OneAndOneIs2

As usual, when leaving for a long (and expensive) flight, I was feeling exceptionally paranoid that I'd forget something vital, or run out of time, or otherwise have problems. But I had passport & tickets, the presents were packed.. surely I had everything? Insurance details & the address I was staying at were all written down, and the taxi was booked for 9:30, with my flight leaving at one. More than enough time, surely..?

Sigh.

I wasn't late. I was there in time to check in, get through security, get breakfast, shop, and get bored. And then the plane was an hour late due to typical English weather

(I started using Flickr because I'm sick of uploading stuff to my blog. Yeah, I'm lazy )

Eventually, they announced loading, and all the sheeple immediately got up out of the comfy lounge seats and formed a very, very long line so that hey could get onto the small, cramped plane setas after a long wait. I sat and watched them go, then queued for thirty seconds and got onto the plane. It's not like you get better seats by getting on first...

I suppose you could say I saw my first white Christmas on this flight, only it wasn't Christmas day, and I saw it from a long way up... still, it was definitely very icy down there...

It was hard to tell when the ice gave way to rocks, due to the sunlight and other factors, but eventually we were definitely going over the Grand Canyon and some time after, we landed. After reclaiming my stuff from the carousel, I made my way out, and then had the highly entertaining task of working out what to do next. I was being collected by my brother's in-laws, whom I'd never met. And there seemed to be nobody looking for me by the gate. And my phone didn't work.

So I went looking for a payphone, but they're very primitive when it comes to phones out there. I thought it was only mobile ("cell") phones, but no, payphones too - can you believe, they don't take notes or cards? Only coins. Primitives.

Of course, I had no coins, but the information desk gave me two dollars change, and I went back to the payphones. First, phoned my brother's mobile, and his battery lasted just long enough for him to give me his in-laws' phone number. Then phoned them, and using the last quarter I had, paid enough for it to actually connect me. I was able to find out that they WERE at the airport, but they were waiting by one of the eight exits on the floor below. Hence why I hadn't seen them by the "Arrivals" gate.

So I went down and met them, and all was well. Yay.

Christmas eve was quite fun - crackers and over-sized pea shooters seemed popular with the kids that were visiting, and Christmas day was quite eventful too - after breakfast and all the presents were done, we went to the first millionaire's house I've ever been to for the obligatory turkey - and it was actually the first time I've encountered turkey that was worth eating. I didn't know there was such a thing before.

Next day we headed to the red rocks of the self-proclaimed spiritual capital of the world, Sedona. Lest the sun-drenched rocks under a clear blue sky fool you, I took a photo of a fountain crusted in ice to make the point that it was bloody cold out there.

I bought a cap to keep the low sun out of my eyes. It has "Sedona" written on the outside, and "Made in China" written on the label...

We'd been given the name of a psychic who was apparently particularly good, but when we got to the shop he works from, they said that psychics go home early in winter because they don't get many late customers. Surely, though, as a psychic, he should have known we were coming and waited for us..?

Oh well.

Dinner that evening was an example of some of those little things that the US does a lot better than the UK: The bread rolls at the start had been warmed, and the butter (mmm, whipped butter...) was room-temperature. Contrast that to the room-temperature rolls and fridge-cold butter you usually get over here.

I think it was the next day that I finally got over my jet lag, got used to the climate, and overcame the habits of living in a flat with a reclusive flatmate and being too busy to have a social life, enough to manage to remember how to be sociable again. But the highlight of the day was when we went out for "a quick drink" with some friends of my brother & sister-in-law, and I'm not convinced that I believe that the alcohol was having no effect.

Interesting lamps tho...

We went out to see the house of a famous local architect whose name I have forgotten but we were all quite impressed by. His house was in serious desert country but had cunning features such as water in front of the house so the breeze would be cooled by it, giving a kind of free air-conditioning effect. Well worth a visit if you can figure out where to go. If possible, stay for the night because apparently in the evenings this dragon, originally a water fountain, is shown off to best effect: It was plumbed into the gas lines and shoots a three-foot flame. Far more appropriate for a dragon than a waterspout!

Other things happened too - mostly shopping- but they're quite dull. Or unrepeatable :)

They do like their Christmas lights out in America - where we put a string or two in a tree, they light up the whole tree. It's very odd to see inflatable snowmen in the desert tho. Cacti with lights all over looked far more appropriate, and I saw some great chilli fairy lights :)

Paid the obligatory visit to IHOP on Saturday for breakfast - I only got a short stack, for some reason, but never mind.. IHOP's always nice to visit. Another of those things you just don't get over here.

Some of the things you can't get over THERE include proper butter - theirs is always so anemic; proper Cadbury's chocolate (Hersheys in a Cadbury wrapper just isn't right); and an accurate price for what you're buying. WHY do they insist on showing prices without bloody tax included?? Who cares how much of the price is made up of tax, I don't have the option of not paying it!! I'd rather like to know how much money I actually have to part with to buy something, if that's not too much to ask..

Ho-hum.

On the flight home, I needed an extra bag to fit my newly-bought bedding, cutlery, and peppermint patties into. My new laptop went into my carry-on bag. It's amazing how cheap stuff is in America - or, rather, how much we get ripped off in the UK. The number of products that seem to work out the pricing by "replace the $ with a £ and call it good" is unreal.. You can just about cope with that from some items that can't be cheap to transport, but Microsoft's excuse for doing it with Vista?

They're all bastards.

There's other things to say, but my RSI is flaring up, so I'm not going to.

The End.