Sat, July 6

Our return trip was uneventful. Although our JetStar flight from Melbourne to Sydney was delayed by both the plane and crew being swapped out at the last minute, and we got shaken down ($75!) to check our carry-on bag even though we hadn't had to do so on the way out on the same airline, we still had a four hour layover before we left for Dallas. The Quantas economy class was much nicer than the American Airlines one on the outbound trip: the seats were comfier and the food was better quality. They did such a good job of adjusting us to the time change that I didn't experience any jetlag to speak of.

We had a six hour layover in Dallas because it was strangely the quickest way home. I had thought we'd need time to get through customs based on our past experiences, but US customs is a shadow of its former self, and they just waved us through with a cursory question — no paper form, no computer kiosk, and no shoe cleaning. We arrived home around midnight, and Josh and a very excited Kooper drove us home.