A day in "Freo"

Hello all-
Unfortunately, Russ is still being bothered by the flu, so he stayed home for the day. Jan and I took off to explore some of the city. We started our day by walking to the "Round House", which is a restored jail and was the first permanent building in Freemantle. After stopping for coffee (at one of the many cafes in the area) and a croissant, we headed to the beach and set foot in the Indian Ocean! Then it was off to a number of other sites including the Freemantle prison (where the British sent their convicts and whose labor created the infrastructure of the city), the market area and the Art Museum. Lunch was at at micro brew called Little Creatures. Dave had marinated kangaroo on skewers and Jan had cooked squid with a number of spices and chilies . Very interesting indeed! Walking around the city gave us the opportunity to enjoy the different plants and trees native to the area, but now is time to give the feet a bit of a break.

Until next time mates,
D&J

Day number 2,3?????

We have been flying forever so excuse us if we have lost count of the day.  Between all the hours in the skies and the time difference, all we know is today is October 28th and we are in Perth with Russ, who is suffering from the flu.  He is trying to be a gracious host but he has the chills and I am sure he would rather just crawl in his bed which he has offered to us for the duration of our stay.  It is as windy here as it was when we left and Russ is on the seventh floor of his building so the past two/three days just seem like a dream, except Dave and I are extremely tired (even though the rest of our flights were very smooth and we did catch some zzzz's) and until minutes ago rather dirty  (we just both took a shower).  Anyway, we are hoping for better times in the next few days when we hope to take in some of the sights of Perth.  Today we did meet Russ' boss, Dirk, and the rest of his coworkers.  Those are always good people for parents to meet!

Trip off to a rough start

Thanks to J for giving everyone a quick synopsis of the mishaps at the start of our trip. I'll try to finish up the tale...... so us and an almost full bus of folks, many of whom were re-routed to O'Hare due to the many cancellations at Mitchell, are sitting on side of I-94 in a very "dead" bus. No one can believe this is happening, especially all those folks from Mitchell, who already had to deal with lots of travel issues due to the "high wind warning" that hit our area. It took over an hour for the next bus, also full of travelers to reach us. The next 20 minutes were chaotic as all us had to transfer all of the luggage to the new bus. The problem was the bus was up against the guard rail in the emergency lane. We had to climb over the rail, and carry the luggage on the rough stone and uneven terrain and then heave it back over the guard rail and into the bus. We tried to hurry the process along as we all had flights to catch. You should have seen Jan - she was haulin' more luggage that the guys!!

So, we are now on our way with a full bus load of nervous and weary travelers. We hit the airport movin' pretty fast as our timeline was short. Fortunately, the American Airlines International line was short. As we are checking in, we find that Jan's travel visa was not submitted by the travel company. Again, very fortunate for us, we found out that Australia is the only country that allows the airlines to do an online visa. It ran us $25 bucks, but at this point we were just happy to have it completed. We now could pass through security, catch our breath and head to the gate to catch the overseas flight to Brisbane.

We are on our way!!!!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

It's Jason (the favorite son-in-law).  Since Jan and Dave are somewhere over Nebraska right now (honestly I just checked), I thought I'd update everyone and let them know that yes they made the plane out of Chicago and are on their way. 

What's better is the power is back on at the house (yes, the wind knocked out the power) and that the replacement bus got to them in time (yes, the bus broke down on the way to O'hare).  I'm sure Dave tells the story better, but we can all picture Illinois traffic zooming past at 80+ mph as Dave and Jan fratically shuttle the luggage from one bus to another. 

LAX here they come!

Jason

Eve of departure

Okay now the bags are mostly packed but will be we be able to take off with off this wind?  Then on top of that, the power at our house normally goes out in wind storms.  That will not be nice for the gal staying at the house.  I do not think that was part of the plan when she agreed to house/animal sit for us.  I got gas for the generator and flashlights are on the table.  She may become very cozy with the animals quickly.  Anyway, our next entry may be from a hotel room in Chicago (the WINDY city, you may recall) or otherwise from Perth in a few days.  Time will tell.

Two days to go!

Monday morning - yikes, I better get moving as my list of "to do's" is quite lengthy. Only the cat and dog seem to be relaxed!
Dave

Three days to go

Yikes, now comes the packing.  So many weather conditions and Dad tells me to pack everything in a carry on.  What??????

Jason Sets up a Blog

We're all interested in hearing about Jan and Dave's traveling adventures, right?  Well then they should jump into the millennium and write a blog right?  I know, I know how are they going to write while they're in the middle of the outback or on top of a glacier.  Well, I'm sure they can get internet reception on a glacier.  They're putting wi-fi hot spots on roos these days as well.

I'm looking forward to it.  

Show us your wit and your love of traveling.  We're waiting!

Klex