Every long journey is made of small steps...and a few big ones!

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2pm (Mpls time) Thursday, Sept 6: Janell (Blake's mom) drops us off at MSP. We give lots of hugs, a few tears, and we're off!

3pm: We get our pre-flight food and drinks at Vino Volo down in the C gates. It's lovely, and Blake and I discuss our excitement, anxieties, and gratitude for each other and our journey.

4pm: Walking through MSP, taking in the last few hours of time in our city. Getting some much needed movement before too much time on planes, multiple.

5pm: Boarding the plane from MSP to LAX. Watching the city disappear on the horizon, and settling in to watching movies on the plane.

8pm (LA time): Land at LAX and take the most labyrinthine route through what looks like a dead end, down an elevator, into queue, and onto a bus that drives us ACROSS the tarmac to the international terminal. Nothing like cross traffic being a 747 to get the heart racing!

9pm: Dinner and drinks at the Vino Volo location in LAX...could it ever possibly as been as charming and poetic as the MSP location? Something tells me no. It's not quite the same, and Blake and I gape at the spectacle of LAX.

10pm (LA time) Thursday, Sept 6: Take-off in a BIG plane, over 50 rows, seats in 3 columns of 3, a fancy business class Bar, complete with stools, teases you as you walk onto the plane. We take our seats, snuggle in, and I am asleep before the plane takes off. Blake watches movies, reads, plays games, and keeps himself busy while I sleep, and sleep, and sleep. The snacks we lovingly picked out at the co-op in Minneapolis go uneaten under the seat in front of us.

14 hours later...

5:30am (Brisbane time) Saturday, Sept 8: We land in Brisbane. Two airplane meals heavier, we make our way through customs where I am waylaid twice! First by the "auto border control" which doesn't match me in person to my passport photo because I was smiling in one and not the other, and Second because an incredibly accurate canine border "biosecurity" specialist could detect the faintest whiff of the apple I had removed from my bag and eaten 10 hours ago. All is well and we make it through!

7am: Our gracious hosts allow us to stop by with our now overwhelming amount of luggage (oh but didn't everyone tell me to pack less?) and drop it off before the previous guests had even checked out. With a breakfast recommendation and a spring in our step we head off!

Read on for Part 2: Deciphering Foreign Menus

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