My very exciting adventure's

Seattle / Vancouver

sharonleigh — Tue, 9 Apr 2013 05:49:00 GMT

Ok so landed in Seattle home of the Pikes Place Market and CreativeLive (fellow togs will know what this is) . Checked into the motel and have to say that this is the first time that bookings.com failed me. It was an overpriced dump. However overall the Seattle experience was a good one. I took myself off on a wander and had a great time. The market is a fun place to spend time people watching. The fish market is famous for its customer service and I can see why. the way these guys and gals interact with their customers is a sight to see. I wanted to buy stuff just so they would talk to me :) within the market complex was a brewery/pub that made the best fish and chips I have ever tasted And the interior design is quite spectacular as well, makes the walls of hogs breath cafes look bland :) out back of the brewery is Post Lane where, if you saw my photographs you will have seen the gum walls...... OMG it is whole lane way with gum covered walls, and there were so many people there frantically chewing their gum just to stick it on the walls, was very funny!

After only a short stay in Seattle it was on a bus to Vancouver, the trip was a couple of hours and so much beautiful scenery along the way. Stopping at the Canadian border for customs was a bit of a pain as we had to unload the whole bus, grab our luggage and go throught the whole process before loading the bus up again and heading off on our way. I only had 12 hours in Vancouver so my impressions will be very brief. Driving into town was really pretty as the cherry blossoms were all starting bloom, snow capped mountains in the background and a nice clean city. Oh yeah and I got asked on a date by a 30 something year old guy. Lol, had to decline as I was leaving early the following morning For Fort St John.

Upper Manhattan, Central Park, Harlem....

sharonleigh — Mon, 8 Apr 2013 07:06:00 GMT

In the last post I mentioned the rubbish on the sidewalks, this does not apply on the Upper East Side (Gossip Girl fans will be familiar) . This part of Manahattan is squeaky clean and fabulous! So many stunning properties, very ornate facades with doormen in funky suits, feels like you have stepped in to a movie or a tv show, very surreal. And for those Sex in the City fans... I saw the golden doors that SJP stands in front of to hail a taxi..... So tempted to re-enact :)

Manhattan is a pretty small island that houses one of the, if not the largest population in the USA, so it's really surprising the see the size of Central Park. Probably not at its best at the end of winter but still you can see why so many New Yorkers like to spend time there. lots of running tracks and park benches to hang out on. Squirrels scurry about the park, horse drawn carriages and pedicabs aplenty to tour you around.

The hop on hop off tour buses are the best idea ever.... Only about $40 and valid for a few days and you can travel all over NYC . Last post was about lower manhattan, this time I am touring around upper manhattan, Lincoln Square, Upper West Side (lots of celebs have homes here over looking Central Park ) , Harlem (so much musical history here), and the Guggenheim Museum.

Prior to coming to New York I was so looking forward to visiting the Huggenheim, with works of the greats on display Picasso, Matisse , Lautrec etc etc. wandering around the museum I learnt that I clearly have no appreciation of fine art. I was just not moved by much I saw.. Maybe one or two pieces grabbed my attention but not a lot else. I felt really sad when I left, but I got over it fairly quickly as I realised that I can only like what I like and bad luck to all who call me on my ignorance as I won't be loosing any sleep over it. :)

Time for another evening on broadway, this time I saw "nice work if you can get it" staring Matthew Broderick ( or Ferris Bueller and husband of SJP) . It was so good and really funny with lots of catchy tunes, I just couldn't help smiling and tapping my foot along with the music.

Photos: Seattle / Vancouver

sharonleigh — Sat, 6 Apr 2013 06:34:00 GMT

Madame Tussaud's , Lower Manhattan and Scarlett Johanssen

sharonleigh — Sat, 6 Apr 2013 05:34:00 GMT

I have always wanted to see Madam Tussaud's and now I can cross it off my list of cheesy things to do :) Upon entering the museum you are greeted by Robin Williams with his hand out ready to shake. I just kind of stopped and stared, knowing that he was wax but also expecting him to suddenly move and scare the shit out of me. And so it went on, the place was amazing and so much fun, I asked a couple of guys to take my pic with johnny depp and tried to steal the wax model but security was having none of it.

