Step 2 - Spend the day in LA

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Tuesday - We had plans today to spend our time at the Getty Center. It is free and we planned to ride buses for $2.25 pp each way. This was a good plan in case we were still traveling to LAX then we weren't out any money! Clay decided that morning to check out UBER because it was raining. It looked like $7 or so to ride in a car.. We had taken our first ever Uber ride to RDU yesterday. It was a good experience and about half the price of a taxi cab. So, we took Uber and sat in traffic on the 405. It cost us $15 in reality. It was probably still a shorter ride than the 3 buses would have been. We did the 10:30am architecture tour at the Getty Center, We did part of the Garden Tour but due to all the rain, the main garden was closed so we just viewed it from above. We had lunch in the cafe. I dislocated by right kneecap descending some of the many stairs to get there and then really screwed it up when I tried to bend my knees to sit down. It happens sometimes and it is fine as I write this but I was really upset then because of the 14 hour flight later! In the afternoon we took the Impressionists Tour. While we were waiting for it we toured the changing exhibit of Bouchardon. Somehow we had never heard of him before. All day, the exact same itinerary was being done by a couple from Cary! We were all surprised that none of us had any recollection of every hearing anything about Bouchardon. I noticed a changing display screen about Roman mosaics at the Getty Villa. It is J. Paul Getty's former summer home and about 10 miles towards the Pacific from the Center.  I went and got Clay and we went to the info desk to find out about it. It turns out that the Getty Ctr is closed on Monday and the Villa on Tuesday. Also, timed tickets were required for the mosiacs display. The good news is that she could give us 2 complimentary tickets good anytime we returned before the end of the year. We will try to use them we when stop through LA on our way home. It was a good day as it was overcast all day. The last time we came to the Getty, it was so hot and sunny that we could barely stand to step outside. Today was perfect once the morning rain cleared. So my traveler tip is this if you are going to the Getty Center and it is raining, don't bother toting your own umbrella as the center puts out hundreds of them for guest use! We didn't know and carried ours all day! We left about 3 to 3:30pm. Got caught in 405 traffic again, no surprise. But, Clay had entered his Uber request as a "pool" option which he didn't think he had done this morning and the fare back while lasting the same 45 minutes or so was only about $7. Since there is only the front passenger seat left and how are they going to pick up another pool passenger on the freeway, pool is an excellent option. When we got back to the Best Western it was still too early to go to the airport.

We walked across the street and ate at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. It was good.We both had more than we could eat. We headed back across the street thinking we'd be too late for the 5pm shuttle to the airport and since they told us it left hourly we go at 6pm. We had to pick up our luggage they were holding. I went to the restroom and to change my blouse for the fllight while Clay meant to use the wifi. Instead the waited for us and took us to LAX as soon as I came out! That meant we had a nightmarish extra hour at LAX before we could drop out baggage and go to security! We had TSA precheck through RDU yesterday, but not today and LAX did have a TSA precheck line open anyway. LAX is a nightmare and we need to remember that when we next make plans that could avoid it.

We flew a 14 hour or so flight on Qantas in premium economy. It was fine. It was actually much better than I had anticipated. We were about an hour late taking off. But, we had beverages while we waited in premium economy. I did not figure out how the foot rest worked until we were landing so it should be better going back! My foot rest wasn't working properly anyway but there was a metal part that flipped out to support your feet and that would have kept my right foot from fisting under if I could have press it again that piece. Lesson learned.They served dinner on Brisbane time shortly after takeoff. Then they turned off the lights about 2 hours after takeoff and while you could have more food and drink on demand I think most everyone in the section used the provided eyeshades and pillows and comforters and slept 8 hours or so. They rousted us for breakfast about 2 hours before landing. We landed on schedule. Since we crossed the International Date line we skipped Wednesday and arrived in Brisbane on Thursday morning! Immigration, baggage claim and customs were all a breeze at BNE and we were on the train into town within an hour of landing. Though we got on the wrong one and detoured to the domestic terminal and back wasting 15 minutes or more. The train from the International BNE terminal to our stop at Central Station is only supposed to take 18 minutes! Anyway we got to our hotel Ultiqa Rothbury around 9am.

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