So, I'm flying home from Los Angeles today. At this moment the plane is 35,000 feet or so above Missouri, as far as I can tell. Flight was delayed at LAX for an hour this morning (after boarding) due to an electrical problem on plane. Apparently it was one of those "non-essential" lighting issues. After doing a "CTRL-ALT-DELETE" on the 77 on-board computer systems this Airbus 320 has, everything was okay for a minute but not for good. We had to wait for paperwork saying the plane isn't functioning perfectly but good enough to get us to Cincinnati. Seems as though all is well so far!
Interesting that this Airbus has 77 computers but no entertainment system of any kind on it. Suppose there are music channels (I'm listening to the shuffle of Dave Shaut's iPod) but no video, no movie, no live, satellite TV, nada, zip, nothing! Clearly it is a plane designed for long hauls. Amazing, 2010, I want my live TV when I fly coast-to-coast (actually anywhere).
Got me a 1st class (free upgrade) window seat. Love the window seat flying out of LA, or any West Coast city. Scenery is beautiful, first out over the Pacific Ocean--and it was pacific today--very calm, then as we take the left hand turn, Southern California is before and below. The coast line, then Palm Springs, then the huge expanse of the desert. About an hour into the flight, Las Vegas, Arizona, The Grand Canyon--all very nice. Saw the snow-capped mountain near Flagstaff today. The southern desert of Nevada and Utah is adorned in red rocks and canyons--very pretty, spectacular actually. This flight crosses southern Colorado/Northern New Mexico. There was some snow on the mountains but not as much as normal.
Once you leave Colorado, the Great Plains extend almost all the way to Ohio! Flatland, dotted with green fields, some of them round due to the circular irrigation systems. Not as dramatic as the far West, but amazing for the scale. It is where we all get a lot of our food from, so there is that!
Have flown this route many times, hundreds in the last twenty plus years. Still enjoy a window seat to take in our great country. If you haven't had a chance, do it sometime, fly coast-to-coast in a window seat on a sunny day. Worth the price of admission!
Hope y'all have a good weekend!
Dave
Friday, October 8, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Paris, Beaune, Megeve, and Chamonix, France, and Courmayeur, Italy
Kathy and I traveled to Paris, France, and a few other cities there in late August and early September. Despite all the domestic travel Kathy and I have done over the years, we had never been overseas (sounds like an old-fashioned term) before this year. We have been to Hawaii, the Carribean, Canada, and Mexico, but never to Europe. One of my friends lives part of the year in Megeve, France, about an hour from Geneva, Switzerland, and has invited us to visit him and his wife for years. We decided 2010 was the year to go.
We left Cincinnati Wednesday, August 25th. Direct flight to Paris, about 8 hours. Good flight, had a good meal an hour or so after take off, all the red (or white) wine we wanted, a couple of Benadryl, goodnight for a few hours! We arrived around 6:30 in the morning Paris time. Made our way through customs, got our bags, got a train from the airport downtown, we were on our way. Pissed off my first Parisian by not putting my bag on the overhead rack on the train, even though there were plenty of seats. Young lady gave me a dirty look! Oh well, old, ugly American! Got to the main train station, switched to the Metro (subway), got to our station, walked up to the Champs Elysee, two blocks to the Marriott, and checked into our room around 9:00 AM. All good so far!
Everyone told us to not go to sleep--stay up, push through, etc. Well, we did. Unpacked, left hotel, walked toward Arc de Triomphe, had a little breakfast on a sidewalk cafe. Best part of Paris, watching the people walk by. Great people watching. Sidewalk cafes/restaurant chairs all face the street, so you can see and be seen. Really cool!
Okay, a confession, we walked to the Arc de Triomphe, looked around, went back to hotel and took a knap for a couple of hours! But, we got up, went to Notre Dame Cathedral, spent the rest of the day there, as well as walking around the neighborhoods nearby. Was really cool. Had a little rain, but nothing too bad. Went back to hotel, rested, changed, then went out to dinner.
More entries to come--I'll make this a serial.
Here are some links to pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dshaut/BeauneFranceHeartOfBurgundyWineCentral?feat=email#
http://picasaweb.google.com/dshaut/ParisPicturesAugust2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCNj3zOuyvfDQjwE&feat=email#
http://picasaweb.google.com/dshaut/VersaillesFranceAugust2010?feat=email#
http://picasaweb.google.com/dshaut/MtBlancAndChamonixFrance?feat=email#
Dave
We left Cincinnati Wednesday, August 25th. Direct flight to Paris, about 8 hours. Good flight, had a good meal an hour or so after take off, all the red (or white) wine we wanted, a couple of Benadryl, goodnight for a few hours! We arrived around 6:30 in the morning Paris time. Made our way through customs, got our bags, got a train from the airport downtown, we were on our way. Pissed off my first Parisian by not putting my bag on the overhead rack on the train, even though there were plenty of seats. Young lady gave me a dirty look! Oh well, old, ugly American! Got to the main train station, switched to the Metro (subway), got to our station, walked up to the Champs Elysee, two blocks to the Marriott, and checked into our room around 9:00 AM. All good so far!
Everyone told us to not go to sleep--stay up, push through, etc. Well, we did. Unpacked, left hotel, walked toward Arc de Triomphe, had a little breakfast on a sidewalk cafe. Best part of Paris, watching the people walk by. Great people watching. Sidewalk cafes/restaurant chairs all face the street, so you can see and be seen. Really cool!
Okay, a confession, we walked to the Arc de Triomphe, looked around, went back to hotel and took a knap for a couple of hours! But, we got up, went to Notre Dame Cathedral, spent the rest of the day there, as well as walking around the neighborhoods nearby. Was really cool. Had a little rain, but nothing too bad. Went back to hotel, rested, changed, then went out to dinner.
More entries to come--I'll make this a serial.
Here are some links to pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dshaut/BeauneFranceHeartOfBurgundyWineCentral?feat=email#
http://picasaweb.google.com/dshaut/ParisPicturesAugust2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCNj3zOuyvfDQjwE&feat=email#
http://picasaweb.google.com/dshaut/VersaillesFranceAugust2010?feat=email#
http://picasaweb.google.com/dshaut/MtBlancAndChamonixFrance?feat=email#
Dave
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