Next I went out and got on one of the top deck, hop on hop off tour busses. It was so cold up the top I had the scarf, mittens, hat, and jacket thing happening! The tour guide was amazing, very knowledgeable and she imparted information with wit and humour. I was named Australia (can't figure why) and she was New York. Whenever I got on or off the bus I always seemed to get her tour.... "hey Australia, your back again. "

First stop for me was the Empire State Building, such an elaborate foyer/lobby, I think I have uploaded a picture of it on his site. Up to 86th floor I go, step out onto the observation deck...... Holy shit, realise just how far up in the air I am and how awesome New York is, I can see the Statue of Liberty and it looks tittsy from up here. You get the choice to go to the 86th floor or for $17 extra you can go on up to the 106th floor. I went up to the 106th but to be honest I don't think it was worth the money, the observation deck is an indoor one i had to stand on my tip toes to be able to see over the window sill. The 86th is a much better view, it's outdoors (rug up) and has the viewing telescopes.

Back to the tour bus "hey Australia" "hey New York" and off we go, Madison Square Garden, Garment district, Flatiron district (that's the big building that if your looking down on it is shaped like an iron, hence the name) , East Village, Lower East Side, China Town, Little Italy, Battery Park, TriBeCa, Soho, meat packing district.

If you go to New York expecting it to be a clean place with flowers and rainbows everywhere you will be sadly disappointed. The New Yorkers don't have adequate facilities to store their household rubbish, so the sidewalks are plied high with black plastic garbage bags also keeping in mind that this is just 6 or so months after hurricane Sandy devastated New York and there is still a lot of rebuilding going on.

Racing about the theatre district trying to find a show to watch I realise I had left it a bit late to get into the ones I wanted to see that day so I decided to go "Cat on a hot tin roof" staring Scalett Johanssen. I had a great seat right in the middle about a quarter the way up the stalls. The show was great but I have to admit to falling asleep, maybe it was my big day out or just that the theatre was so warm, how embarrassment !

Photos: Canada

sharonleigh — Thu, 4 Apr 2013 06:21:00 GMT

Start spreading the news.....

sharonleigh — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 04:46:00 GMT

Yay me, I grab my luggage and drag it onto the street to hail a cab... Fun task itself, Cab stops in the middle of the traffic, pops the boot, driver hops out and runs around the back, all cars behind start beeping horns ( they love to do that here) , driver looks at my bag says " is that heavy" me "yes" , driver " you put in yourself, I am sick " fine fella, just think how big your tip will be. Poor man really is sick, snuffling and coughing all over the place, I wind down the back window with the hope of letting any bugs escape :) Driver tells me how hard it will be for him to drop me at my motel because there is so much traffic in Times Square ... I am thinking to myself, there's so much traffic every freaking where dude! The man is a maniac,maybe because he is sick... But no everyone drives this way. We do a deal he gets me as close as he can (because my bags are heavy) and I will still tip him, not entirely sure I made a friend there but he did alright, I only had to walk a couple of blocks. When I get to my motel, I see what he means...... Huge constructions happening and traffic is nasty, even bloody walking is nasty.. But in a fun kind of way. Picture this.... Me 2 suitcases on wheels walking along busy crazy Times Square foot traffic, stopping every few steps to gawp up at all that was going on.... The energy here is electric and awesome!!!!! Tell myself to focus, get to motel, check in, dump bags, bolt back out the front door into it all..... 7th Ave, right next door to my motel...amazed! If you saw the video i posted on Facebook that was from 7th.

That first night all I did was walk around and look at everything.... There is so much to look at and I am the original hayseed, jaw dropping at every opportunity . It's quite a bizarre feeling that I am actually in New York , it's about midnight and its not scary at all, at least not in Times Square, there are many people about and it seems as if it will never stop. As if all the bright lights aren't enough the sounds and smells are incredible too. Sirens, car horns, hawkers, street musicians, hot dog vendors, giant pretzels.... For anyone who has never visited New York before , I highly recommend Times Square as the first port of call its easier to get your bearings and from there you can work out all the things you want to see. The hop on hop off busses take you all over manhattan and Brooklyn , but I will tell you more about that next time

xxx

Providence to New York

sharonleigh — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 00:40:00 GMT

Now we head to New York , scardy and excited. I have longed to see the big apple for as long as I can remember. The train trip will take about 4 hours and to be honest the past week has shown that my travel mate and I really don't have a lot in common anymore. So 4 hours on a train together was not really an exciting prospect.

