LA, Vegas & Phoenix ..Day 16 Road trip back to LA and home :-(

[daytonababe]

I wasn't entirely sure if we were mad or just plain crazy driving 380 miles back to LAX today to catch the flight home but flight prices dictated we had to fly from LAX and the kids were already missing 12 days of school didn't think I best push my luck for more time off.

When booking flights though I did book the latest I could which was 7.40pm.

Up at 7am and finished packing, I had successfully done OCLI the night before so one less thing to do . Went and had breakfast final check of the room and we packed the car up.
DH went to check out and we left the hotel at 8.30am.

As I am sure your all aware I hate road trips with a passion the thought of 380 miles filled me with horror , but the roads were good and its far more civilised than Vegas to Phoenix so it actually passed quite quickly.

We passed some of the NASCAR haulers and Budweiser Cyldesdale haulers who were all off to Fontana for the next weekends race, I did ask if I could go too but DH didn't seem to think it a good idea.
Kids slept a little and we stopped in a Loves truckstop for a drink because yet again it was so hot.

Passed various places like the Cabazon Dinosaurs and Outlets, Coachella and the biggest wind farms I've ever seen.

Traffic slowed as we go to within 90 miles of LA, but we reached LAX around 2pm.
We were all hungry and unsure what was in the airport so we looked for food, those that's been to LAX know the area is a dump and those that haven't been well its a dump. I really didn't want to drive too far around there its awful , so we found a Mcdonalds and ate there.

Then it was time to give the car back to Dollar, surprisingly it went smoothly , we were unloaded when a man approached us asking if we needed a lift to the airport !
Seeing I was a bit startled a Dollar came over and explained it was ok they were trying a new scheme using 10 people carriers to get people back to the airport quicker.
So literally within 10 mins of arriving we were on the way to the airport.

Arriving at Terminal 4 we didn't really know where to go , Inside I spotted a sign saying American Airlines check in , so we headed there.
A employee stopped us asking if we had missed or flight or were connecting I replied no so she screamed "Well your in the wrong place".
I tried to explain We had never been there and didn't know where to go and all she would shout was " Over there".. Great so where is over there !
Patience wearing thin I asked again where to go , and she eventually said the self service kiosk.

So we headed in the other direction and came across the kiosks, It was chaos no real lines so we just grabbed the next free machine printed the boarding cards and luggage tags and attached them to the bags.

There is 2 desks with scales to get your bags weighed and dropped off, we went over to one again no real queues, the first 3 bags were all underweight the last one 2lb over and she made us re-pack (think half the passengers were re-packing! ). DH wasn't impressed but we re-packed and took the bags back and then because we have locks on our bags she wouldn't take and we had to go to the far right and watch the bags be scanned.
What a faff !

Finally bags rid off we went through security , we were selected for Pre TSA Security checks (think that's right) which basically meant we kept all our jumpers on and were told to keep phones in pockets and ipads in bags. Seemed to work ok and we were all through in seconds.

Then into the most depressing airport terminal ever, It makes East Midlands look good !
The duty free was tiny and so over priced , a few other shops and a place selling $11 burgers.

Internet was awful , we were there far too early 3 hours in there felt a lifetime

Finally it was time to board , we were in row 36 and again a new plane so plenty of leg room . Unfortunately we couldn't take off, seems the weight balance figures hadn't been done, then they gave the Pilot the ones for the wrong plane . He came over the PA system a few times and was pretty irate , finally he was given the figures and we took off at 8.30pm.

Food was Pasta or rice and chicken , breakfast muffin with a cereal bar.

Decent flight we slept most of it, I think that's the advantage of a later flight and none of us had any jet lag.

Arrived back in Heathrow at 1.30pm , customs fairly quick, got the luggage and the mini bus was waiting to take us to the car park.

Stupid car had a flat tyre , so sorted that and went on our way arriving home at 5pm .

Dumped the luggage and went to my mum's , mum had fetched Lola from the kennels earlier in the day and we were keen to get her back.
She was pleased to see us, but she was worn out from spending the last 18 days running around with 15 other dogs :-)

Upon leaving my mums DH hit a pot hole resulting in 2 broken springs and a new tyre the next day !

Can't say I was pleased to be home , but oh well.

Future plans well we're off back next year :-))

3 nights LA
10 nights Vegas (Hotel booked South Point £540)
3 nights Phoenix (Hotel booked Holiday Inn Goodyear £400)

Before then though we're off to Tenerife for a week in August.

[daytonababe]

[UncleLatch]

Ok. Glad you had another great trip!

Really looking forwards to experiencing LAX this October (not!) but hopefully the Terminal used by BA may be better (it's called optimism ).

What is it with you and cars? You seem to attract flat tyres...

[Enchanted]

LAX sounds like a nightmare! You are jinxed with cars...must feel good to have another trip booked

[daytonababe]

Originally Posted by UncleLatch

Ok. Glad you had another great trip!

Really looking forwards to experiencing LAX this October (not!) but hopefully the Terminal used by BA may be better (it's called optimism ).

What is it with you and cars? You seem to attract flat tyres...

See more...

Well I wasn't driving any of the times we had a car disaster , male drivers

I think BA go from the Tom Bradley Int Terminal which I believe is somewhat more civilised

For a very busy Int Airport its total crap though, worst I have ever been too.

Originally Posted by Enchanted

LAX sounds like a nightmare! You are jinxed with cars...must feel good to have another trip booked

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I know... and thinking about it all the cars we've had issues with were Silver maybe its the colour

[Enchanted]

Originally Posted by daytonababe

Well I wasn't driving any of the times we had a car disaster , male drivers


I know... and thinking about it all the cars we've had issues with were Silver maybe its the colour

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Never let DH drive another silver car!

[daytonababe]

Well his car is silver lol ... and I had told him I wanted a silver golf, but black is now sounding a better idea ;-)

[UncleLatch]

Originally Posted by daytonababe

Well I wasn't driving any of the times we had a car disaster , male drivers

I think BA go from the Tom Bradley Int Terminal which I believe is somewhat more civilised

For a very busy Int Airport its total crap though, worst I have ever been too.



I know... and thinking about it all the cars we've had issues with were Silver maybe its the colour

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And you've mentioned that pearl of the North, East Midlands Airport as a comparison? Now I'm worried.

Notice that I didn't rise to the male driver jibe? I think that shows real maturity and a superior intellect. Plus I couldn't think of any smart reply.

[abiknox]

Ooh I don't envy that travel day! LAX was OK when we went but maybe the staff for Virgin have a bit more patience that AA! The whole re packing thing for 2 kilos is such a nightmare too. It just doesn't make sense! Flat tyre too At least your dog was waiting for you when you got back. Always my favourite park of going home

[UncleLatch]

Originally Posted by abiknox

Ooh I don't envy that travel day! LAX was OK when we went but maybe the staff for Virgin have a bit more patience that AA! The whole re packing thing for 2 kilos is such a nightmare too. It just doesn't make sense! Flat tyre too At least your dog was waiting for you when you got back. Always my favourite park of going home

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We have a similar drive back to LAX from Las Vegas, but our flight is 9.30 in the evening, so hopefully should be fairly relaxed. Flat tyres excepted of course...