The landslide didn’t bring us down

The badly-kept secret is out … I’ve just returned from my first overseas adventure with DD!

He had a conference in the United States and I tagged along as his other half.

We had a BULK FUN time.

But geez jet lag is a bitch. Forgive me if I have trouble stringing sentences together for a few days.

Totally worth it though – we crammed soooooooo much good stuff into just two weeks.

Prior to departure, I was a little worried about how we’d survive 16 straight days in each other’s company – we usually only snatch a few hours together at a time.

It’s a big leap to be suddenly doing the 24/7 thing.

But we totally nailed it – not one argument!

I’d been expecting nights to be especially tricky – he stays up late, I don’t; we both have sleep issues; and it turns out we also both occasionally/frequently snore like industrial machinery.

I thought I just sighed heavily in my sleep, but no, it’s ugly. He videoed me on his iphone one night to prove it.

Despite the unsexy sleep sounds, we rubbed along pretty well, night and day.

DD was “pleasantly surprised” by how well I travel – a revelation that has lead to much consternation on my part and demands that he explain what exactly he thought I was going to be like and WHY he thought I’d be like that.

He was also relieved to discover I didn’t talk as much or as constantly as I had threatened before we left.

Wow, we covered some miles. In the first few days alone we drove 700km. I was even behind the wheel for some of them – a first for me on the other side of the road. It was supposed to be a chance for DD to get some work done on his laptop, but he spent most of the time anxiously supervising my tendency to drift to the right.

The trip kicked off with a 15-hour flight to Dallas (with some fancy champers time in the airport lounge prior – check out the pics below), then we cooled our heels for a few hours before catching another flight to Atlanta. There, we grabbed the keys to a Jeep and crossed three states in 48 hours.

Along the way, I learned to drink hot coffee, so now we share most vices – Diet Coke, wine, sleep aids, social media, coffee – it’s very convivial … if unhealthy.

At one point, our need for artificial stimulants lead us off the freeway to Target in search of a Starbucks and wi-Fi, where I discovered he can also spend longer in a department store than me.

He eventually emerged at the check-out with a Best of Fleetwood Mac CD and gawd knows what else and we finally hit the road again.

You should have seen the look of delight on his face when we stumbled across a “Super” Target in Orlando.

That Best of Fleetwood Mac CD stood us in good stead as we roved the US. Geez they wrote some amazing songs.

(They also wrote some VERY mediocre songs that somehow made it onto the double CD … thank heavens for the fast-forward button.)

I was soooooooooo sad to kiss DD goodbye yesterday morning and resume our texting relationship.

Holding hands is much more fun than holding a phone.

But real life goes on.

Prepare to be bombarded with travel stories over the next week or two.

Oh, and endless happy snaps. Because it was very, very happy …

DD is a frequent business flyer so we kicked off our holiday in style in the Qantas First Lounge with complimentary pink bubbles.

The Qantas First Lounge at Sydney Airport.

There’s also a complimentary Neil Perry restaurant, so we shared some salt and pepper squid.

DD ordered this sugary concoction.

Those frozen pansies in Atlanta from yesterday’s blog.

OK, maybe it did snow a bit …

The gorgeous Grove Arcade first opened in Asheville in 1929. So lovely to wander through on a cold morning.

When in North Carolina, do as the local do and eat shrimp and grits for breakfast. Prawns for brekkie!

DD was very impressed with how the rental Jeep handled the conditions.

Super Target! And it was …

Song of the day: Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks “Landslide” (quite possibly my favourite song EVER)