Another disclaimer: if you know me, you know I drink! This is no secret, it never has been. Don't pretend to be shocked when I do And don't try to throw it back in my face in the form of an insult. Any insults of this kind will be lost on me.

so to continue, 4 hour train trip and a bar on board. As travel mate is yet to speak to me today I suggest we go sit in the cafe carriage and have a few drinks, travel mate agrees. Finally with the icebreaker of wine we are able to converse, have some jokes. It's a good trip. But I have realised that only time we get along is either when we are out socially, ie other people around or when we drink. Otherwise it's just me listening to travel mate talk about how great / attractive / witty/ clever they are. I notice I am tip toeing around a lot and that's not what I came over here for. It's unlikely I will have the opportunity to revisit this trip and I really want to make the most of it.

Prior to flying over here I was offered advise from travel mate about where to stay in New York and was told that I wouldn't want to stay in Times Square . in the end whether throu design or misunderstanding we booked an apartment in the Lower East Side. One bed and a blow up mattress. i volunteer to take the mattress for 2 reasons, travel mate snores like a monster ( hardly any sleep for the past week can attest to this) and I knew the bed would be more comfortable for what ails. And secondly, I couldn't bear the complaining that would come with precious sleeping on the floor.

after doing a bit more research, something I should have done way before this time, i agree. I decided that I really did want to stay in Times Square and be close to all the tourist cheesy that NYC has to offer. So I made my move, quite nervous at first as my travel buddy had been to New York several times before and knew what was what. when asked what my plans were and if I still wanted to do stuff with my travel mate, I had to respond that I was unsure, I felt we had nothing in common......ie buddy sleeps all day, I read quietly trying not to wake the angry tiger, travel mate tries insulting me constantly with barbs about how I probably shop at target and that i have no vanity and "obviously don't care how I look" whilst not insulted at all, I do shop at target and really don't give a rats ass about what other people think of my lack of fashion sense. When I respond to barbs along the lines of princess, pretentious etc I don't get spoken to for a whole day. While the lack of me me me me me conversation is bliss is does make for an uncomfortable time together. I also mentioned the mood swings were very confusing...... Big mistake apparently, that opened me up for a round of vicious attacks via Facebook , txt, email. I admit my responses where equally vicious as I am unable to keep my gob shut for any great length of time. In hindsight I should have kept the trap shut and just sucked it up unit I got the nearly $2k I am owed from this person.

now some of you are probably thinking that its inappropriate of me to post about this here, you may be right but I would like to assure you that what I have posted here is only the fluff on the top, I could go on for days with this topic. I won't :) but I have found it therapeutic to jot the basics down, am more able to deal with having to cut my trip short and reshuffle everything . Don't get me wrong, I don't blame travel mate for everything. I was totally stupid allowing someone else to do my thinking for me simply because they happen to live in the country I am visiting.

lessons learnt: research trip in full before heading off, not only the places to visit but also the things to see when you get there. Stick to the plan, sure deviations happen along the way but make sure they are your deviations. Choose a travel mate wisely, if not prepare to be on your own. (Luckily after discussing my trip with my best pal Mike, I was prepared to go it alone in need before I left home.... I just didn't expect it to be in NYC lol) biggest lesson and probably the saddest for me Is ......NEVER LEND ANYONE MONEY on your trip.

okay enough of the crap for now, next post will be heaps of fun and about my time since I headed off alone in the big apple.... And rest assured I have had so much fun :)))

Providence, Rhode Island

sharonleigh — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 00:31:00 GMT

We caught the train to Providence from Boston, was only a half hour ride but did allow for some views of the surrounding country side. Being winter the trees are bare except for a light covering of snow. The colours were pretty cool even without the leaves it reminded me of autumn, burnt orange, yellow really rustic looking.

although only there for less than 24 hours or so, Providence looked to be a nice place. The people were very friendly and really helpful with directions etc. I was really sad the learn that The Barkery ( from the Tv show) was actually a dog wash and pet grooming place and not Joanies Barkery. The bed and breakfast we stayed at was awesome.... With the exception of millions of stairs and no lift. Took me quite a few rest stops on each floor before I made it to my room at the top, but it was worth it! I loved my room, the big fluffy bed was like a cloud, cosy chairs to curl up and watch out the window. It snowed overnight, so I got up early and curled up in the chair next to the window just dozing and relaxing.

