Purgatory

If hell was to resemble a place on Earth....it'd probably be LAX. As busy of an airport as it is, specifically for the international terminal, you'd think they'd have a layout and system that was more efficient.

Let me go back a few hours. So we spent most of the day tiring out the dogs at the dog park then driving around to the usual known LA places like Beverly Hills. We had the dogs with us in the van as to keep them awake but also just with us instead of in their crates since they would be in it for hours soon enough. So we get to Qantas Freight at 6 PM, I go in to do paperwork and Anthony is zip tying the food and water bowls to the crates then taking each of the kids for a final potty walk. There ends up being 8 dogs going to Melbourne so that makes us feel better especially after talking to the other owners and hearing they're as stressed as we were and the fact that one of the little dogs had already flown from New Zealand to the USA a little over a year ago and she was fine.

The whole dog process took about an hour an a half, which was about an hour longer than we had expected. Apparently they sent a newbie of an USDA person to seal the dogs in the crates and being there was an abnormally high number of dogs on this flight, she was in a bit of a panic. So after drilling holes around the crate doors, taping all sorts of required paperwork and signage on the crates, getting them weighed, then taking them around to the warehouse/dock area, we gave each of our kids a big squeeze and kiss then sealed them into the crate knowing we wouldn't see them until about 30 hours later.

We then rushed back to the hotel since we didn't think the dog sealing process was going to take so long and we still had to shower and pack up. Fortunately we made it to LAX with ample time. Of course 2 of our bags were over weight so we had to take stuff out and shove it into another bag so in the end it all gets on the plane anyways, don't know why they bother with an extra 5 lbs. So we check in, get our bags tagged, then we're told to take them about 100 feet away to where they are collecting the bags and x-raying them. So we're wondering, what would stop us from shoving more stuff into our check in bags since it was already weighed?? And to top it off, the checked bag drop off area was PACKED. The area was just stacked pull of bags that they were receiving faster than they could process. It just didn't look very efficient.

LAX is a madhouse of people but instead of trying to spread the people out, they set it up so that they have pockets of high concentrations of people. It was ridiculous to hear that there was no food places to eat once we got through security and was in the terminal area. So the food court area before the security check-in area was just overstuffed with people probably also stuck there for another 2-3 hours before their flight departs. We later found out once we got in that there was 1 place that was a sit down place that served alcohol and hot food. Thank you LAX personnel for telling me a lie.

So we're waiting to board this ginormous Airbus A380-800 where it has something like 500 seats. I believe it was just released mid-2008 so it's a rather new plane and it only flies out on the Wed flights to Melbourne, hence we are flying today.

- julie

Cali Cali Cali

So here we are, in sunny smoggy Los Angeles!! No real mishap on the way in except when I was trying to board the plane the lady said I had to either check in a bag or stuff one into the other because I had a small rolling bag, a backpack and a purse. I told her but the rolling bag is small, she said sorry, only 2. I'm thinking what the hell??!! My rolling bag was easily half the size of most people's carrying on luggage!! !@#$!@$ Then to make matters worse, Anthony was ahead of me then another guy snuck in between us so by the time I finished biting my tongue at the lady, Anthony was already out of view down the walk. So I step to the side and start trying to shove my purse into an already packed backpack. After pulling thing out of all 3 bags and rearranging and on the verge of frustrated and lack of sleep tears, I got everything but a block of an external drive that I was carrying that had a copy of all the files on the computer we had shipping in the overseas tank. Fortunately right at that moment, Anthony came running up from the walkway and I told him what happened. All the other people had boarded by this time so he turned to the lady and asked if it was okay for him to carry the drive since he can put it in one of his bags. She said yes and apologized for being a stickler about the 2 bags but since a group of TSA people were standing just a few feet away,randomly selecting people to inspect their carry on's, she had to say it. She did look sorry, probably because I look like I was about to burst into a flood of tears, so I felt a little better about it but it didn't make it anymore frustrating. So we get on and apparently everyone around us knew since as we got to our seat the flight attendant asked Anthony if he found me and you could see the people sitting around us giving sympathetic smiles. I didn't say word, I felt embarrassed enough. And to think every other time I had traveled I had always stuffed my purse into my backpack....I should have known the one time I hadn't it would have been an issue!

