So it was a long flight. Really long. 14 hours which seemed to stretch to days. By the time we arrived in Los Angeles we were both already feeling pretty wiped out (I had worked the day I left and we left at 8.45 pm so with little sleep, we both felt as if we had been on the move for hours)
Anyway.
We arrive at LA, where we have to go through immigration and passport checks. Mum and I queue and go to separate desks to be processed. I get through first and Mum is still being checked and looking a little confused.
There is something wrong with her passport and visa. They don't match.
No probs, I say, I'll go and get the luggage and meet you back here once they have it all sorted out. And off I go.
Thing is, I start getting a little anxious when I am the last to collect my luggage and not only has Mum not appeared, she has disappeared. I can't find her where I last saw her. She is NOWHERE to be seen!
So I find the official who had been dealing with her, and after he was finished with his current group, I asked him if he knew where my Mum had gone.
He looked me straight in the eye and said: "We have arrested her and sent her back to Australia".
Now, I have always been told these guys are not ones to joke around and so, I was thinking something was definitely wrong. And that very possibly Mum was hyperventilating somewhere at the prospect of a 14 hour return trip to Australia without as much as a taste of a NYC hotdog!
What do you mean? Are you serious? Arrested?
The look on my face must have made his day and he seemed to respond accordingly, with smiles, laughter and reassurance that he was "only joking"!!!
Who said these guys didn't have a sense of humour???
He was an absolute cracker!
Aye aye aye!
No need to worry, my Mum was eventually processed and let into the country and we went on our merry way.
We have just arrived in Portland Maine, about 30 hours after leaving Melbourne. It's midday and as we need to keep moving so that we don't crash too early. The weather is warm and the pool is beckoning...
5 comments:
Jayzus!!! Just what you need after such a long day.
I'm sure that if you told that person, with the same straight face that you were coming to America to blow up a building he would have seen the funny side... Surely?
PS: Don't do that!!!
Glad you made it... :)
Oh my goodness. I think my heart would have stopped before the guy had time to say "Only joking".
Great to hear that you made it (in two pieces).
Oh my god, that is not cool! You poor thing, hope you've recovered from your heart attack and the flight. Live it up, can't wait for the next update!
xoxox
OMG! i was holding my breath the whole time reading that. A US customs official with a sense of humour...whats going on. Your all good so that's great. Have fun!
gosh i was petrified going through USA immigration and I had no reason to be - it was all too much, fingerprints, laser eye shots, dogs sniffing!!! crazy!!
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