I wandered down to the shopping centre the night before in search of food, I had realised that I had not eaten at all that day. My travel mate however managed to get herself something before we boarded the train and munched away happily beside me As we travelled. I found a great bar and grill and ordered the yummiest steak and veg. Had a few drinks and chatted away with some of the locals, then i took myself off to have a wander around a look about.

Great place, I have posted a few pics xxxxx

next stop New York

Photos: New York

sharonleigh — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 03:26:00 GMT

Photos: Providence

sharonleigh — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 03:13:00 GMT

Boston

sharonleigh — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 23:13:00 GMT

I'm having breakfast at a wonderful bed and breakfast in Providence with a view of a recent snowfall outside and having just eaten the lightest fluffiest pancakes I have ever had and I am trying my best to recall Boston to tell you about . Those who know me understand the way my memory works (not well)

So maybe I will start with arriving at the airport. All went well, collected luggage and followed the signs outside to the taxi queue. It was huge and looked to go on forever, it was one of lines that you had to keep trying to peek to the front to see if you actually in right line! Once I was satisfied that this was indeed the taxi line I settled into the shuffle shuffle stop, shuffle shuffle stop, routine. There was this guy behind me who clearly to all around was very important and didn't cope well with having to share his time with us mere mortals. I felt embarrassed for him but it was wasted on him, every time someone jumped into a taxi at the front of the queue he would scream "alright let's go, let's go" at the top of his very loud lungs. as I was contemplating butting my fist in his very large mouth a braver and tougher looking dude told him to shut the hell up. i think he actually shit himself and he did shut up for a few minutes! My taxi driver was hilarious, entertaining me all the way to the hotel with his accents.. "No one drinks fosters in Australia " he told me in a very exaggerated Aussie accent..... The accent might have been crap but the statement was spot on. Once settled into my fancy room at the Hilton (thanks to my kind new friends) I kicked back with a glass of vodka and tonic to watch tv and await the arrival of the travel buddy. Her initial flight that day had been cancelled and she was on a later one and expected to arrive around midnightish ( my word and yes if I wrote it, it is a word). Suffice to say the reunion went on till the early hours of the morning and involved us running about in our pj's to all the vending machines looking for something to mix with our vodka. Our checkout time was 1.00 the next day and when we woke at 2.30 there was a bit of a rush to get packed dressed and out of there.

we relocated to our longer term residence for the duration of our Boston stay, an ok sort of motel practically next to Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Red Sox. Unfortunately it's not baseball season so we didn't get to experience Americas favourite pastime.

What I saw of Boston ( and I believe I saw a bit whilst hunting the illusive St Paddys parade ) I loved it... A city not unlike Melbourne to my mind but without the smog. Lots of bars, cafes and mostly friendly people although not as friendly as me apparently after lots of bourbon at Barney Fannings pub. my time in Boston was actually colder than my time in anchorage, when that wind picks up it is so damn cold even I had to pull on the scarf and mittens.

so all the things I was going to see in Boston ...... Cheers Pub, where everyone knows your name (I think I achieved that at Barney Fannings), Boston tea party (not a damn tea party at all, I am so ignorant about history) and the St Paddys day parade (parade? What parade) may not have been achieved but I still had an amazing time and met some cool peeps, Lori and Dan, Joe the barman and the cute guy who's girlfriend didn't like me trying to drag him over over to meet my travel buddy.

Until next time Boston, I will try so hard to come back

Photos: Boston

sharonleigh — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 23:03:00 GMT

Big fluffy snowflakes

sharonleigh — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 07:02:00 GMT

After the dog sled tour I went to watch a junior ice hockey game with a great couple I met on the tour (Elaina and John) . Their son was playing in the tournament which is what bought them to Anchorage. I tell you, those kids may have only been 15 and 16 years old but they sure didn't hold back. They were so fast and rough on the ice, slamming each other into the glass walls like nothing I have seen before. How they managed to stay upright on the skates is a talent that impressed me no end. That evening John "conveniently" had a business call to make while Elaina and I took in a show at the performing arts centre. It was a70's music show performed by the anchorage orchestra and choir. So good..... We sang along to all our old favourites and elaina kept me amused with her chair dancing talents! the next morning Elaina introduced me to the Costco experience, including hotdog and cola.....and it SNOWED, nice big fat fluffy flakes ....so happy!

