Around the World Eastbound the Whole Way

I received a call from some people that I had been in touch with before about moving an aircraft from France to Indonesia. Of course my answer to the question of "Was I interested?" was a resounding "YES!". One of the coolest things about this trip was that after all the travel was said and done I would be going around the entire world Eastbound the whole way until returning to DFW. So lets dive right in. The initial travel was from DFW to Philly then on to Paris. From Paris we caught the high speed rail to Dinard France. Dinard is a beautiful place in the Northwestern corner of France. It reminded me of Northern California. Just dating back a few hundred years. The pictures above are of the train station we arrived in at Dinard. All told just the travel to get there was 23 hours. layovers and a 4 hour train ride took it's toll.

This was the view of the beach from my hotel. It was very chilly but that did not stop the patrons of the beach from having a good time. You can tell from the surrounding building that this place is just filled with historic stuff to see.

This is the hotel side that faces the beach.

This is the front of the hotel and some of the surrounding streets.

Downtown Dinard. We had some great food in our two nights that we spent in town before we left to begin the flight.

All of the above pictures were taken one morning when I decided to go on a walk rather than wait around the hotel for word as to when we were leaving. We had suffered some major delays and I just wanted to check out the sites without the other pilot. So I started walking toward the beach where I found this paved walkway. So away I go down the walkway. This turned into basically a paved trail along the rocky beach right where the water meets the cliffs. It was so cool. The homes that were along this trail were simply outstanding. And the old architecture was great to look at.

Ok, so there was a gap in my picture taking story. The above picture s of the Alps. What happened was we finally got out of Dinard and it was in the late afternoon. The sky was cloudy so really there was nothing to see. We went from Dinard, France to Luxembourg, Luxembourg. However by the time we landed it was well into the evening. So no pictures of the first leg. Then we leave in the very early hour the next day when it was raining and just all around crumby. And then the clouds started breaking over the Alps when we got closer to Italy.

All over the above pictures are enroute over Italy and Greece. It was rather funny because our routing was almost identical to the routing we had when we came over in the F last year. Just like last time Italy and the islands of Greece did not disappoint. Water so blue the pictures can not do it justice.

As we push on we approach my arch rival from the last time I was here. Egypt. As we proceed across the Mediterranean there comes a large mass of sand ahead. it just amazes me that as soon as you get to Egypt this are even dirtier in the air. However I did get to snap a quick shot the pyramids on the approach. Never mind flying the airplane, having a very hard time understanding ATC, and having to babysit Grandpa over there in the First Officers seat. I'm gettin' me a picture of the Pyramids!! One thing you can really tell from the pictures is that there is just a ton of people crammed into a very small space here.

Here is the hotel we stayed at in Cairo. The hotel was very nice. Clean and the food was very good as well. Which was a good thing to have as we had a rather long day for day 2 getting here. Luckily we arrived in the afternoon so I could actually see things. That night outside my hotel window was some kind of party by the pool. The girls that were "singing" seemed very happy with their ability. I found it painful, yet those were the sounds I heard outside my window all night long. In many of the places I have seen there are some fast and crazy drivers. Cairo takes the cake in this department. You would think that their sole goal in life is to how fast they can go and how close they can get to one another at the previously mentioned high speed. Absolutely nuts! One notable thing I found pretty interesting. When the van pulls up the hotel there is a bomb sniffing dog that walks around the van as well as a soldier that uses a mirror that is attached to the pole to look under the vehicle in case the dog misses a bomb. Rather interesting introduction to Cairo.

Us about to leave Cairo on our way to Muscat, Oman.

Pictures over Egypt and Saudi. The picture on the right is of the airport we stopped at on my last go-over. But the ATR has much longer legs than the F27 so we did not need a fuel stop this time. I must say I was happy to not stop there. Last time they would not let us go in to use the restroom. They said we had to stay by our aircraft. Which was a cargo bird with no lav. Really agitated us. So we proceeded to offload our "water storage tanks" on the ground right then and there. So I was glad that we did not have to stop here.

Making our approach into Muscat I was able to clip a few pictures of the buildings.

