China Trip Day 12 - Final post

Following is my final video from the trip . . .


Here was the play by play of the flight, reflecting on heading home:

4:30 am CST
Switched seats to sit next to Josh Pugsley for the trip home. Enjoyed some Blueberry Extra gum, which reminded me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Maybe that's why they don't sell it in the USA . . . too many bad memories for parents and kids from watching the movie. It's actually pretty good, but the flavor doesn't last a real long time!

7:00 am CST
On the plane 2.5 hours so far. It's been just a little rough with some turbulence. Just finished watching Frost / Nixon, an absolutely fabulous dramatization of the only interview Nixon did after leaving office. It is extremely well done and very insightful on helping understand Nixon.

They say we'll be back at 3:50 pm, which means somewhat of a layover in Chicago for my group. We don't leave until about 8:30 pm.

Had a nice American meal of beef, mashed potatoes, salad, and chocolate cake.

Preparing to fly over the Sea of Okhotsk right now. 5344 miles left to go. We are over Russian air space, and have come about 1400 miles thus far.

The next movie on to watch: Where God Left His Shoes. Maybe it will put me to sleep, but it actually looks pretty good.

When we left Beijing, the temperature was 75 degrees fahrenheit. Up at 31,000 feet, the temperature is -60 degrees fahrenheit. I don't think I've ever been in a 135 degree swing before. Kind of amazing that the plane can even take that kind of variance.
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9:13 am CST
Somewhere over the Gydan mountains of Siberia. Now it's down to -85 fahrenheit at 33,000 feet. 160 degree swing from when we left. Just finished Where God Left His Shoes, a somewhat disturbing film about a family that winds up homeless on Christmas Eve. The ending isn't quite what I expected, but it gave a lot to think about.

I'm not sure whether to sleep or not, but I may try later. Time to get up and stretch my legs now.
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10:04 am CST
The next movie still hasn't started. But I did get to have the Ramen Noodle snack with chicken. Very tasty.

I'm trying to stay awake the entire way home if possible, so that I can get back on Missouri time sooner. Not sure if I can make it, but I'll try.

Almost ready to cross the international date line, which means that Monday will continue an extra 12 hours. Right after we're across, we fly over Alaska for a few hours, then Canada, then down to Chicago.

It's cool that this plane has XM satellite radio, which we also have in our van. Actually, I don't think it's coming right off of satellite. I think it's just a loop that plays constantly, because the songs seem repetitive. But I'm enjoying the "Spa" station. Very relaxing.
Next movie: The Express
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12:57 pm CST
Flying over the Great Bear Lake in NW Canada. Have you ever noticed how big Canada is? I'm looking at it on the map, and it looks far larger than I remember.

fPerhaps it's the map problem of things in the North looking larger than they actually are (I can't remember the name of that phenomenon right now). Anyway, it sure seems like we fly over Canada for a very long time on this trip.

The Express was a powerful movie. I unfortunately fell asleep for the ending of it, but I was talking to Rory Christensen and he told me how it ended. Highly recommended movie, with a bittersweet ending that you probably wouldn't have expected.

I'm still trying to stay awake for the trip home. So far, I'm up to only about 20 minutes of sleeping.

Next movie is one with Will Smith in it. I can't recall the name.

We're about 8:30 hours into the flight, 2000 miles to go, arriving at 4:00 pm
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3:03 pm CST
Just finished Seven Pounds, an extremely emotional movie with Will Smith. I can't do justice to the movie, but let's just say it comes together beautifully at the end. It brought tears to me and actually had a great Christian message to it . . . giving your life for someone else.

Well, three movies in one trip is enough for me. I'm kind of trapped in my seat right now, with only about an hour left to go. 600 miles remaining.

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Well, we got back to Chicago just in time to find out our plane had been delayed by a long time. The real problem was there was a weather system between Chicago and the East Coast, where our planes were coming from. We were split into two planes originally, which were supposed to leave an hour and a half apart. By the time all the delays happened, we ended up leaving about 30 minutes apart. And then by the time the second plane flew faster, we actually made it into St. Louis within about 15 minutes of each other. The vans met us all, loaded us up, and we were good to go.

Left the airport about 1:10, heading west with almost no one on the highway. It's actually pretty spooky to drive when very few people are on the road.

Finally made it home around 3:45 am. Didn't sleep until the next night, but I'm finally back to normal on my sleep (as I post this on Sunday).

Thanks for the prayers and thoughts as I travelled.

And here are the pictures from the last 24 hours on the trip. . .