Sadly my new friends were leaving that night to head back home to San Jose ( for you Karen, thats San Hosay :)) and being the wonderful kind generous people they were they let me stay in their hotel room.... Very nice, I felt so spoilt :)

my time in Anchorage came to an end all to fast and I was on another plane heading to Boston to meet up with my travel buddy!

S xxxx

Anchorage Alaska

sharonleigh — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 15:22:00 GMT

Disclaimer:

This blog is coming to you from my iPad , spelling, grammar and punctuation are not a priority..... If its something ridiculous blame Apple auto correct!

Photo's will come when they do.... My eye fi card has decided it doesn't want to work anymore so transferring pics to iPad not really an option now.

I don't remember what order I do things in, if its continuity you are after, forget it!

End disclaimer :)

this is my second attempt at this post... I was nearly finished the first attempt, went to save it and damn thing shut down and I lost it all. I will try my best to recall all I had written but the way my brain works is that once I have documented something the information just leaks out of my ears and vanishes for ever.

i can't believe these are my last few hours in Alaska. It's gone really fast and I am so sad to be leaving. My first 2 days were spent just walking around familiarising myself with the city and sorting out my body clock. Average temp was 1 degree and it was mostly overcast..... Perfect for me :) I met a lady in the street who tells that it's already feeling like spring and I see people wandering about in tshirts. I haven't felt cold at all but I can tell you it's not bloody tshirt weather.

the food is an experience all to itself, so far I have sampled the Alaskan salmon and cod, very yummy. Crab omelet, not so yummy! My new addiction is a root beer floater, on its own root beer tastes like medicine but stick a great lump of ice cream in it and it tastes like medicine with icecream in it... But the flavour grows on you :)

i just missed the biggest event on the Alaskan calendar by a week, the Iditarod - the last great race on earth! It's a dog mushing race that goes for 1049 miles,crazy if you ask me but what do I know. as part of the celebrations they have the running of the reindeer in the streets, like running of the bulls but not. one of the teams is headed up by, Dallas Seavey last years winner who at the time of writing was sitting in 8th place with his dad Mitch in 2nd. It was with the Dallas Seavey tour that I went dog mushing on Saturday . I left anchorage with 6 others and our guide from salmonberry tours in the morning and we took a drive to eagle river to bein our adventure. Try first treat was to cook s'mores , if you love sugar , lots of sugar then this is for you. You cook a marshmallow over a fire put it in between some graham crackers with some chocolate and eat it like a sandwich. We had ours with Reece's peanut butter cups, one bite was plenty for gave made my teeth hurt it was so sweet. Next treat was dog sledding... I watched as they harnessed the dogs and wondered how the hell these small skinny dogs would be able to drag me around the snow, as it was then explained to us that these were Alaskan huskies which is apparently the polite term for mutt. The Siberian husky and the Alaskan malamute ae used for carting freight, they aren't good for racing as they are too big, it's like comparing the weight lifter to the marathon runner. We are 2 to a sled and off we go (they don't say mush, and when asked they laughed and said they don't know anyone who does either"

it was brilliant, the scenery was amazing and the funniest thing was when the dogs poop, they are trained to do it on the run, it was only funny for a few seconds though as the smell rose up after we ran over it.

I was so relaxed and enjoying the view until our musher very kindly reminded me that we were sledding on a frozen river.

I don't know how long we went for but it seemed to go so fast and next thing we were rounding the corner and back to the meet place. Treat number 3 was snow shoeing..... Picture the big tennis rackets on your feet then forget that image. Snow shoes have come along way over the years. Sleek design with really sharp pointy bits on the bottom. At first it was so funny trying to walk in them, I kept standing on my own shoes and nearly face planting but then without even realising it you settle into a rhythm walking along laughing and talking to the guide and the rest of the group. Then with the sound of a big crunch underfoot you remember you are on a frozen river. I shit myself as we watch the guide get down on his knees and dig the snow out from the river and puncha big hole in the ice....... Phew it was just a thin top layer, underneath there is a great big thickness of ice covering the water underneath. Still I had images of my demise firmly implanted in the brain!

ok they are calling my plane to board, guess I will have to fill you in on the rest later

-S-

Photos: Anchorage from the iPod

sharonleigh — Fri, 8 Mar 2013 15:19:00 GMT

Finally Wednesday is over!

sharonleigh — Thu, 7 Mar 2013 15:36:00 GMT

After so many hours of Wednesday I was happy to arrive in anchorage at about 1am on Thursday morning. I fell on to the bed face first and slept right through until lunch time.... Had to yell at housekeeping to go away twice.... I forgot to put up the do not disturb sign...my bad!

