Journal - September 13, 2008

1:05 PM – Finally got to Indy around 11:00 am on Thursday. So here’s a recap of the last few hours of our travel.
The flight from Taipei to LAX went farther north than the trip over. We crossed very near Korea and flew just south of the Aleutian Islands along Alaska’s southwest tip. Then it was down along the west coast flying over San Francisco. The landing at LAX was the smoothest I’ve experienced ever! Can you say, “Butter!”?
At the Security checkpoint in LAX they confiscated my toothpaste, shaving cream, and pocket knife. Yes, I was stupid and put my pocket knife in my carry-on bag instead of my checked bag. A pocket knife in carry-on on September 11? I guess I was more tired than I thought.
The flight from Dallas to Indy was delayed for a few minutes because of a “minor” maintenance issue. Never found out specifically what it was but I’m glad they fixed it. The flight took off as the sun was rising for the second time in less than 24 hours.
That was very weird. We took off from Taipei, Taiwan around 11:00 PM on September 10 and landed in LA at around 8:00 PM on September 10. So we landed three hours before we took off. We took off and landed in the dark, but over the Pacific Ocean we saw the sun rise and set during a trip that lasted less than 14 hours.
Anyway, the flight to Indy was beautiful. We flew over the clouds and I got some great pictures and video. As we approached the airport we flew right over the Indianapolis Speedway and I got a couple of shots from the air.
Cheryl greeted me at the airport and was very teary-eyed to see me. It was good to be home.
After traveling to New Castle and taking a shower, we went to the respective schools to pick up Emily and then Kaitlyn. Big hugs were on everyone’s agenda. I’ll post a trip wrap-up entry soon.


You can find more trip pictures at my Facebook Page (http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=504321719).

They are also posted at my Flickr.com Page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/curtisferrell/)

Thanks for reading!

Journal - September 10, 2008

Sept 10 - 1:25 pm - In the Jakarta Airport. Security took Ron's water that he just bought. They almost took his frappuccino but he stood at the security check point and drank it all.

10:20 pm Taipei time - Sitting in the food court of the Taipei Airport, waiting to board in about 20 minutes.
Flight between Jakarta and Taipei was interesting. We were delayed because a passenger had checked their bags for the plane but never made it to the gate. After confirming the passenger was absent, they had to unload his/her luggage. Finally we took off. Our flight path was farther west than coming in to Jakarta. We traveled just off the coast of Vietnam and flew past Hong Kong. The young lady next to Ron got sick and threw-up on the plane. The stewardess did not help (except for bringing a large gift bag for the sick passenger to use). Ron did most of the helping.


You can find more trip pictures at my Facebook Page (http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=504321719).

They are also posted at my Flickr.com Page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/curtisferrell/)

Thanks for reading!