August 31 by Lachlan

The day comes when we finally go to America! We have been planning this holiday for two years and it had finally come. We set our alarm clocks for seven am, but Dad and I, because of the immense excitement, woke up at around five or so. Because of this early morning, Dad, Elliott, and I, got prepared far earlier then expected, and had to wait, possibly for one of the longest, drawn-out hours, of our life. But finally, the time came, when Pop came to pick us up. We said our last goodbyes to the house, and hopped in the car. Traffic, luckily, was not absolutely horrific, and we managed to get to the airport, to get through customs, and immigration, with two hours to spare! We spent that time relaxing in the QANTAS club, enjoying the free WiFi and food. At twelve ten, the speaker announced that all passengers on the flight to L.A, should make their way over to the terminal, and prepare to board the A380. We made our way over to the large terminal, with other expectant travellers, business, men, and whoever else was there. First, premium economy, business class, and first class boarded first, and then economy (us) was allowed on. We made our way over to our booked seats, and sat in our pre designated spots (Elliott immediately claiming the window seat.) The crew took us through the safety procedures, and then it was time for take off. The plane navigated towards the run, way, and soon enough, it was lift off! The plane climbed steadily up into the sky and above the clouds. The plane flight was reasonably uneventful, and we spent our time watching in-flight movies. Due to moving through different time zones, it got dark at about four pm. We continued to watch movies till about, eight pm, and then we decided it was probably time to get some shuteye. Sleeping was very hard, and uncomfortable, and ended up being a very sleepless night, evening with the extra comfort of plane pillows. I don’t know how the others went, but looking at the hours of sleeps in the day, I would say that they didn’t get the perfect sleep either. Eventually, we arrived at L.A airport, very tired and jetlagged. But that was not the only plane flight, at the airport, we had to transfer to a 737 American Airlines plane. We quickly went through customs, and immigration, and had a quick bit of lunch at the terminal, and then we went on the plane. The landscape underneath the plane’s wake was very picturesque. The desert ranges of America were below. Iconic features of cliffs, and even the Grand Canyon, entertained me. (Elliott and Dad were asleep, because of jetlag.) We arrived at Chicago, at about six o-clock pm, and made our way through the airport to the baggage claims. The baggage claims were very, very slow at getting bags out. Once we had claimed our baggage, we exited the airport, and found our booked driver waiting for us. The driver drove us to Marriott residence inns, and dropped us off. But when we to the check-in, the receptionist said that there was a pipe burst in our room, and said that we had to find a different hotel to say at. Eventually, they found us a place called Majestic Hotels. They organised a taxi to pick us up, and we went into it. We arrived at Majestic Hotels, and we were told that there was only one room available, with only one queen bed! We ordered pizza as we arrived in our room, and as we waited, we watched a game of NFL. The pizza arrived, and because we were so hungry, we managed to almost eat one small sized pizza each! We settled down to sleep in the queen bed after this.