Once up and about I was like a hungry bear in search of food. There is a place here called "snow city cafe" the best buttermilk pancakes ever!

One thing I learnt today.... I talk too fast..... Have to really slow it down to be understood :) and apparently I am not loud enough. I know a few ( ok more than a few) people who would strongly disagree on that point.

I am a time traveller

sharonleigh — Wed, 6 Mar 2013 14:48:00 GMT

I left Sydney at 3pm on the 6th March and arrive in LA at 7am on the same day....pretty cool hey?

So I thought I was getting obstacles thrown in my way..... You may wonder what happened to my travel buddy? And why I am still here alone! She has had a plethora of obstacles dumped in front of her ( good word that plethora) from hassles with removalists, car problems, driving 15 hors a day to try make the dead line then not being able to find suitable accommodation for her baby boy (read giant human sized dog) . Hopefully things fall into place and she will join me on Sunday. But I want to send her a great big hug xxxx

and guess what? It was cloudy and overcast in LA.....

Time to go.......

sharonleigh — Wed, 6 Mar 2013 14:29:00 GMT

Hi there from downtown Anchorage.
Been an interesting trip so far, lots going wrong but am not letting it get me down nor am I panicking . I figure its just best to go with the flow.

I think losing the key to my locked luggage before I went to albury airport kind of set the theme :)
Once key was located (in the driveway) I settled in for a little wait for my flight to Sydney, plane was of course late but that didn't effect my connection thankfully. Sydney airport being what it is was the same as always, messy! Arrive at one terminal, navigate way through car park etc to other terminal to locate shuttle bus to go to international terminal. Compared to Sydney LAX is a dream. Forget any concerns you have about LAX it's well signed and easy to navigate...... We could learn a bit from them as to how to set up an airport :)

So finally I am aboard the big bird headed for the states... Wahoo! Still feeling a bit flat and off from my ear & throat infection the week before I wasn't really in the mood to take advantage of the free alkie...... Gasp shock, I know! I watched a couple of movies, wriggled about a lot, thankfully I had an empty seat next to me so I wasn't bothering anyone. With about 2 hours to go I started feeling really off, nausea, clammy, dizzy..... I let the crew know I wasn't feeling well and went and sat in their little area and sucked on oxygen for a while. One of the passengers nearby was a cardiology doc and checked me out, said my blood pressure dropping suddenly is what caused it. Feeling a lot better I head back to my seat to watch another movie, when bang hits me again .... I was so sure I was going to pass out.....but the crew were awesome and I spent the rest of the trip on the oxygen. Doc reckons that the old bod was just a bit weak from the previous infection etc etc. . Anyway, have been a-ok since then. So there is nothing to worry about ok?

So we land in LA and I head to Southwest Airlines in terminal 2 ..... I have plenty of time so I decide to walk, it's not far and took about 10 mins.
Line up at southwest only to discover I am actually flying US airways.....terminal 7 too far to walk.... So I brave the shuttle. Bus pulls up I yell " you go to 7" like I heard other people do..... He says "no mam, you want the A bus" I hop on A bus and made it plenty of time to the correct airline..
Guess what, my plane is delayed, which means I will miss my connecting flight to anchorage. Staying very calm, cos not wanting to end up on stupid tv show that shows angry passengers yelling stupid things at airline staff. So they were very helpful, put me on a united flight to Phoenix then I will make the connection US airlines to anchorage. Yay right? Not right. Find my way to united terminal go to check in..... "You not booked mam" ho hum... Fiddle about a bit more and end up with boarding pass.... Go to hop on plane... " you not booked mam" more fiddling with the rest of passengers in line behind me awaiting to board.... Very embarrassed!
Made it to Phoenix, thinks to self "better check I am actually booked on this flight" even though I hold boarding pass in my hot little hand. Sure enough, "you not booked mam" fiddle fiddle type type whisper whisper, must find her a seat is last flight to anchorage.
By this time I have been awake 30 odd hours and pretty delirious... I offer to sit on the wing! They not think me funny.

Longest Wednesday ever, I step into the taxi at anchorage airport and say "is it Thursday yet?

Qantas = 1 US Airlines =nil United airlines = nil

Love shazi