Tuesday 27th April, 2010

Today we are scheduled to leave Las Vegas and fly to Jacksonville, Florida to meet up with our friends Jim and Bette.

Tue April 27 South West Airlines 0131
Depart LAS VEGAS NV (LAS) at 9:40 AM
Arrive in JACKSONVILLE FL (JAX) at 4:55 PM

Before I go on I wish to make another comment on Vegas and in fact the USA in general. There is no litter and no graffiti! The only place in Vegas where there is litter is on the pavement just after these annoying dudes who try to hand you these cards advertising things I have little interest in - I think it may be strip shows but as I said I have no interest in what it is. These dudes click these cards together and thrust them at you as you pass, I gather some people take them and then drop them immediately and that creates a minor issue. Personally I would like to tell these dudes with the cards to shove it wear it hurts but this is the USA and you never know what these people might have in their pocket.

Anyway, Australia could learn a lot from the USA in relation to litter and graffiti - there just isn't a lot here.
Our flight arrived on time and Rayls and I managed seats together. Over the wing, but together. I think we left a few minutes late. You could see the Vegas strip as clear as a bell as we taxied to the runway but once you take off there really is not a lot to see out the window. It’s pretty barren out there.

The flight attendants on South West flights are pretty cool, much joking and fun, even through the safety talk. Had us all laughing. I might add the person sitting on the aisle seat never said a word through the entire flight much to Rayls' relief - no scared stiff passenger to ease through the flight.

It took just a few minutes short of 4 hours to make it to Jacksonville and the flight was pretty uneventful.
Upon landing, it was 7 hours later - Florida is 3 hours ahead of Vegas time. Nice airport, small by US standards but bigger than Perth.

We got our luggage and encountered problem number 1. Apparently I was supposed to call our friend Jim when we were ready but I don't recall that. Luckily Jim and Bette are well aware of my memory problems and soon after we walked out of the terminus there they were. There was quick hugs and handshakes as we loaded the car - the security dude was on his way and then we were off. I expected a concrete jungle out there but it was all very open, almost rural.

It is good to see Jim and Bette again; they are good people (Jim's reads this blog). It has been 2 years since we were last together and the laughs started pretty well as soon as we got in the car.

We were soon at a Cracker Barrel for dinner - love those restaurants. We were served by a lovely lady who suffered from much banter around the table. She was led to believe that Jim and I were married and played along. Nice time, good food.

Then we drove from Jacksonville around 50 miles to St Augustine where we did a 'nickle' tour of the town. It is arguably the oldest town in the USA. We even had time to stop at a Sonic Restaurant for desert. I was the only one to have one, a nice banana split - yum.

Just as it was getting dark we ended up at the house which is part of a complex for oldies, so we fit right in. Nice spot with a lake 10 metres from the house - this lake has alligators in it!

We aren't here long and hit the road on Thursday but we still unpacked, managed a load of washing and we all chatted some more before the wall hit me big time and I had to go to bed. It was actually raining a bit as I lay in bed that was nice, I think - it only took a few seconds and I was gone.

As usual I only managed a few hours sleep before I was up again, kind of good as it has allowed me to sit in bed and update this blog.

Today is the Kennedy Space Centre (OK Center) which is around 100 miles away - when the space shuttle launches they can see it from the back yard here in St Augustine. Of course I wouldn't see it, no way am I going out there with alligators in the lake.

Till later!