We kept wondering how the kids were doing down below. As we were driving to the airport and while we were handling the paperwork at the cargo area, Senna was howling and mewling the whole time. By the time we got to the airport, she had already half destroyed the bedding I had put down for her. So every time there was a jostling on the plane, we'd look at each other and said, "I bet that woke Sete up."

We arrived on time, picked up our 4 enormous checked in bags. Anthony worked his magic and somehow linked one of our checked in back and our two wheeled carry on bags to 3 of the large checked in bags so that we would just have rolling bags to handle instead of 6. Anthony grabbed one in each hand and I had one but OMG it was heavy. We got on the rental car shuttle, gazillion bags and all, had some hiccups picking up the rental car but finally after walking clear across the entire lot (I had to stop about 3 times), put down the seats and loaded the van with all our bags.....then the car wouldn't start. Long story short, we had to get everything back to customer service then to another car then reload then leave. Finally we found the AA cargo building.....only to find out the kids were at the Priority Parcel Services area.....at the baggage pick up!! So the poor kids had about an additional hour and a half in their crate of waiting.

We spent sometime driving around trying to find one of the dog parks I had mapped out before we left. It must no longer exist because we couldn't find it. So it's about 12 PST by now. We headed to the USDA office and while Anthony and the kids waited o the side of the street in the van, I spent about 2 hrs in line for a 20 minute transaction. Fortunately we emailed all 65 sheets of documents to the the day before so they already had time to closely examine it. There was only a minor glitch with a date that I fixed so it was just a matter of handing them the original documents, let them scan through it again, then pay (ugh!) and get scheduled for the USDA vet to meet us tomorrow at the Quantas Freight building.

Finally, we found the other dog park I had mapped. It's in Culver City which is rather nice and about 15 minutes from the airport/hotel area. It's an all fine gravel floored and fenced in dog park with lots of pooper scooper contraptions and waste baskets all along the fence instead of dookie bags which I think is a rather smart idea and all the gravel means no watering. There was a few trees and covered benches all over too and a split large and small dog area and one time out area. So all in all it was a rather nice set up. As usual we got a million questions about our dogs but most importantly they got to burn off some of their pent up energy which also helps them relax.

Next we made our way to the hotel. It's rather close to the airport and probably a mile from the car rental place so it'll be convenient when we leave. It's certainly no Four Seasons....or even a La Quinta but it's clean. Kinda old but it works. The place is surrounded by thick metal bars and doors, as Anthony puts it, like a fortress, so probably not in the best neighborhood. I've already had not let two black guys that tried to follow us in through the gate. I quickly closed it behind us and each time they wanted us to let them in. Not sure WHERE the courage came from but I asked if they were suppose to be here and when they said yes, I asked where their key was. At that point they give up and walk away. Fortunately there's a parking spot for us right outside the gate which is right outside our special "pet room" so it's a quick in and out.

Okay, heading out for lunch....or I guess dinner since it's about 4:30PM now then off to the dog park again to make sure they're good and tired. So until tomorrow!!

- julie

Wanted: Magic Broom

It's about 2 AM on Tuesday morning with our flight leaving at 8 AM and my plan was to wake up at about 3 AM to do the last run through off tossing, shower, pack up the toiletries, then finish loading up the van before we head out to pick up my sister then to the airport cargo at about 4:20 AM to drop off the kids. Part of me thinks it would be better to just stay awake but part of me is REALLY wanting to pass out. Guess I'll put the idea of a power nap to the test!

Off to the friendly sky tomorrow!!

