USA 2019 - Week 6, Dallas to Perth

We're currently in the Qantas lounge at Sydney airport waiting for our flight home to Perth. We missed our connecting flight because Sydney international airport is an absolute joke; I actually can't believe how unorganised it is, and am embarrassed that this might be people's first impression of Australia.

We got off our flight wondering what the huge crowds of people were, turns out they were waiting at kiosks to get a card for the ePassport lines, but apparently it's too hard to put a sign or have someone to help direct people. The guy next to us asked the single Sydney airport representative if there was anything he could do since his flight was in 30minutes, and he got the reply "sorry mate, everyone here is in the same boat"... what the hell Sydney! Not impressed at all, but all's well that ends well since we're on the next flight home. Rant over!

Since we have a little bit of time I thought I'd look back on highlights of the whirlwind 6 week holiday (expertly planned by Andrew as always):

• Week 1: 
• Breweries galore in Denver (Oskar Blues, Great Divide, Falling Rock), walking to the bus stop in -20degree weather
• Skiing in Vail (Mountain Standard), Beaver Creek (cookies and s'mores!), seeing Yvonne and meeting Eduardo
• The Arches park at Moab, possibly better than the Grand Canyon 
• Week 2:
• Peering through the windows at the Immersive office in Salt Lake City, and visiting some more breweries
• Skiing at Park City, getting confident with blues and trying some blacks
• The Bellagio fountains, Picasso, and Cirque du Soleil in Vegas, and seeing a coyote near the Grand Canyon
• The roller coasters at Magic Mountain
• Week 3:
• Double waterfalls and seeing a bobcat at Yosemite
• Seeing the ice hockey team come out of a giant shark at the Shark Tank in San Jose
• Too little time in San Francisco; dim sum, fortune cookies, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Fisherman's Warf, Lombard Street, definitely need to go back!
• Dinner at Mission Inn, Clint Eastwood's restaurant at Carmel by the Sea
• Hearst Castle, Santa Barbara Pier, Malibu, Santa Monica Pier, all on the way to LA
• The Griffith Observatory,  Getty Museum, the Ace Hotel, and taco trucks in LA
• Week 4:
• The gorgeous river walk in San Antonio, the Alamo (still no 100% sure what it is), Smitty's Market BBQ in Lockheart
• Whole Foods (Perth needs one), Franklin's BBQ, the bat bridge, Rainey street and a beautiful run around the river in the very liveable Austin
• Catfish at Prejean's, Pealander Z at The Blue Moon hostel, and the swamp tour in Lafayette
• Sazeracs, beignets, food (Compere Lapin) and music (Kermit!) on Bourbon and French Street in the party city of New Orleans (the highlight of the trip for me)
• Week 5:
• Whale sharks at the Atlanta aquarium, and chopping at the Atlanta Braves game
• The quaint service at Lexington BBQ
• Willow Winds Cabins in Asheville, breweries, hiking to waterfalls, and watching Andrew slide down sliding rock, and thanking god he decided to skip turtleback falls 
• The surprisingly amazing Dollywood (lightning rod!)
• The Sunsphere (aka the wigsphere) in Knoxville
• Prince's Hot Chicken, best fried chicken ever, worst experience for the next couple of days
• Week 6:
• Boot scooting and flag waving to live music in Nashville, the tabasco number 8 at Dickel's distillery and biscuits at Loveless cafe
• The view of the arch in Saint Louis, and eating too much at the Cardinal's vs. Dodgers game in the Cardinal's club
• Joe's BBQ, Tikicat, and Royals vs. Mariner's game in Kansas City
• Definitely NOT Sydney airport!

What a holiday, I can't believe it's over already. I wonder what's next?