Airport parking and some of our neighbors. The Russian airplane getting fueled landed right behind us. Never seen this particular airplane in real life before, pretty cool. the other pictures are just of the drive to the hotel. Sadly I did not get a picture of the hotel we stayed at. I just completely forgot.

These photos are of the Muscat, Oman to Calcutta, India leg. The one on the left is worth mentioning simply because I was over Pakistan. Kinda dorky but I thought it was cool. The other two are just flying through the India Tropical storms.

The F/O was in the back doing paperwork.

En-route and a quick arrival shot of Calcutta. This was the nicest hotel stay we had on the trip. The food was pure greatness!! I went "Man vs. Food" style at one of the hotel restaurants and let me tell you.... Man won. I do love Indian food. Now as I tell you that the hotel was the nicest we had been to, getting there was something else. it was a hour long drive through some nasty places. Not unsafe, just dirty and gross. Overall it was a great overnight.

First Officer Krueger and just a picture of the back. As you can see we were bringing new seats for install when the aircraft gets to Jakarta.

En-route shots of the India - Malaysia leg. Very pretty islands.

Pictures of the arrival into Langkowe, Malaysia. Not only are the islands so very cool looking. There were boats out fishing that we flew right over on the approach.

These pictures are of the airport at Langkowe, Malaysia. This was supposed to be an overnight for us after India but due to the fact that we had lost two days because of the two air turnbacks out of Dinard we had to bypass this stop and push on to Jakarta, Indonesia to make up some time. Langkowe is a resort destination and it is something to see. Had I know that this stop was going to be so nice I would have bypassed Egypt in a heartbeat to stay here for the night. But sadly it was not in the cards this time 'round.

This picture needs a little bit of explanation. The old man that had the money got in an argument with handlers about the charges. So they took it upon themselves to blockade out aircraft with ground equipment and have a few friendly police officers come over to us to try to give the old man the proper encouragement to pay the bill. The discussion got a little heated and I thought we may be spending the night in a Malaysian jail. Money eventually exchanged hands and we went on our merry way for the final leg.

These are photos of us leaving Malaysia. Although the visit was full of Springer style drama this little island in the Pacific has now made it to one of the places that at some point I want to spend a week vacationing.

Well we arrived into Jakarta, Indonesia in the middle of the night and a few hours later I was catching my flight to Bangkok, Thailand then on to LAX. The two in airport pictures are from Thailand. The airport is build using a tent system. Rather like DEN. I thought it was noteworthy. The other thing I saw that was entertaining was a DQ and Burger King. I don't know why I found it funny but when I saw the DQ I suddenly had the song from the commercial go through my head. "DQ....Thats what I like about Texas!" I just wanted to add "DQ.... Thats what I like about Texas.... only in Bangkok!!"

On the long 16.5 hour flight to LAX I did have the privilege of being in business class. And I was seated just to the right of "Hyde" from "That 70's Show". When I got to LAX I caught the overnight flight to DFW then the 7:30 am flight over to Midland So I could go to work that afternoon. I broke many personal records on that commute to work!!

What a crazy trip.

Summer Evenings at NRH2O

June and July of this past summer I had a hard time getting over bronchitis and just did not feel up to spending the day in the heat at the water park. Once August hit I was up to my old self and we spent almost every evening at the park. Clay was gone for about 5 weeks, with a day here and a day there with him home. He was able to get a contract to ferry an ATR from Washington to Indonesia. So with the long summer days and bored kids the water park was a blessing!

We had our schedule down. We pack up our dinner and leave the house around 3:00. Some nights we stopped by Risky's BBQ and got 6 pulled beef sandwiches for $5.00. By the time we arrived at the park many of the people that have been there since opening were leaving. We were always able to find chairs underneath the huge umbrellas. We would stay until they closed at 6 or 7. On the way home Paige would fall asleep and transfer very well to her bed once we got home. Matthew was so tired too that he would have a bowl of cereal and off he went to bed. It worked out perfect for me since Clay was gone so much. Before this it was up to an hour battle to put Paige to bed. She thought it was a game and kept getting up and up and up, laughing all the way back to her bed. The Super Nanny tactics did not work on this stubborn child. With her falling a sleep in the car there was no battle and a very happy mommy because who wants a battle at the end of the day when you yourself are ready for bed.

