There seemed to be a lot to do before we could fly home. I’d checked with the storage unit a couple of days ago and they said we could put our van in early so that was good.
It was still a 6 hour drive to Vegas and we weren’t entirely sure what time we’d be arriving, but we would be gaining an hour so that was a bonus. So we rang the storage unit to see if we could put it in at 4pm and they said no problem.
I then called AirNZ and was able to change our flights for Thursday night. (It’s currently Wednesday here).
There seemed to be so much to do before that could happen. We needed to get to Vegas, find some storage boxes and clean our van out. Then we needed to find our way to Los Angeles airport for our flight, and also book a hotel. One thing at a time, we decided.
We found a Walmart on the way in and bought two storage boxes to put food and smelly things into. Then we tried to find a car cleaning place, and this was harder than expected.
The traffic was so bad in Vegas, and the lights, for some reason, take so long to change. It was brutal sitting in 40 degree heat (No A/C) while trying to navigate. We found a car cleaning place, but it wasn’t self-wash. We gave up and headed straight for the storage unit.
We drove down Fremont street, which is not the nicest area, and found our place. There was a homeless camp set up across the road and the entire area seemed really sketchy.
There was no office door so I tried ringing them but they hung up on me. I thought, oh no, we can’t put our van in early, they’re ignoring me! I left a message for them to call.
While we waited, we started clearing our car out in the carpark in the 40 degree heat, but we were both stressed and hot. And the homeless people wandering by were making me a little nervous. Finally they called me back and let us inside to finished cleaning in the air conditioned warehouse.
We’d booked indoor storage in a large warehouse and there were a few other vans in there, all much flasher than ours, which made me feel better. There were also quite a few in the outdoor lot as well.
It took us a good 2 hours to clean the inside and we didn’t do as good a job as we would have liked but it would have to do. If a mouse gets in, we’ll just have to throw everything out and start again.
We had some fridge stuff we hadn’t even opened so I went looking for Caitlin, the girl that let us in, but she was nowhere to be found. It seemed like we were left alone in the warehouse. I rang the office number and another guy, Jason, answered. I asked him if he wanted our leftover fridge contents and he said yes please and that he’d be about half an hour.
An hour later he still hadn’t arrived, so we put the fridge stuff in front of the van for him, and loaded our bikes inside. We then booked an uber to take us to Las Vegas airport. We didn’t have a flight booked yet, but hoped we could book one at the airport. If not, we’d find a hotel nearby.
We went outside to wait for our Uber, and realised we were locked in the compound, big fences towering over us! A few homeless people were lurking in the carpark, and I decided we’d be safer to wait inside anyway.
The Uber turned up and I asked her to wait. At least I’d left the door to the warehouse ajar. We went back inside to see if there was a code written down somewhere. There wasn’t. But at least we had shelter and a toilet if need be.
We headed outside again to update the uber driver, and I said to Mike, ‘make sure you keep the door ajar’
Next thing I hear the door slam shut. Dammit, now we’re locked in the carpark in 40 degree heat with no shade!
I continued to ring Jason but it kept going to voicemail. I worried he’d had an accident or something, and we would be stuck in this carpark all night! And my phone was going flat! Jason said he’d be 30 minutes over an hour ago! I was getting agitated and after about 20 mins pacing backwards and forwards, I decided to call 911.
They put me through to the fire department and as I was explaining my situation when Jason showed up towing a caravan. So long story short, we didn’t get rescued by firemen.
It was such a relief to step into the air conditioned comfort of the uber, and the driver got us to Las Vegas airport in record time, taking all the back roads.
We walked up to the Southwest Airlines Helpdesk and asked if we could book our flights there and she said yes. (just like they do on TV). She booked us on the next available flight at 8:50pm, and it was only $74 each! We asked about seating, and she said it was open seating, so basically a free for all. Then she told us she would see what she could do. We didn’t know what that meant.
Check through was easy and we stopped at a restaurant for a burger and chips. Brother Paul rang while we were there. After dinner, we sat and waited, listening to the flight announcements, all of them made in an over-enthusiastic manner. Here was an example. “This is a call for passengers blah blah, your plane is now ready to depart from gate C-23 – that’s Chicken-23′
While we were waiting for our flight we booked a hotel, not really knowing which one to pick, so we picked the cheapest that was closest to the airport. The Sheraton gateway won, as it’s only 0.5 mile.
When it was time to board our flight, they called priority boarding. I checked my tickets and the lady at the counter had given us priority, so that was a surprise. So we got onboard early and managed to get good seats together,
It was just a short flight on a 737-800, which has a 3-3 configuration. It’s only a 42 minute flight time to LAX and the air steward was funny. She said “You can sit back and relax, or sit upright and be uptight, but it will still be the same 42 minute flight.’ And they even brought us snacks and a coke!
On arrival, we made our way to the free shuttles. Many came and many went, but nothing for the Sheraton Gateway. One turned up with “Sheraton Four Points” on it. We asked if he also went to Sheraton Gateway, and he said he would get us there. It all sounded a bit suss, but we were so exhausted we hopped on board.
The airport traffic was crazy and this guy navigated his shuttle like a madman, I thought I might vomit. Mike said we’d be fine as he was playing with his rosary beads. It also started to fill up with people for the Sheraton Four Points, and I just hoped we’d be getting dropped off first (which is why I booked a close hotel).
It turned out okay in the end, we got dropped off first, and we got to our hotel room about 11.30pm. We were so exhausted we had a shower and fell into bed.