Back at Minneapolis Airport, we boarded our flight headed to Dallas. Only after taxi-ing to the departure point, the pilot was informed that Dallas Fort-Worth airport had been closed due to nearby thunderstorms and air-traffic was being diverted. We spent another hour parked out on the tarmac at a remote stand until we were given clearance to take-off, once DFW was open for business again!
On landing, we collected all our bags and waited a bit longer for a shuttle to our hotel. A much later night than we had intended but the smiling faces at the aptly named "Days Inn" w
ere a welcome sight. Thankfully, the airconditioner in our room was turned up high when we arrived, as the weather was hot and muggy.
ere a welcome sight. Thankfully, the airconditioner in our room was turned up high when we arrived, as the weather was hot and muggy.It was an early start next morning, greased along with an American cooked breakfast at 6.15am. Heather tried valiantly to persuade the waiter to sell her two of the "Days Inn" coffee mugs, but he didn't quite take her seriously and kept refusing. Why would anyone want a budget hotel's mugs for memorabilia?? Once back at the terminal, and having checked in our bags through to Perth, we boarded our next flight to San Francisco. Once again, only after leaving the gate, the pilots passed information regarding more thunderstorms on our planned route. We needed to go back to the gate (which was no longer available) and get more fuel to allow us to travel a different route to San Fran. More waiting on the tarmac, until eventually we took off over an hour and a half behind time.
When we touched down in San Fran, we had about an hour to transfer from the domestic to the international terminal. There, we had to get a boarding pass for Adrian, whose itinerary seemed non-existent to Cathay, and it took a couple of staff members a few anxious moments to get him back onto the flight. Some kind souls let us push our way through the final queues for security, and we just managed to make the flight to Hong Kong with 15mins breathing space. Let's hope our bags managed to make the flight as well......
The flight on Cathay was by far our favourite, probably made better by the fact we were snuggled into business class seat
s on the upper deck - highly recommended, especially for a 14hr longhaul flight. The seats are all at 45degrees to the isle with the windows behind you. They are designed for personal privacy, and boast an amazing entertainment system to while away the hours (note the photo of Adrian watching movies on the big screen in his "console". The meals were extravagant and Heather turned a blind eye to all foods she was banned from eating and indulged in every course offered. We won't tease you with details but needless to say, an extremely memorable eating/drinking experience. Our seats were right up the front, closest to the pilots, who were quite happy to come out and chat before take-off. Once meals had been served and sleep was creeping up, Heather took advantage of turning her seat into a completely flat bed and headed off into dreamland. Adrian was too enthralled by his movie-watching so did not get much sleep. He would attempt to catch up on the Hong Kong to Perth Qantas flight.
s on the upper deck - highly recommended, especially for a 14hr longhaul flight. The seats are all at 45degrees to the isle with the windows behind you. They are designed for personal privacy, and boast an amazing entertainment system to while away the hours (note the photo of Adrian watching movies on the big screen in his "console". The meals were extravagant and Heather turned a blind eye to all foods she was banned from eating and indulged in every course offered. We won't tease you with details but needless to say, an extremely memorable eating/drinking experience. Our seats were right up the front, closest to the pilots, who were quite happy to come out and chat before take-off. Once meals had been served and sleep was creeping up, Heather took advantage of turning her seat into a completely flat bed and headed off into dreamland. Adrian was too enthralled by his movie-watching so did not get much sleep. He would attempt to catch up on the Hong Kong to Perth Qantas flight.On landing in Hong Kong, we had a few hours to waste before boarding our final flight home at 11.30pm. We wondered around the shops before taking advantage of the Qantas lounge for refreshments and a welcome hot shower. The flight home was uneventful with a quite spectacular sunrise over the Pilbara. 
We passed through passport control at Perth Airport and proceeded to baggage collection where we heard over the speakers "Would Mr Adrian Day please come to the Baggage Collection Desk". Yes, you guessed it, all four of our bags had missed the connection in San Francisco, and would be delivered to us the next day! Needless to say, we passed through customs in record time. Overall, 59hrs from the Minnesota Cabin to home-sweet-home Kingsley - 29hrs in the air, a night at Days Inn, many hours transiting and a few more sitting on the tarmac waiting for takeoff clearance!
We passed through passport control at Perth Airport and proceeded to baggage collection where we heard over the speakers "Would Mr Adrian Day please come to the Baggage Collection Desk". Yes, you guessed it, all four of our bags had missed the connection in San Francisco, and would be delivered to us the next day! Needless to say, we passed through customs in record time. Overall, 59hrs from the Minnesota Cabin to home-sweet-home Kingsley - 29hrs in the air, a night at Days Inn, many hours transiting and a few more sitting on the tarmac waiting for takeoff clearance!Muppet (our kitty) was waiting eagerly for us at home, having been spoilt by Petra (Heather's mum) in our absence. We also had another surprise waiting for us, as Heather discovered when snuggling into our bed for her desperately needed afternoon nap. Our bedroom ceiling had suffered storm damage a few days earlier when a recent hail storm hit Perth suburbs. The mattress was saturated, so looked like we would be juggling insurance claims with unpacking and many loads of washing! Still, nothing could "dampen" what was an absolutely fabulous holiday for us and hope you all enjoyed reading along with us too :-)
