Saturday morning, we got up, ate breakfast, and headed to the airport at 9 am. Everything was smooth sailing. In LA, Holly Robinson Peete got on the plane with us headed to Dallas. All I have to say about that is I have never seen a woman treat a pair of jeans as fine as she did. Lawdy, lawdy, lawdy!
Stepped off the plane in Dallas and it was 28 degrees with rain. In Sydney, it was 92 when we left. I wanted to turn around and go back.
Finally got home at 8 pm Saturday and saw my Doodlebug. Ol' Meanness hit the sack and I stayed up until 3 am plucking the guitar and watching DVD's. I finally fell asleep after 32 hours of being awake and didn't wake up for 12 hours, a record for me.
My thoughts on Australia.....
It is a beautiful, clean country. We were limited on this trip to the city of Sydney and I would have loved to see some of the other parts of the country. Some of our group purchased extended packages and went diving at the Great Barrier Reef or rented an RV to tour the outback.
The people are generally friendly. BUT, beneath all of the joking around and smiles, I sensed a feeling of contempt for Americans. Many of the people I talked to let it slip that they see us as imperialists out trying to conquer the world and they think our President is a renegade. When I remind people that WE were attacked, they brush it off and change the subject. They're a bit too socialist for my tastes.
The food is very bland. Maybe I'm spoiled living in East Texas where we have Tex-Mex, Cajun, and Texas Barbecue in abundance. Heck, even Outback Steakhouse has better steaks than what they have in Australia. I loved the lamb chops, but that was it.
I kept saying to my wife, "This is nice, but everything they do here, we do much better in Texas." Of course, I could have been anywhere in the world and that statement would remain true.
The Watkins group is fantastic, top to bottom. I say that in all sincerity. Yeah, there's a couple of goobers I didn't exactly click with, but that's OK. I'm sure I'm hard to take on occasion.
I met hottubdan on an elevator and it seems every time I saw him, it was in passing and I regret not getting to visit with him more. There are just so many people on these trips and we're always on the go, it's hard to find time to sit down and talk.
This trip, and other dealings I've had with Watkins Mfg. over the years, always reaffirms my sense of pride at working with a company that truly values it's work force and customers. Our company (East Texas Spa) is a customer, the same as some of you consumers, and we are treated with the same amount of respect and reverence as you, from top to bottom, as it should be.
Hope ya'll have enjoyed some of this and maybe learned a little bit about Sydney that will help you should you decide to visit. G'day!
The End
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