California dreamin' , and a visit to the mid west.

[Blackadder]

Next day was our flight back to Santa Ana, this time via DFW.
Cincinnati airport is actually over on the other side of the Ohio River in Northern Kentucky, so our next (and last) hotel stop was the Doubletree at the Airport.
A nice large well appointed lobby that wouldn’t be out of place in a high end hotel. Hotel shuttle to the terminal is a on demand service, so no need to be there at any specific time.
With our obligatory doubletree cookies, off to our room for the night.
Breakfast was included in the room rate so a chance for something substantial before the flight back to the West Coast.
No buffet breakfast, but offered a 3 egg omelette with 2 fillings served with a hash brown , with additional fillings available for 75cents.
After checking out onto the bus for what turned out to be a very short trip around to the terminal. I would say less than 5mins and we are at the terminal.
CVG is a very well laid out airport, and to my surprise has its own airport train service, along with a display of various skeletons from the dinosaur era.
We were departing from terminal A , so a very short train ride and we are at our gate.
A bit of a delay on departure, as air traffic controllers wanted the pilots to fly a path closer to the remnants of Hurricane Beryl, the pilots weren’t having any of that so requested a new flight plan. Around a 20min delay on departure by the time the new flight plan was approved.
As it turns out we left Cincinnati just in time, not long after leaving it was under a Tornado watch until 9pm local time.
A uneventful flight to DFW, and despite the late departure a on time arrival. No rush for our connection to SNA , but the connection gods were on our side with our flight only 3 gates away from our arrival.
Keeping a watch on the AA bag tracker on the AA app while watching them load the bags for our flight and it performed perfectly. Could see the bag being loaded , and within a minute the app updated to show the bag loaded.
Again a uneventful flight back to SNA, and arriving around 20 mins ahead of schedule.

 

[Blackadder]

Last few days of my time in the US back in SoCal. Maybe a case of the grass is greener, but would seriously consider living there.
On our way back home from SNA, we went via Laguna Beach and a newly renovated bar/grill called Mozambique. It’s set over 3 levels and offers meal with a South African influence.
Opted for the Steak Sandwich, and a beautiful flavoursome steak, with just the right amount of kick from the sauce.
Definitely check it out if you are in the area.

 

[Deno]

Fantastic photos from the ball park !!

 

[Blackadder]

Fantastic photos from the ball park !!

Thanks.
My go to position for Ballpark visits is the top level behind home plate.
Perfect view of the whole field, and great for photos of the area around the stadium.

 

[Blackadder]

Well it wouldn’t be a SoCal visit without a visit to to the House of the Mouse (aka Disneyland), especially considering my partner has a top tier annual pass.
Arrived around mid morning, and unless you are desperately keen to be there for gates opening, this is the way to go to avoid the queues in the parking garage.
A couple of hours getting some rides in , then back later in the day for the nightly shows and more rides.
Sadly no fireworks due to weather conditions allegedly (Cloudy and winds around 3mph)
So just the projections on the magic castle, which to me a bit meh

 

[jastel]

Visited Cleveland RnRHOF a while back and there was NO Bon Jovi in the place...even asked the guide in case I missed it. Glad to see that has been rectified.

 

[Blackadder]

Visited Cleveland RnRHOF a while back and there was NO Bon Jovi in the place...even asked the guide in case I missed it. Glad to see that has been rectified

The Bon Jovi stuff was a seperate exhibition that was on at the time.
Hopefully some stuff will go on permanent display after the exhibition.

 

[jastel]

They are in there now, from 2018, but not when I went in 2011 I think.
They have the new album and the doco about JBJ losing his voice etc out,

 

[Blackadder]

The final day of the trip was a visit to Puente Hills Mall , better known as Twin Pines/Lone Pine mall from Back to the Future.
Then the drive back to the hellscape that is LAX , and the flight back across the Pacific pond.
A fully booked Y+ for the flight home, but as the other seats were filled the one next to me remained vacant. Hoping the flying gods were going to grant me an unexpected shadow, but alas no such luck, as they were one of the last to board.
Meals were ok by QF standards, had the Beef dish for Dinner and they seemed to over compensate on the spiciness , drowning out any flavour from the beef.
Hot breakfast nothing remarkable.
Arrival ahead of schedule into SYD , and both checked bags within the first few to be unloaded.

 

[Deno]

The final day of the trip was a visit to Puente Hills Mall , better known as Twin Pines/Lone Pine mall from Back to the Future.
Then the drive back to the hellscape that is LAX , and the flight back across the Pacific pond.
A fully booked Y+ for the flight home, but as the other seats were filled the one next to me remained vacant. Hoping the flying gods were going to grant me an unexpected shadow, but alas no such luck, as they were one of the last to board.
Meals were ok by QF standards, had the Beef dish for Dinner and they seemed to over compensate on the spiciness , drowning out any flavour from the beef.
Hot breakfast nothing remarkable.
Arrival ahead of schedule into SYD , and both checked bags within the first few to be unloaded.

Thanks for the trip report. I enjoyed following along.

 

[Flyfrequently]

Thanks for your TR @Blackadder - enjoyed tagging along with you.