I will have to see your ID's though ...

Time to go. All packed up and we had some spare time to drive around and enjoy the great weather, beautiful views and the 4th of July atmosphere.

Space Needle from the other side

enjoying the sun

Seattle once more

snow covered mountains

We flew Alaska from Seattle to LA and waited there for our connection with Qantas to Melbourne. Since we had some spare time a sip of cool white wine would help us to kill it. We found a nice wine bar at LAX airport and sat down to order a glass. "I will have to see your ID's though" said the waitress. We both laughed out loudly and showed her our ID's. Ziggy said he loves that place and will have a drink there every time while in LA :-)

our Alaska 737 with the amazing Mount Rainier in the background

There was still some time left for boarding and we sat down in a bar just next to our gate and watched other travelers. An Asian origin couple was sitting next to us having something to eat and drink. Suddenly a Qantas representative walked in and started looking for two people booked on a flight to Sydney. She asked around and that couple was the one she was looking for. She informed them that the final boarding call has been made some time ago and the plane was about to depart. Since there were only five gates and two planes departing she decided to find the missing two pax. The couple said that was all right and that they have to finish their chicken first because it has already been payed for. They continued eating like nothing happened and the poor agent stood there with sort of a jaw drop looking around not really knowing what to do. She said couple more times that they really have to go now. I admired her self control - she remained nice and polite. The couple spoke perfect English - so this definitely was not an understanding issue. I guess they just knew the plane will wait. Otherwise they would have to find and remove their luggage before departing without them. And this was a fully packed A380. They finished up their meal and slowly walked out with the agent shaking her head. I cannot find appropriate words for that ... ok, maybe except for: "WTF?????"