I am just getting started with blogging and this is actually the beginning of my report on flying to Nepal and should have been ahead of the post first put in.

Mark has insisted we start a blog or journal of our Nepal adventure so here goes:

September 2, 2009

5:30 p.m. Dale Andersen picked us up at 4 p.m. and got us to the airport in good time. Everything went quickly and easily until the security check where Lora had her very tightly packed carry-on bag stopped and completely emptied looking for what turned out to be some talc powder. Now she is trying to get it all back in. And she thought I was going to have a problem with all the gadgets in my bag! Our four suitcases were also fully packed right at the limit of 50 pounds, as well as our carry-on bags being near the limit of forty lb. As it turned out the baggage check in was a breeze. I told the agent all four bags were right at the limit and he joked saying that was too bad since they make their money on overweight charges. I don’t think he even looked at the weight.

At this point we feel good about our arrangements for the house and property. Our good neighbor, Ron Christensen, is very reliable and seems quite happy to help us with both the outside and maintaining the inside of the house. We have also tried to route our business mail that cannot realistically be sent to Nepal to go to Mark, which is most of it. Nevertheless leaving our home at this time of year is a bit difficult in so far as this is undoubtedly the nicest time of year and things look very nice right now.

4:10 am CST (Amsterdam time? near noon)

Flight was smooth, but comfort level D-. The chair in front is so close you can’t lay your head down and the seat leans back so little it is more like trying to sleep sitting straight up. I did see in the SkyMall magazine an add for an inflatable pillow you put on your lap which you can rest your head on for $30.00. As usual, I began thinking how I could make an equivalent mechanical device in my shop at home.

Schipol airport is nice but the WiFi is not free like in Hong Kong. Nearly everyone waiting here at the gate for the flight to Bahrain or Kuwait is trying to sleep. Everyone must be connecting from a long flight like ourselves.

Sept. 3, 2:40 am CST (Bahrain about 10:30 pm)

What a change. This leg, also on KLM, has somewhat revived my faith in KLM. The plane was Airbus 200 instead of the 300 coming from MSP; smaller but considerably better. We also had two seats by ourselves on the outside instead of two seats in the middle of four, but of greater significance was the distance to the next seat ahead and the degree to which the seat leaned back. I was actually able to sleep a little. The food was better also. Even the controls for the in flight screen on the back of the seat in front of each passenger were more intuitive. On the prior flight I couldn’t even find classical music. On this one there were several selections including one of Itzhak Pearlman’s personal selections and his explanations. They included one of my favorites, The Entertainer by Scott Joplin played by Andre Previn and Itzhak Pearlman.