Day One

After sending off the other part of our travelling party we straightened the house, did some last minute errands and we just ready when our limo arrived to take us to the airport - yes, we decided to do it in style!!

It was the quickest, easiest, stress-free trip to the airport that I can remember - and they will be there to pick us up when we get back.

A slight hiccup at check in when they discovered we were booked on 3 flights from Atlanta to Jacksonville but that was soon sort by a very efficient Hawaiian Airlines official. A very non-eventful flight to Honolulu - 10 hours overnight of which I managed to sleep about 5 and Joe a little less. It was wonderful to feel the warm, magical air of Honolulu even though we were only there a short time and didn't manage to leave the airport. Partook of what will probably the first of many Starbucks coffees (especially travelling with Jess!!) - a soy creme brulee latte mmmmm - Laurel you are probably the only one to apppreciate this!!

The flight to LA was uneventful too. Managed to catch another couple of hours sleep and we flew in late over the Channel Islands (Jack's office Susan says) and saw the lights of Santa Barbara - sent Susan a mental kiss. LAX is the pits - such a 3rd world airport. We had to take our luggage off (already been through customs in Honolulu) and drag it on to a shuttle bus in the middle of crazy airport traffic and insufficient signage and wait until the shuttle driver announced which terminal was Delta's (terminal 6, as it turned out).

The flight to Atlanta was a 'red eye' - short and overnight. There was a strong tail wind and we did it in just over 4 hours arriving at Atlanta just after 6am but by this point I really wasn't sure what day it was. They don't serve food on the across country flights but that was okay as I slept most of the flight. Atlanta Airport is everything that LA isn't. Quiet, organised and efficient. We had to change to the next terminal which meant a ride on the Airport's own underground train system but we chose to walk instead to stretch our legs. We found our gate and decided to have breakfast at a nearby Mexican restaurant - breakfast burritos - yum.

The plane to Jacksonville was a little delayed as it had to be de-iced in NY. The pilot decided to make up time on the flight to Jacksonville so we got there quite fast - in fact they were still trying to serve us drinks when the plane starte decending!! The pilot was a lot of fun and kept coming up with humorous banter!!

As this is actually or sort of the beginning of day two I will start another blog!1