- julie

2009 Singapore Grand Prix

This picture reminds me of our trip to Singapore last year. The new Formula 1 circuit was under construction while were there, and the GP was only weeks away. From this picture's vantage point our hotel was right behind the floating platform to the right. One day we will make it back to Singapore for the GP, and it'll be much easier now that we live in Australia. More to come....

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Just making sure everyone is squeaky clean for the long trip!

Foxy, Munky, Corky

The kids spending their first time in their new travel crates. We put them in there after they burned off some energy from the dog park.


Since our "kids," affectionately dubbed by Anthony as Foxy (Sete), Munky (Senna), and Corky (Chili), will have to endure being in the dog crate for extended periods of time, we thought it would be a good idea to start getting them acclimated to being in them. Since they are getting on board as cargo, they have to arrive at the airports about 3 hours before the flight time so the Austin to LA leg will end up being about 6 hours in their crates. The LA to Melbourne flight will be about 20 hours of crate time since they are sealed into the crate by the USDA vet, that we have to book and appointment with, but it'll be about 4 hours before the actual flight which in itself is about 14 hours. Then upon arrival in Melbourne, they could sit there for a bit until they're picked up by the quarantine people.

So for dogs that have lived in comfort either free roaming or in an open playpen, being in a confined crate will be like torture to them! Aside from trying to get familiar with the dog crates, we took away their water bowl and set up the water dispenser that they have to lick to get water from. Senna and Sete were easy to train and picked up on how to do it quickly but Chili, being our scaredy cat, ran away every time we brought it close to him or him close to it. It took him about a day and a half before he figured out he didn't have to dehydrate and how to get water from the bottles.

We don't worry too much about the quarantine, rather it's the long flight that we worry about. Well, we'll think good and positive thoughts for them.

- julie

Gratitude Cafe Tour

A shot of Jason Mraz in concernt using our point-and-shoot camera. Doesn't do it justice, I assure you.


It took leaving Austin to make us get off our tushies and go enjoy what Austin has to offer as the live musical capital of the world. So we squeezed in a Jason Mraz concert right before we are to leave at the Frank Erwin Center. And O.M.G. he was ridiculously awesome live!!! You could have recorded his performance, slapped it on a CD and released it as an album. Now he's an example of a truly talented musician and performer.

We specifically wanted to go to his concert, one because we really like his music, but two because we picked 3 specific songs for our wedding and his "I'm Yours" was one of them. It was the first song we played after our first dance but I'll always remember it because everyone there joined us on the dance floor and it was just such a happy and heartwarming feeling to see the dance floor packed full of people so special to us, dancing with us on our wedding night. Awww, just thinking about it makes me smile!

Here's a video we captured using our camera of Jason Mraz performing the song.



Jason Mraz also performed another song, "The Dynamo of Volition" which was fun to listen to and we also followed along with him with a few arm/hand movements in the chorus part. I don't think there was a single person not moving along with him!

$7 dollar beers aside, it was a great night!!

- julie

Alcoholics Anonymous

So, parting ways with our stockpile of alcohol is probably the most arduous task of them all. Okay, probably not the most but pretty high up there. It's not that we couldn't replace what we have but we have so much that it would cost a fortune to replace them. We have finally built up a nice variety of alcohol and mixers especially after our wedding last year.

Once we arrive in Melbourne, to commiserate the loss of all that alcohol, I plan to go out and buy what I need to make this:

Trudy's Mexican Martini

2 fluid ounces tequila
1 fluid ounce Cointreau liqueur
1-2 fluid ounce Sprite
1 fluid ounce orange juice
½ lime, juice of
Splash of olive juice
Salt
Pimento stuffed olives
Slice of lime

1. Rim martini glasses with salt by squeezing a small amount of lime juice around rim. Add salt to a small plate and rotate glass until coated.

2. Shake tequila, Cointreau, Sprite, orange juice, lime, and olive juice and strain into glass. Add stuffed olives and lime slice and serve immediately with sidecar.

Hopefully it's the right recipe because I'll be utterly upset if it turns out less than perfect.

