Wild Departure from Chicago
Trip Start
Oct 12, 2006
1
22
Trip End
Oct 31, 2006
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Chicago,
Illinois,
United States
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Wild Departure from Chicago
Dear Readers:
Time to launch another exciting tour! As usual, the period leading up to departure is crammed to overflowing with frenzied work, as Jonathan and I manage to create the marketing materials for the majority of our upcoming tours in 2007. We sit together this morning creating the script and images for two photo galleries, uploading them to the website literally minutes before walking out the door to the airport.
The scene that greets our eyes is really astonishing. It is early October and we are having a very early snowfall. The leaves are still green outside our windows, but covered with snow. The blooms in the flowerpots on our neighbor's back deck shiver in their ermine mantle.
I am so happy to leave the winter coat behind in the car as I kiss Jonathan goodbye at the airport. After clearing security I settle in at the Red Carpet Club and watch the amazing scene outside the large picture windows. The vision alternates between brilliant sunny skies with light dancing flakes, to near whiteout blizzard conditions!
My flight to Tokyo departs on time, in spite of the weather. The captain has informed us that the flying time will be quite short for this route - about 12 hours instead of the usual 13. Conditions are right to fly over the North Pole. We will be only 750 away from it at our closest point following this route.
My seat mate is a tour leader from Sri Lanka. A very sweet and kind man, but I must confess that I have kissed some horses that have better breath than his. I smile and nod and feign interest as he describes the wonders of his country. Actually, I might just have to check it out someday. He recommends combining it with the Maldive Islands. He has a group of 15 on the plane with him now. They spent 21 days in the US, and visited both the Disney theme parks on both coasts! Welcome to America! I don't tell him I am in the same business to avoid having to converse with him any longer than necessary.
"The Devil Wears Prada" is featured on the flight, but my seat's electronic system is non functional for some reason. The flight attendant offers to change my seat to another nearby window, but I am beautifully nested here and opt to read my book instead of picking up everything and moving. I may regret the decision if Mr. Lanka has anything more to say about anything.
The captain announces that the time in Tokyo is now 4:00am on Friday the 13th. Since this blog entry is for Thursday the 12th, I had best end it here and begin the process of trying to adjust my body to being 14 hours ahead of itself.
Hugs,
Dan
