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Our original plan was to go back to Australia late this year (Oct/Nov) for 3 weeks or so. It's been 3.5 years now since we left, so it would be nice to visit again. However, there's a change in plan.
We were looking at airfare, and even the cheapest fares we could find still totalled about $2600 for both of us to fly to Oz. And that's just the *flight*, let alone anything spent while we're there... even though we'd most likely have people we could crash with in Bris, Syd and Melb, we'd still be looking at several hundred bucks easily in various spending monies. It also makes sense to see this country while we're here, especially as we already know our time will be relatively limited, and trips back here are going to be expensive once we move back and decide we didn't really see the things we wanted to etc. Plus $2600 here would already give us a nifty vacation, much more than just seats in planes and airline food.
So we're sticking to this side of the pond. We threw out some feelers on the GN forums which basically just made it easier for us to plot the course we wanted to go anyway. With offers of lodging (and board, and most excellent company who double as guides) in Hollywood itself, L.A. seemed like a prime destination for a visit. Also August carries the promise of Bats Day in the Fun Park where goffs hit Disneyland up for good times. I had been sorely tempted by the idea last year, but money was tight yadda yadda and it never eventuated. This year it just might.
So when PreZ and I were originally batting around North America ideas, L.A. and Vegas were the two places we wanted to go to, as well as a number of the national parks that are in the region. Ever since I visited Sequoia/Kings Canyon N.P. in 1993 (as a teen with parental units) I've wanted to go back, I loved Sequoia, it was such a quiet and beautiful place. Mapquest tells me it's about 4 hours or so from L.A. so that's doable, ditto Death Valley National Monument, which is up that way anyway. And then of course there's the cornucopia of National Parks in the NV/AZ/UT area, many of which are relatively attainable from Vegas. Zion Canyon N.P. and Bryce Canyon N.P. are places I'd love to go back to, as well as the almost standard trip to see the Grand Canyon.
And Vegas has Cirque Du Soleil. 3 different shows. That's a no-brainer on the entertainment scale ;) Plus it would be nice to visit Vegas as a mature adult who doesn't have restrictions placed on her. And hotels there change so frequently, that in the 11 years since I was there last many things will have changed a lot. For starters they were still building the Luxor when we were there. And Vegas wasn't yet so family oriented with all the theme parks and things to do.
So we narrow down a date range. 2 weeks in August, coming back on the Monday the 30th (Bats Day is on the Sunday), so we can be back in NYC for the Drop Dead Festival that following weekend (an event I really hope our Hollywood hosts will be able to attend, and have us play host to them that time instead). And
PreZ put in for leave at work.
And of course there's a spanner thrown in the works by his job. His boss doesn't think he can take off 2 consecutive weeks. AsPreZ already mentioned for us as people who've lived and worked elsewhere, it's already ridiculous that you only get 2 measly weeks vacation time (generally speaking) in this country, the fact that he now gets told he can't even have them consecutively is basically just insult to injury. Because he works for a very small company, where he is at the moment essentially their only programmer, he's a precious commodity, and they don't want to spare him, even for his first real vacation he's had since we moved her in Jan '01.
Ugh.
His boss is currently pondering whether or not he gets the 2 weeks consecutively, or whether we have to split the trip. It's even more frustrating when you realise that vacation time doesn't carry over to the next year, which we found out late last year. At the behest of his boss no less, he scheduled a bunch of time off just before the new year, which all got cancelled because it was so busy in the office. So technically his work owes him vacation time because they cancelled his vacation on him late last year too, and now they're pulling this.
The obvious downside to splitting it is the fact that we'd have west coast airfare twice. That said, there is also a slight advantage... we gain a few extra days, due to the fact that we'd have an extra weekend. If forced to split it, then the Vegas portion would obviously be the one to be shifted to a later period. Weather wise that would work out too, as the desert is generally bloody hot in summer, and is likely to be much more pleasant later on in the year. And if shifted to an off-peak season we might be able to pick up some nifty air fare rates.
