IN L.A.

I'm looking out the window of our hotel near LAX. It is so overcast, the ever-changing colorful pillars that dot the ramp seem to be holding up the sky. I haven't discerned the pattern yet, but at one point the pillars in my view were all violet.

I have adjusted to the new time zone. But this is a baby step. The course is designed so that once we hit the ground in Sydney, we will be occupied for nearly 10 hours. If Charlie's stories of past trips are true for us, the excitement will pull us through the jet lag.

Time to repack and search the hotel stores for something I forgot.