A Long Day: The Flight

(June 18-19, 2008)

From "It's A Wonderful Life":

George: You know what the three most exciting sounds in the world are?

Billy: Uh-huh. Breakfast is served; lunch is served, dinner...

George: No, no, no, no! Anchor chains, plane motors, and train whistles.

Nowadays it would seem I should say plane jet engines is more, but you get the picture. For my trip the three most exciting things in the world would be: hearing "all aboard", filling the gas tank in a new spot, and waiting in line at airport security.

This is the "official" start of my trip. Kayla was kind enough to taxi me to SeaTac for my marathon day of travel which will kick off my "campaign". As I waited in the security line it the upcoming trip started to sink in. I was ready.

This would be my second "real" (i.e. international) trip--with my Panama/Colombia trip starting me out in January. Standing in line and not knowing what I'd be in store for was also something to savor. This is what life's all about. The act of throwing yourself into completely alien situations--that's living life! **I talk as if I'm a seasoned veteran!** I can't wait. Even if I have "less than good" times--these ARE experiences. It's not sitting in front of the TV. It's living life.

Ok, the particulars---

• Had a bite to eat at SeaTac's Mountain Room Pub.
• Boarded plane for a 2:40 - 9pm flight to Chicago's O'Hare.
• Watched "Lady Sings The Blues" on my iPod for most of the flight. Sad film. Diana Ross can sing, but I wish more of Billie's original recordings were used.
• Also mapped out a plan for London--I'd have over 10hrs to kill there till my 12hr bus ride to Inverness.
• Boarded my "over the pond" plane for a 9:50pm - 11:30am flight to London. This plane was HUGE! I've never been in a plane as big as this--it was like a movie theater! (and we had little TV screens on our seats!). My plan was to catch up on sleep, but I ended up staying up most of the time--Casablanca was on, and I had to watch it.
  

It's noon the next day: I'm in Europa.