Leaving on a jet plane….

For my friends….

I am off to the USA and Canada for three and half weeks, with some definite plans and some very open windows of opportunity while I am away.

Departure from Perth for Salt Lake City: (Jul 25 – Jul 29)

I am leaving Perth at 5:55am on Wednesday 25 July 2012 – domestic to Sydney and then International to LAX.  It’s a hoot – right after LAX, I fly to Salt Lake City.(SLC)  According to the itinerary given to me by my travel agent, I actually leave for SLC thirty minutes before I have left SYD.  Which means if the clock told the truth I would be flying 23 and one half hours between Sydney and LAX.  In fact, it is actually only a fourteen hour trip and almost a full twenty four hours from PER  to SLC.

So, my first social time in the ground is when I arrive in SLC at 16.01 (4 in the afternoon) on Wednesday 25th July 2012.

I am meeting great friends from Twitter and Facebook; going to a Neil Diamond concert; trading in my Amtrak voucher for a real train ticket and getting to know something about life in Salt Lake City.

Back to Florida  (Jul 30 – Aug 2)

On Monday 30th July, it’s an early departure from SLC for Florida (via a short stop in Atlanta) and I arrive in Miami around 3:30pm.  My plans are to do at tour of the Everglades – because I missed out on that last time. Otherwise, I am planning to just walk, take photos and meet good friends from my last trip to Miami a year ago.

and on to Burlington, NC. (Aug 3 and 4)

I have two and a half days before I fly out of Miami on Thur 2nd August at 4.30pm to stay with a good friend in Burlington,NC.  It’s a short stop over in Altanta, before arriving just after 8:30 at Raleigh Durham.

Friday Aug 3 and Sat Aug 4 – who knows what we will get up to, with those Southern Ladies?  LOL.

Pardon me boy, is this the Chattanooga Choo Choo? (Aug 5)

On Sun 5th, at 9:00am, it’s on the train, headed for New York.  This time, I will get on at the front of the train, not the back! It’s a full twelve hour trip to New York but not arriving at JFK and taking two hours to get into town is an advantage.  It will be just a short trip from Penn Station to my hotel!

New York! New New York! (Aug 5 – 7)

Into bed earlish on Sun 5th, with two whole days to wander around in New York on Monday and Tuesday – definitely must get to Central Park and it’s fabulous museums and galleries this time – or maybe the Bronx Z00.  Not sure, yet -except that I am having lunch on one of those two days with an online friend of long standing – whom I have not yet in the offline world.

Canada calling….. (Aug 8 – 13)

Wed 8th August is my Mum and Dad’s anniversary – their 70th.  Last time I was in Canada, last year, I was there on Mother’s Day.  It’s early out of bed and out to JFK to fly up to Toronto to meet Colin and Pauline at lunch time and to stay for a nearly a week.  There will be fishing and swimming up at the lake; walking on a glass platform around the top of a new building and, if I play my cards right, I will get to see the new Van Gogh exhibition in Toronto or / an meet a couple of writers in Toronto.  Since I am leaving Toronto on Tue August 14, for San Francisco, at 6:30am (which means being at the airport around 4:00am), it will be taxi departure for sure!

Redwoods and bugs (Aug 14 – 16)

A San Francisco arrival at 10:30 on Tue Aug 14, I am hoping to go straight out of the city into the redwoods with some new Facebook friends (an opera singer and her etymologist husband) who have offered to show me some awesome ancient trees and bugs that live in and around them.   Because I am leaving San Francisco on Thu Aug 16, at almost 7:00pm to come home to Australia, it means being at the airport by 4:00pm – so, there will not be time for much more sightseeing than seeing the sequoia.  If that doesn’t fit their schedule, there is still a lot in San Francisco that I did not see last time.

I still call Australia home…. (Aug 16 – 18)

Flying out of San Francisco on Thur Aug 16 and headed for the International Date Line, I lose a day on the calendar in a trip that will take just over 24 hours to complete.

Communications:

This time I have unlocked my phone from Telstra for the trip, so my usual mobile number will accept and send SMS messages (as long as I remember to turn off the roaming / browsing facility)

I have my iPad, which I can log on to hot spots and my Notebook – so I am more comfortable this time that my communications will be adequate with email, Facebook and Twitter.

Three and a half weeks is not long enough – but it is the best I can squeeze out of my schedule.

It’s going to be a great trip!