Jeff brought me up to speed on what went down the night before. Now, instead of leaving that day we were going the day after at 3:40 PM. What to do, what to do ??!!

We lounged about for a bit, breakfasted at the Rocks Cafe, and decided to go on a long walk. The concierge pointed us in the direction of the Barangaroo area on the water opposite the Opera House side. We walked and walked, through their Chinatown and other neighborhoods.

We stopped for a quick Guinness and were redirected to a better route along the water.

Walked around Darling Harbour where there was plenty of dining, shops, and a neat looking W Hotel.

We meandered through the area still amazed there weren’t many people around. Then made our way back to the Four Seasons.

Because of our flight situation we needed another night in the inn. In securing our rooms for that night Jeff was offered lounge access with all the food/drinks one could consume. Having been out every day/night we camped in the lounge for dinner and drinks. The staff there was fantastic and catered to our every little whim.

Our main server for the night was a very happy Philipino by the name of Coco who amazed us with his youthful 52 years of age.

We wiled away the evening in the lounge which was perfect as it allowed us to settle down and decompress before our flights home the following day.

The next morning we went back to the lounge for breakfast. Jeff had gone out and walked five miles before I was awake so I reconnected with our friends there and settled in to wait for our ride to the airport.

We got an Uber to the airport, and grumbled the whole way about having to leave.

Once again, Jeff got us into a very nice lounge in Sydney:

And we chilled out until flight time.

We flew Quantas to DFW, once again and very thankfully, in lay-down seats as it was a 15 hour haul. I am a huge fan of the show Barry, with Bill Hader, so binge watched that again in between snoozes. Jeff shared a half an Ambien with me so I did sleep more than usual.

Landed at DFW – finally back on US soil, and the first thought was it is dirtier, louder, and more crowded !

We ended up in the same lounge where we started this trip, and each waited for our flights home.

Finally, the time came to head home. We had separate flights to our hometowns so left one another in terminal D of the airport.

While I have learned a great many things on this trip, one was that I still can’t take a selfie looking natural, not always worried about the phone angle, taking the shot, and getting everyone into one shot.

It was odd once again flying solo, but it was time to get back home and face up to the “real” world. Honestly I am not sure what my real world is anymore beyond family and friends. To me, that is ample, so why do I feel like there is something(s) else I should be doing or involved with ? Aren’t trips like this are supposed to provide answers to those life questions ? All it has done is reawaken the desire to see/do more in the US and world. Wait, what, is that the answer to the question right there ?

As I sat down on the GSO bound flight I felt tired, a tinge of saddness, and a building head/body ache.