- julie

Idiot Child on TV

Thank goodness for online streaming episodes! For some reason Two and a Half Men is very popular in Australia. So Anthony has been having me sit through every single episode of Two and a Half Men to get caught up. Season 7 is starting Monday which means there's season 1 to 6 to watch!

Now, I'm all for a good comedy and for the most part the show has its funny moments. But seriously....couldn't they have found a better looking and better acting boy to play the kid Jake?? It's kind of painful to watch him act as the idiot indifferent child.

Not really sure why this would be the top show.....

Ugh...back to season ONE episode EIGHTEEN.....I told you...lots of episodes to go through.

What I wouldn't do for 6 seasons of The Big Bang Theory instead!

- julie

Shot Up

Our four-legged kids all went in to see the vet today. It was all fun and games until multiple syringe & needles came out! The technician first took them individually back to be weighed, toe nail trimmed, then blood drawn. It was heart wrenching to hear them cry out.

Sete came back at about 8 lbs, which is actually an increase in weight. I think the 5-6 times a week I was taking them to the dog park has helped her keep her appetite up instead of her usual bouts of hunger strikes then puking bile.

Senna came back at about 21 lbs, a decrease in her weight, which is a good thing. Again, frequent trips to the dog park has probably helped that, not that she needed to lose weight in the first place.

Chili came back at about 16 lbs, a decrease in his weight and he needed it. He's not as big of a tube as he use to be and we don't tell him he's fat, just that he's big boned. He's kind of the sensitive type.

So, per Australia AQIS (Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service) the dogs must have the following vaccinations within a year and 14 days prior to leaving:

- distemper
- infectious hepatitis
- canine parvovirus (parvo)
- para-influenza
- bordetella bronchiseptica (kennel cough)

And the blood test was drawn for:

- ehrlichliosis (tropical canine pancytopaenia)
- brucellosis
- leishmaniosis
- leptospirosis

And finally, flea treatment.

We loaded up Sete with Benadryl because she has a history of swelling up after vaccinations. Then we swung by the store to pick up children's benadryl to give them if any of them started to swell. So she had one more shot than the other two. Poor Sete!

And since AQIS also requires the rabies vaccination to have been taken within a year and in the US they use a 3 year long rabies vaccination, the kids had to receive another round of rabies shots too.

To top it off, if I remember correctly, the kennel cough vaccination was a liquid up their nose!!

The vaccinations were done in the little room we were in so we got to see and hear them cry extremely dramatically when they were getting their shots. Poor kids!

They have one last visit the day before we fly out since they have to have another flea treatment and a de-worming pill within 4 days prior to leaving.

On the upside they got lots and lots of attention, as usual, from the people working there to other pet owners. It will be sad to leave that vet office though, everyone but especially our vet, was the best!

- julie

The comfort of home....

I've been back in Austin for two days now, and I have to say it really is awesome to see Julie and the dogs again! Although two months have lapsed it seems we haven't skipped a beat. Julie did an amazing job taking care of the sale of our home and getting moved into temporary housing as we make the final transition to Australia. I honestly don't know how she got so much done in so little time, I really wish I had been here to help. The day I arrived in Austin the temperature had dropped by nearly 10 degrees making the weather actually bearable. It's been a record summer here, with 100+ degrees for over sixty days.

Sete, Chili, and Senna took Julie and I to the dog park yesterday. They go absolutely mental once they arrive, the fun part is watching them slow run out of steam. You know it's time to go when they start getting "clingy". They're so cute and we had a great time! Again, it's nice to be with the family again...I missed them. --Anthony

Viva la Margarita!

Back in Texas! First stop, the Mexican food restaurant that is closest to our old house. It's hard to believe that you can "miss" chips and salsa, but it's definitely possible. In Australia, at a restaurant that calls itself a Mexican food establishment the chips and salsa are $14 (with no refills on the chips).

The last 24 hours with Julie, Sete, Senna, and Chili has been wonderful! Not seeing them for two months really made me realize what a wonderful life we have together. The dogs had a short burst of energy, followed by a nap. Napping tops off everything they do, sometimes I envy them.