Paige and Matthew loved the water park! Matthew was able to teach himself how to swim really well. He was also able to learn how to do a front and back flip and handstand in the water. His favorite part this summer is what we called the wipe out zone. There are 2 obstacles the first is where you run across floating circles on the water and the other you walk across floating logs on the water. Paige really loved the orange and yellow slide.

The week before school started I was watching Matthew's good friend Wyatt while his family was busy packing up their house for the move to Utah. It was fun for Matthew to have a buddy to run around with at the park.

Eagle Mountain Lake

Our good friends Brent and Angie invited us out to their parent's house located on Eagle Mountain Lake. This was the first time for both the kids to enjoy one of Texas' great lakes. Matthew's favorite thing was riding with Brent on his brand new jet ski. I did a lot of relaxing on Chill Town, the huge floating raft.

After about 3 hours in the sun it was time to change and head on the boat for dinner. We didn't bring clothes to change into so we dashed home and in 11 minutes the kids and Clay were able to shower and change, feed the dog and get back in the car. Not bad for a family of 4.

Angie's dad drove all of us on his pontoon boat across the lake to a restaurant on the marina. This was so relaxing to me. The wind blowing, enjoying the crisp summer night. We ended up eating at Scampi's Cove after arriving at other locations that had already closed. This was some amazing grub! Clay and I had a hamburger that had a fried egg and bacon on it!! One of the best burger's I have ever had.

On the way back the kiddos fell asleep on the boat. Clay was feeling a bit motion sickness for the first time ever in his many years of enjoying a boat and had to move to the back of the boat. Brent took his spot next to Paige and the rest of the ride Paige was holding on to Brent's finger. It was fun to see the smile on Brent's face.

Our adventure as a family on the lake ended with tons of adventures and first for the kids. Hopefully next time Clay and I can get on the jet ski for our first jet ski adventure.

Let the Dancing Begin!

I have been waiting for the day the Paige turned 2 and she was able to enroll in dance class. We went to register and we were put on a waiting list which really made me sad, then on Saturday we got a call that that had opened another 2 to 3 year old class on Wednesdays from 9:45 to 10:30. Clay that I was a little crazy because I was really excited.

On the list of goods to get for the class, she needed tap and ballet shoes and it specifically noted they can't be Walmart or Payless brand. I stopped by Payless to see how much money they were and was thinking great the shoes are going to be twice as much at the dance store, but to my surprise they were actually cheaper. They also called for pink tights, so I headed to kidtokid thinking that I could get them cheaper there, so I bought a pair of pink dance tights, but another think I have learned is that ballet pink is not pink but more of a peachy color. Lots to learn!

Paige was so darling trying on dance shoes. First she tried on Ballet shoes. She sat on the bench very quietly watching as the lady tried on about 5 different pairs of shoes. Once the perfect fit was found she said that Paige could get up and try them. Paige grabbed my hands and said "Dance Mommy" so we stood and danced in circles for a minute. Then it was time for the tap shoes, she again sat there very quietly while she was fitted for shoes and as soon as she was allowed to walk around she again said "Mommy Dance" and she grabbed my arms and danced. She was also able to pick out a cute bag to put all her gear in.

The first day of dance class was cute. She was excited to wear her leotard and tights (the tights ended up being way to big but I finally found some that fit perfect!!) Her teachers name is Miss Lauren and I think she is going to be an awesome teacher. There are only 4 girls in her class and Paige more or less just sat and took everything in for the first day! She seemed to really enjoy herself. It is going to be hard to get pictures because you are looking through a window that has blinds on it! :(

Going Straight

When the boys are away the girls will play! This day Paige and I had a few hours to ourselfs which ended up being a beauty day for Paige. She got her nails painted and stayed still long enough for mommy to straighten her hair.

Toy Story 3

This was Paige's first movie to enjoy in the movie theatre. I just think it was fun because Grammy took Matthew to see his first movie Cars and here we are 4 years later and Grammy is taking Paige to see her first movie. She loved it but we knew she would because she love Buzz.