The Gap: A Motley Crew of Goners

We had a big gap between flights in Oslo, made even bigger by the 2 hour delay of the connecting flight to Los Angeles. After  the jam-packed quality of the preceding days and weeks, it was a most welcome change to have a break, and Alex readily volunteered to fill it with his adventuresome spirit: see the bike in the background? He brought it on the train to Gardermoen, and cycled back after a nice visit!  I envied his energy, for sure, but cycling was far from my own mind!

To the right you can see what the race to the finish line did to me! I had not slept all night, so this bench at the cafe in Oslo where Alex joined us, gave me a welcome respite. When we finally did board the plane, and I had eaten my pre-ordered vegan entree while each of us watched our entertainment of choice on the individual screens (Norwegian Dreamliner), I konked out before the coffee came around; even the suspense of "Wild" couldn't keep me awake. Now I'm talking about the plane ride: I stretched out with my head on Allan's lap and feet on Max's -- which they generously allowed!

 Z

ZZ

ZZZ

ZZZZ

ZZZZZ

zzzzzzzz

zzzzzzzz

zzzzzzzz

zzzzzzzz

zzzzzzzz

zzzzzzzz

zzzzzzzz

So,finally, we arrived at LAX well into the evening, and after gathering the luggage, rode this shuttle bus to collect our rental SUV from ENTERPRISE, after midnight local time (PDT). Now it was Max's turn to nod off, exhausted from tolerating my weight throughout the loooong flight! (Still smiling, though!) 

...Especially upon being presented with a shiny black Ford Explorer, the SUV of his dreams.(Nobody but me seems to have noticed nor recall the skinny model in very high heels who presents the customers with their keys!) All we had to do was enter the address of Days Inn Fullerton -- a tad further away from the airport than we had anticipated -- into the built in GPS and it steered us through the maze of freeways 'n' highways around L.A. directly to our doorstep. 'Twas by then 1:30 A.M. Monday August 10 (Allan's birthday); here is the colorful train of bags (what remained after the long sorting and packing process described earlier) that made it with us to our destination! Exhausted, we collapsed into the beds and were lulled to sleep by the white noise produced by the air conditioning system, satisfied and content to have a string of days ahead of us with nothing planned but the joyful/stressful task of choosing a "pre-owned" vehicle, and looking forward to the drive to Boulder City and the suspense of taking over our condo come Thursday. 

Pst! Stay tuned to hear about Max up bright and early for breakfast and no feeling of grogginess - imagine that!