So, this is where I am going to post about my 19 day adventure of my trip to America… this is going to form my dairy because there’s only one page in my normal diary and there’s too much to record.

So I set off 8:30am to the airport with my lovey arriving at the domestic with little fuss to get onto my flight to Sydney.  I treated myself to a business class upgrade with Qantas… what a difference 8000 points makes.  It had to have been clearly obvious that I was a first timer in business class because I was so excited I was like the first person on the plane and had to enjoy everyone walking passed me, so I busied myself in my phone.

Talk about getting good with deserving to be in business class, but I will wait to get on last next time.

I got real food on real plates and engagement from the flight attendant.  When she asked where I was off to and I told her about the Goddess Imperative she said at 10:45 in the morning “would you like some bubbles to celebrate?” gave me more food because there was spare and it formed like a mini desert thing – dried slivered strawberries with pistachios tastes YUM.  She was genuinely excited for me.

So arrived at Sydney, grabbed my bag, had to jump on the train to get to the international terminal. Made it just in time for the check in for the United flight and then bolted for the gate.  Got there, all good, settled in, pilot says all good we are leaving on time and then the internal communications in the plane doesn’t work.

So we sat in the plane for an hour until it was fixed. It was our pilots last ever flight, as he was retiring, and as I write this, I wonder if he had one of those ‘HOLY CRAP, THIS BETTER NOT MEAN WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE’  kind of moments when you have Alanis Morrisettes IRONIC song pounding away in the back of your mind.

Now, don’t get me wrong the flight was amazing. Sat with 2 other women that had the perfect meeting of people over a 13 hour flight.  The bad stuff kept coming though.  There were 5 medical emergencies on the plane, and we were over the ocean for 12 hours of the 12.37 hours we were in the air, so no stops.

I got to do my first Reiki in mid air flying over the pacific, with 300 odd other souls in the same confined space and it still worked. Tasted the yummiest red wine, had the best laughs with two American flight attendants, and got to see in very close detail what Jewish men have to do with prayers when they are travelling to the US for Yom Kippur.

At this point, I would like to declare the amazement I had coursing through my brain at what level of ritual religious folk will go to to ensure they get the rewards of what their religion says they will if they follow all the rules and regulations and do everything at the right time.

I learned that highly religious people who follow all the rules of their faith when it comes to prayers, do not follow rules on the plane with passenger safety, and also helped themselves a number of times in the catering cabins without asking, even going so far as walking passed seeing packets and tucking them into pockets.

Anyway, that’s enough of a lesson on which rules are great to follow and which rules are meh.

So, running an hour late, the nearly 13 hour flight went very fast, great company, little sleep, lots of interesting things panning out on the plane and completely amazed at the state of the plane on disembarking.

We got one of those fire truck hose downs because of the pilot retiring when we landed and paramedics – just like on TV had to come onto the plane to get the most sickest of the medical emergencies off. Action plus.

Then it was a bolt to go and get the luggage again, go through immigration and make the connecting flight. Everything has been last minute and so exciting.  My dead people kept saying to me in the morning, everything will be just in the nick of time, don’t panic, and so I didn’t.

Did I have to put positive action in place and run on a number of occasions.  YES. Was I equipped with suitable underwear for this to occur. NUP.  Was it footage for a national geographic akin to the slow motion footage of a leopard running down an infant wildebeest… my word!

Here’s the pep talk from today’s blog….there’s always a pep talk… I kept positive and in my now.  I did not once work out a strategy on what if, I just kept listening and doing the right things and everything happened just on time.  Best thing too was the immigration man at LAX was very friendly, funny and had no idea that Colorado was enjoying it’s summer by wishing me happy skiing.

So I got to see the most spectacular views flying across to Colorado and I’m sure we went over the Grand Canyon and a group of rocks that looks like big strips of bacon.  The scenery look like it was straight out of my geography text from high school.

Got to the terminal in Denver and you have to catch a train … yes a train… from disembarking point to baggage collection point.  On the way from the gate to the train there’s a big sign “tornado shelter ” … Oh yeah, Colorado gets Tornadoes. Crap.  I’ve only dreamed about tornadoes since grade 11.

Think of butterflies Manda, think of butterflies.

So got through and headed for my carousel to the biggest most amazing part of the whole trip.  Seeing Juli from head to toe in real life. It was the best thing in the world. The best thing. We had the biggest hug and then I met Juli’s partner Jase and more of the same and then her son.  These guys have been in my life for 4 years, so today was a massive day in having everything my dead people said back in September 2009 come true.

More tornado reminders with paddocks of being white golf balls for recording weather…. more butterflies this time with really big wings and golf sticks were at hand… Summer storm, flat cloud, beautiful home… skype on for call with kids… not going to make it though, time for some sleep.

Stay tuned for day 2.