Down Under and Back...

 The last I posted, Wyoming leaves were barely still on the trees, the colors nearly faded, and we had yet another early snow storm. 

Here's a picture of the beautiful fall leaves in Denver, CO at the end of October.  I'm rather jealous of the beautiful shades of red they have in their fall foliage.  It's spectacular.  I was in Denver overnight, on route to other destinations.

Quite frankly, I do not have a bucket list.  Not a formal one, anyway...that I am mentally or physically checking off.  I like to let things happen for good as they are inspired to do so.  Nevertheless, for several years I've heard friends and family talk about cruises and how much they enjoyed them.  So, I've wondered if I wouldn't like to try it out for myself...sometime.  Then, about a year and half ago, opportunity knocked...very unexpectedly.  It was a trip Down Under...to Australia and New Zealand.  A 12 night cruise.  Well, I have to admit I'm not keen on traveling to countries where Americans are not particularly welcomed, if you know what I mean, and there seem to be so many of them!  But going to Australia and New Zealand...what could be more perfect!  My parents had traveled to Australia many, many years ago and had loved it.  This was not a destination I dreamed about or planned to visit...but it sure seemed like a fantastic opportunity, and I would be silly not to go now that I had the time!  It would be late spring in Australia...and I could leave early winter behind for a few weeks!

Jan had invited me on this trip, so I flew to San Francisco, where we met in the airport.  Then, we found our way to the international terminal and visited while we waited for the 11:30 p.m. flight from San Francisco to Sydney Australia, a non-stop 14.5 hour flight.  Oh my goodness, I'll never complain again about a 3.5 hour flight across portions of our own country.  That was one LONG flight.  Because we crossed the International Time Line, and Australia is about 18 hours ahead of where I live, something happened that I could hardly wrap my mind around: I left SFO on October 31st, and when I arrived in Sydney, it was already Nov. 2nd!!!  What?  Is that crazy?

We arrived in Sydney at 7:30 a.m., so there was no opportunity to sleep...just hit the ground running. After going through immigration and customs, we finally got out of the airport.  We were met by Jan's dear friend, Sager, and he picked us up and took us to our hotel, the InterContinental Hotel, just a few blocks from bay, where one could see the Sydney Opera House and Bay Bridge.  We had a great view. 

We met Sager's family, and later had time for a nap before getting dressed for dinner...and a show.  Yes, we had tickets that night for the last performance of "South Pacific" in the Sydney Opera House.

To be continued...