our Instagram photos there, click on them and you'll be able to see more. 

See you later y'all!

H

DOG WALKING

One of the reasons I love walking Macintosh around camp is because of the Red Arrows. There's nothing better than strolling around camp and hearing the roar of the planes overhead. After three years of living here they never cease to wow me with the stunts they pull off. It's awesome just being able to look out the window and watch them practise. It makes me feel quite proud of the RAF and quite proud to be British too; something I don't necessarily feel all that often. 

So today as I was walking with Macintosh we were treated to a display by a lone Red Arrow who was practising all the weaving that he does in and out of the other planes. Unfortunately I only had my iPhone with me so the photo isn't the best quality but I think it captures something of that feeling of amazement you get when in the middle of the ordinary you get this moment of brilliance. 

H

                

DEPARTURE MINUS 9 HOURS AND COUNTING!

Tomorrow at an unearthly hour I must leave home and head west again. Once again I have finally finished packing last minute with a load of help from Han, ok she did most of it. It shouldn't be that hard because after bringing so much chocolate home I didn't have much room for anything else!

Today we went for a great long walk with Mac down to the local village and Mac loved it! I'm really gona miss the lil fella. I am so impressed with how he has learnt to chill out and become slightly more obedient. That may be something to do with me being away. Hmmmm. There's no one here to feed him under the table.

It was great to see family and friends again over Christmas, even though it was a bit of a whistle stop tour but I have some funny photos to capture some of those memories. This last week was especially crazy as the some water entered the fuse box in the car. Its an odd moment having your neighbour tell you your car's going crazy. She wasn't wrong; the car looked like Herbie the beetle all the lights were flashing and the windscreen wipers were going (this only occurred when you turn the ignition off though!). Eventually after a lot of fuss it got fixed when driving to meet friends We had to have the heating on full blast!! It was hotter than Florida!!

So now I'm off to bed before we drive to the airport. I'll check in once I'm on the other side of the pond. Heres a few wintery snaps of the walk. Goodnight!

A

ARRIVED AT FORT WALTON BEACH

I have now arrived and am unpacking. I got in around 8pm local time and by the time I had found my room and sorted some food I was exhausted, as it was a 24 hour day. I saved the post for today, otherwise you would have read rubbish.

My transfer at Dallas went smoother than I expected and managed to get my luggage and myself onto the next plane. The second flight was very uneventful with just a few views of Texas before the cloud and night came in. So managed to finish my book Mr Spaceship. It was a very short book and as odd as the title suggests.

So accommodation wise I'm in a well equipped room with ensuite etc, with what looks like a pelican on top of my wardrobe. How very cool. Need a name for him i think. Any suggestions? Put them in the comments! 

Didn't get to see anything of the place as we drove around as it was dark and cloudy, which turned into rain today, think I must have brought it with me.

Will have to have a look around later. Here's some snaps of the journey.

A

Dallas, Texas. Lining up for takeoff.

FLYING

Ok so I'm stuck in the air for what seems like a lifetime, you can only watch so many movies! So here's my first post abroad, well, in mid air actually.

Today has been crazy so far, bit of a mental start with 0400 wake up and forgot that by the time I'd be near London it would be getting close to rush hour so took longer than I estimated, then heathrow airport signage is a little misleading, but found the car hire place in the end. I jogged through check in like I fly all the time snatching a croissant and toastie, which I might add where delicious. Then straight on the jet and ready for the long sit.

The lovely people next to me let me look out the window over Greenlan; that place looks amazing!!! The lady in front nearly clobbered me in the face putting her seat back but hey, as long as she's comfortable. lol. Might watch some more of Flight Map, the movie, very slow paced uneventful film about a giant plane flying over America. Old joke I know.

A