Destination Breckenridige - taxis, planes and old man moments.

The day started 'bright' and early as planned at 3am. I bounded out of bed, showered and was waiting for the cab at 3.25am. The cab that had been booked the night before for 3.30am. At 3.40am and still no cab a call to black n white revealed no one had accepted the booking and they couldn't say when or if I would be graced with a ride to the airport. Once again Sue to the rescue. She dragged herself out of bed at 3.45am and had me at the airport by 4.10am. What was I thinking, taxi at 3am are you kidding this is Perth.

So the day didn't start smooth as clockwork but it got better. Operating on 3 hours sleep, fading eyesight, advancing years, not sure which but I boarded the plan and settled into my aisle seat only to be turfed out by a peeved woman who thought I was trying to pull a fast one.
I found my correct seat squeezed in between 2 people in the middle seats and 30 minutes into the flight decided a visit to the rest room was in order. Spying the indicator up front of the cabin glowing green I extricated myself from the seat and headed in the direction of the beacon, and coincidentally the curtain to business class land. As I approached a flight attendant seemed to materialise out of nowhere and enquired 'Everything OK sir?' Hoping to put the gate keeper at ease, I said 'Yep no worries.' as I reached for and wrestled with the WC latch. 'That would be a cupboard. Washrooms are down the other end,' he offered with a wry smile. Old man moment number two I thought as I retreated.

However as the flight progressed I was heartened and entertained in a boring flight kinda way as a seemingly endless stream of people, young and old, male and female headed forward in the direction of the beckoning green light, and repeated the ritual of tugging in vain on the cupboard door and then retreating red faced when realising their error.
The rest of the flight was extremely smooth, and comfortable. The A380 was barely half full, and upgrade to extra legroom aisle seat was well worth it. Especially as it cost nothing because of an error with the qantas online booking system.

Landed in LA a little late and was given a priority pass to ensure I was whisked through customs quickly to make my connecting flight. As I was shuffled from one large queue to the next smaller queue by a bevvy of enthusiastic Latino attendants, I watched as the various queues I had previously occupied evaporated and my queue didn't move because of some Aussie backpacker with dodgy finger prints. Eventually I was last to leave the immigration hall, my priority pass firmly clutched between my fingers.

It did occur to me to call Sue, however I made my connecting flight with plenty of time.
The rest of the journey was uneventful....and this is getting too long anyway. Checked into the River Mountain Lodge which is very nicely appointed and central. Looking forward to a good nights sleep, and then hitting Peak 8 first thing in the morning.

I made it to Eric's for my much anticipated burger and beer at the bar. And just to prove it here's a photo.