Hello Blavel!
So, although I don't have all the formalities signed off on yet, it's almost official (well, it is official as far as my boss is concerned) that I am going to America! I'm going to be presenting at a conference in late June in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. What's fantastic about this is that it means we only have to pay half the price that we'd normally have to spend to visit, given that my fares are work-sponsored. Sadly, as we're busy planning/saving/spending for the upcoming wedding (not to mention honeymoon!), in addition to the incidental expenses that have recently arisen for us (Nomad's cancer, Laddie getting hotwired on the weekend and possibly written off (tba), etc etc), we can't really afford to turn this into a big trip- we're also both running low on leave, which is clearly essential for later in the year wedding/honeymoon, lol.
Given the above, our plan is to spend about 12 days away. It looks like our itinerary will be:
Friday 19th June: Fly out of Brisbane direct to LA (hopefully using V air rather than Qantas- vowed never to fly Qantas international again after last time!)
Arrive in LA Friday morning (yay for gaining time!). Spend 5 nights in LA, do touristy stuff and have fun.
Wednesday 24th: Fly from LA to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Spend 5 nights in Wyoming, attending conference for two days and checking out Yellowstone national park and other touristy stuff on the remaining days.
Monday 29th: Fly back to Brisbane via LA, again on V air, arrive back in Brisbane on Wednesday morning (boo to losing time!).
It's a pretty short trip, but it shall be quite fun. Fingers crossed we do get the direct flights (unable to book right now as I need to wait for forms to be processed at work) as they are 14 hour flights, as compared to 20 hours if we get stuck going via Sydney or Auckland.
I'm currently searching out accommodation and things to do in LA. Options include heading to the beach (perhaps Venice beach), going to Hollywood and the walk of fame, checking out some local cuisine and going to a couple of the contemporary art museums have all been flagged as potentials thus far... I am also thinking that a bit of shopping wouldn't go astray!
In Jackson Hole, we'll be staying at the Snow King Resort... sadly it won't be snowing, but it looks like a pretty upmarket resort and should be quite fantastic. They have their own mountain attached to the hotel, with an Alpine slide ('winds down Snow King Mountain through 2,500 feet of woods and wildflowers'), a scenic 20-minute ride chairlift with views to yellowstone, as well as horseback riding tours around the mountain... and all of this is without going outside of the bounds of the hotel! I suspect we will have sufficient things to do whilst there. This time in three months this trip will be over and probably blavelled... Needless to say, I'll keep you posted!
-------
A quick edit: Just realised that if we change around our schedule, we could go to Wyoming/conference first, and then from there head to LA and be around to celebrate the 4th of July (independence day) before we leave... that might be a good plan! Not sure what we would go to see, but it sounds like fun!