But we'll see what the verdict is first.
We were looking at airfare, and even the cheapest fares we could find still totalled about $2600 for both of us to fly to Oz. And that's just the *flight*, let alone anything spent while we're there... even though we'd most likely have people we could crash with in Bris, Syd and Melb, we'd still be looking at several hundred bucks easily in various spending monies. It also makes sense to see this country while we're here, especially as we already know our time will be relatively limited, and trips back here are going to be expensive once we move back and decide we didn't really see the things we wanted to etc. Plus $2600 here would already give us a nifty vacation, much more than just seats in planes and airline food.
So we're sticking to this side of the pond. We threw out some feelers on the GN forums which basically just made it easier for us to plot the course we wanted to go anyway. With offers of lodging (and board, and most excellent company who double as guides) in Hollywood itself, L.A. seemed like a prime destination for a visit. Also August carries the promise of Bats Day in the Fun Park where goffs hit Disneyland up for good times. I had been sorely tempted by the idea last year, but money was tight yadda yadda and it never eventuated. This year it just might.
So when PreZ and I were originally batting around North America ideas, L.A. and Vegas were the two places we wanted to go to, as well as a number of the national parks that are in the region. Ever since I visited Sequoia/Kings Canyon N.P. in 1993 (as a teen with parental units) I've wanted to go back, I loved Sequoia, it was such a quiet and beautiful place. Mapquest tells me it's about 4 hours or so from L.A. so that's doable, ditto Death Valley National Monument, which is up that way anyway. And then of course there's the cornucopia of National Parks in the NV/AZ/UT area, many of which are relatively attainable from Vegas. Zion Canyon N.P. and Bryce Canyon N.P. are places I'd love to go back to, as well as the almost standard trip to see the Grand Canyon.
And Vegas has Cirque Du Soleil. 3 different shows. That's a no-brainer on the entertainment scale ;) Plus it would be nice to visit Vegas as a mature adult who doesn't have restrictions placed on her. And hotels there change so frequently, that in the 11 years since I was there last many things will have changed a lot. For starters they were still building the Luxor when we were there. And Vegas wasn't yet so family oriented with all the theme parks and things to do.
So we narrow down a date range. 2 weeks in August, coming back on the Monday the 30th (Bats Day is on the Sunday), so we can be back in NYC for the Drop Dead Festival that following weekend (an event I really hope our Hollywood hosts will be able to attend, and have us play host to them that time instead). And
PreZ put in for leave at work.And of course there's a spanner thrown in the works by his job. His boss doesn't think he can take off 2 consecutive weeks. As
PreZ already mentioned for us as people who've lived and worked elsewhere, it's already ridiculous that you only get 2 measly weeks vacation time (generally speaking) in this country, the fact that he now gets told he can't even have them consecutively is basically just insult to injury. Because he works for a very small company, where he is at the moment essentially their only programmer, he's a precious commodity, and they don't want to spare him, even for his first real vacation he's had since we moved her in Jan '01. Ugh.
His boss is currently pondering whether or not he gets the 2 weeks consecutively, or whether we have to split the trip. It's even more frustrating when you realise that vacation time doesn't carry over to the next year, which we found out late last year. At the behest of his boss no less, he scheduled a bunch of time off just before the new year, which all got cancelled because it was so busy in the office. So technically his work owes him vacation time because they cancelled his vacation on him late last year too, and now they're pulling this.
The obvious downside to splitting it is the fact that we'd have west coast airfare twice. That said, there is also a slight advantage... we gain a few extra days, due to the fact that we'd have an extra weekend. If forced to split it, then the Vegas portion would obviously be the one to be shifted to a later period. Weather wise that would work out too, as the desert is generally bloody hot in summer, and is likely to be much more pleasant later on in the year. And if shifted to an off-peak season we might be able to pick up some nifty air fare rates.
But we'll see what the verdict is first.
