We're the Kids in America... Woah
The roadtrip was great fun. Since then we've been taking it easy in NW Iowa. The sweet corn season is just starting, and let me tell you, you haven't had sweet corn until you've had it fresh-picked that morning from an Iowa cornfield. It's like candy.

But now my friends from Des Moines have come up to see us, so we must go drink some more coffee.


With the Woolly Mammoth in Indianapolis

Things I Have Done in America
♥ Seen my family.
♥ Eaten at Baja Fresh, McDonald's (the new Southern chicken sandwich is their answer to Chik-fil-A, yum!) and Pizza Ranch.
♥ Seen Up... twice. (It comes out in AU in September.)
♥ Shopped at Super Target, and super it was. Overwhelmed by all the selections. We may have jumpstarted the economy with all our purchases.
♥ Bought Advil by the hundreds. (They only come in packets up to 20 in AU, not in bottles of 150.)
♥ Plugged in appliances without having to check if the outlet was on.
♥ Drank Dr. Pepper and root beer!
♥ Walked home from the movies at 9:30pm while the sun was still setting.

The Trip
We left our house at 8:30 on Friday morning. We flew via Auckland to LA with a fair amount of turbulence. It was nice to know that when you're sleeping, you just sort of rock with it. It's much less alarming than when you're awake and gripping the armrests with white knuckles.

We were delayed in LA due to thunderstorms in Denver. And then we were delayed again there, because our plane had a mechanical problem they wanted to double-check. Yes, please go ahead and take your time quadruple-checking that, thanks. By the time we got to the hotel in Omaha, I believe we had been gone for 36 hours. Blergh!

I've had jetlag worse than ever before. I'm not sleeping at night and feel like poo all day. Tonight I'm taking a sleeping pill if I'm not down in an hour.

Hometown Tourist
Recently my brother-in-law asked if we were going to do any sight-seeing while we're in the States. My immediate response could have been perceived as abruptly in the negative.

He seemed a little offended that we didn't intend to do so. And I felt a little offended that he would even suggest that the point of our trip be anything but to catch up with family and friends.

I mean, my younger nephew just graduated from PRESCHOOL. He was barely walking when I moved here. I have serious catching up to do. I want to sleep in my old room. I want to eat my grandma's cooking. I want to keep my best friend company on her drive home from work every day. THAT, my dear brother-in-law, was the point of the trip.

But... that was until I saw this article about Captain Kirk's future birthplace being in Iowa. I wouldn't begin to consider myself a Trekkie, but how awesome would it be to say we'd been there, done that, and bought the keychain.

This got me thinking about the other campy roadside attractions around northwest Iowa where I could drag my dear husband. RoadsideAmerica.com has been a goldmine of places I've been or heard of plus a bunch that are completely new to me. So we may need to work these into our itinerary:
* The Grotto of the Redemption: West Bend, IA
* The National Music Museum: Vermillion, SD
* 1880 Town: Murdo, SD
* The Buddy Holly Crash Site: Clear Lake, IA
* The Alpine Inn: Omaha, NE (eat with the raccoons)
* The Corn Palace: Mitchell, SD
* The Amana Colonies: Amana, IA

Another little joy I discovered? The Western Iowa Wine Trail. Wine! In Iowa! Growing up in a teetotaler household, I had no idea. I'm definitely anxious to find out what the great corn state is doing for vinoculture.

We might have a little more to fit in during this trip than I originally thought!

Now It's Time to Say Goodbye
I can't believe how fast these two months have gone. So much to do, so many people to see, so much time consumed by MarioKart. Now I'm madly trying to figure out how we're going to get all of our stuff back in the four suitcases we have. I have accumulated four new (awesome) pairs of shoes, tons of summery blouses, several skirts, some books, some games, and a flute. That's on top of all the crap I brought with me originally. (Did I really think I needed two pairs of flipflops? I didn't even take them to Florida.)

We'll be heading out tomorrow at noon and should arrive in Brisbane at 11:35 AM on Saturday their time. Crazy.

Everything Looks Different from Far Away
Well I had a little bit of time to sort out my pictures thus far. Here are some from the actual trip.

Sydney Harbour from above with the opera house. I was strangely unimpressed. I guess it must be bigger from the ground.


Boston Rob & Amber in the San Francisco airport. Grainy due to having the flash off. I didn't want to appear to be a total stalker... even though I was.


San Francisco from above. Again, I was a bit apathetic about the Golden Gate bridge. It didn't look as red or as big as I always imagined, so I guess that's another one to see from the ground.


My first glimpse of S*N*O*W!


Sunset on the plane.

That's Entertainment
Now that our flights are booked, I've moved right on to the next important step-- find out what the in-flight entertainment is going to be. This is a crucial step, as Tash will tell you, because otherwise you might accidentally go see Superman 2 with your parents, and then go see it again at the IMAX to be a good friend, and then you might have to be stuck in captivity on an international flight and be forced to watch it yet again. :P (Just kidding, T -- but it really was comical! Hehe!)

So based on the research I've been able to do, these movies should be available for our viewing pleasure:

• Domestic Australia
  Scoop: Now I've never heard of this one, but with Hugh Jackman, it must have some redeeming qualities. (And if we were only flying a few days earlier, it could have been Boytown. Shoot!)
• International
  The Da Vinci Code: Saw this on our honeymoon and don't necessarily feel compelled to see it again, but that's okay.
  Little Miss Sunshine: Saw it. Loved it. Would watch it again in a heartbeat.
  Miami Vice: Sorta wanted to see it, simply because it was done by Michael Mann.
  My Super Ex-Girlfriend: I think Hans wanted to see this, but we never got around to it.
  Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: While we've seen and enjoyed this one already, I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of it in the next couple months, as we're giving it to my nephew, and I have a feeling we'll get a copy as well.
  Scoop: Well if it's good, it might be nice.
  The Wicker Man: Nicholas Cage. Bleh. What a downer to end on, but that should get us to San Fran.
• Domestic US
  Invincible: Never heard of it. I don't think they market football (aka "grid-iron") movies here, because it's simply not a sport Australians relate to.

Firefly: THE GAME!?!
Hans greeted me with this news today: Firefly: Turning MMORPG by '08?. I'm completely geeked out about that, and we are so planning on retiring our social life to be fully-committed to it.