Julie and I are going to enjoy Austin as tourists for our last 30 days here, so we'll look at the city in a whole new capacity. Austin is an awesome place to call home, I won't say I took it for granted, but now I know that I definitely want to come back!

Excessive or Just Good Sense

Actual picture of the Costco in Melbourne taken by Anthony.


Who would have thought Melbournians would dig purchasing items in mass amounts?? I thought buying ginormous quantities of things was the American way. We tossed our Costco cards thinking we wouldn't need them, then lo and behold.....a new Costco just opened a few days ago in Melbourne!

Now, I was never a frequent visitor of Costco just because the crowds were insane and the check out lines never ending. But I have to admit they have some good deals! So Anthony agreed to go to the grand opening because I was hoping they may have some grand opening specials and of course I kept asking him to go. Granted he didn't go in the morning when it opened but he did go that afternoon and the fact that he went at all was a HUGE concession from him considering in the 4+ years we've had a Costco card, he's probably stepped foot in it....oh, twice....maybe.

Anthony tells me it was like stepping into the Costco in Austin and a madhouse!

But it'll be nice to see a little piece of something that resembles Austin.....

- julie

24 Hours Until.....

Anthony is back in Austin!!!!

I'm counting the hours....minutes....seconds!!!

Maybe I'll be able to have a solid nights sleep once he's back. Cross your fingers!!

- julie

Adventure Bound

Many of our friends and family are aware that Anthony & I are taking the big leap....no, not marriage, we already did that, just last year in fact. You could probably still call us newlyweds. We decided to make an investment in our future.....no, not the purchase of a home, we already did that too, in fact, I just wrapped up selling it a few weeks ago. We are MOVING!! And not just across the state lines, not even across the borders, but halfway around the world and on the other side of the equator! We're Australia bound!!

Anthony has actually been in Melbourne, Australia since the beginning of July, getting settled into a different job at his current company. We'd been talking about moving overseas for a couple years now actually plus the idea of downsizing to be more mobile. This was just the push that we needed to actually pull the trigger and sell a lot of stuff that we could have easily lived without and our house, which was probably too big for us. So while Anthony was enjoy the nice cool winter in Melbourne, I was suffering in the 100+ degrees Texas weather to put our house on the market, get it sold, then move to an apartment. It probably wouldn't have been too bad but you tack on 3 high energy dogs into the mix and it was time consuming and extremely tiring!! But after all the tears, blood(you should see how often I cut or bruised myself moving stuff!) , and heartache, in the end it was worth the effort.

We decided having a blog would be a good way for our friends and family back in the States and Asia to see how thing are progressing and what new adventures we find ourselves in Australia. As we make our way through a huge change in the way we live our life, I hope in the end, this decision to move will make us richer....in love and life.

So stay tuned! We'll update as often as we can!!

- julie

....Extended Reach

In just a few hours I'll be reunited with Julie, it's been along two months with out her. I have a much deeper appreciation for who she is and how much she means to me having spent some time away. No amount of time of the phone or Skype can really allow you to connect with someone, but it's not a complaint because at least those tools are available at a minimal cost these days.

The flight over in July was on a new Airbus 380, the return flight was a 747-400. I'll sum up my comparison of the two by saying, if Boeing is still building the 747-400 in its current form I don't seem them lasting much longer with briliant aircraft like the A380 out there.

Currently I'm sitting in the LA airport, I've been awake for nearly 24 hours since I didn't sleep on the 14 hour flight from Melbourne. The 6 hour layover in LA is very frustrating, but it's best to just put on a smile and look forward to seeing Julie and the Mini-Husky's in a few short hours.

After being back in the US for a couple of hours I can already tell I'm ready to go back to Australia. There's just something about life in that country, it's hard to explain, but you know it when you see/feel it. I'm glad my last two months over there wasn't just a vacation, we get to go back in 30 days.

Hello World!