The car service driver showed up this dark, rainy morning a few minutes early, though he did drive up to the wrong house at first. A quick ride to the airport, then a short wait in the security line.
Mike's backpack got a second look on the security X-ray, and his "Knifeless" Leatherman drew the attention of the TSA inspectors. A nice purchase at the outlet store a few years ago. It is a Squirt without the usual knife blade. It was a test product for Leatherman, but no longer available. No knife, so okay for carryon!
A nice respite in the United Club where we discussed coffee/espresso machines with the agent.
Our flight to LAX was delayed; connecting via SFO, same plane, but different flight numbers, so we had to get off then back on. No chance to miss the connection!
Uneventful leg to LAX. After a bit of a walk, found the shuttle stop that took us to Terminal 2 for Air New Zealand.
Had to check-in again, and we had to give up our Briggs&Riley rollaboards. To big, too heavy. Oh well, tighter restrictions for carry-on. They let Mike keep the heavy backpack since it was loaded with the electronic gadgets and laptop. They didn't even question Deb's backpack.
We picked the wrong line for security. Though only a few in line, only one TSA agent was checking boarding passes and ID.
Made our way to the Air New Zealand Kuru Lounge. Heaven! A nice comfortable retreat before our flight leaves for Auckland at 10pm.
Plenty of food for lunch and dinner, as well as an open, self-serve bar with soft drinks, wine, champagne, and an assortment of booze for mixed drinks. Free entry as a perk to our Star Alliance Gold membership.
Mike repacked some of our carry-on while Deb attended to important matters. We collected some NZ tourist info, that will come in handy, including a very fine country map, and an Auckland guide.
Mike charged all the gadgets for the long flight ahead, and recharged himself with a visit to the bar.
That's all for today unless something significant arise before we board our flight to Auckland.
A few more pics can be found here:
http://goo.gl/zhXDg
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