Flight notes

Well, I just got to sleep when they came to distribute some kind of
form we had to fill out. So much for trying to sleep the whole way
there. But we're supposed to get lunch pretty soon.

The path of the flight takes us up the Western shore of Lake Michigan,
over Wisconsin and through Canada. We make a swing up to far north,
then come back down.

1:16 pm CDT - Currently 179 miles out, flying at 31,000 feet. Only
6,000 miles to go, at 586 mph. The in-flight map and statistics are
pretty cool. Flying over Green Bay now.

I think I'm going to watch Valkyrie and hope to fall asleep. Lots of
choices of movies on continuous loop, including Marley and Me. I've
been wanting to see Valkyrie anyway. The plan is to land at 2:30 pm
local time (which will be 1:30 am in Missouri).

3:12 pm Central Daylight Time - Just finished watching Valkyrie.
Amazing movie. We're cruising over Churchill, near the Hudson Bay in
Canada. It's -70 fahrenheit outside. No wonder my feet are cold.
Looks like we have approximately 10 hours left to go. Lights are off
in the cabin, but there's a lot of moving around. Some people are
asleep. We're 5294 miles away, having been in the air 2:19 thus far,
traveled 1290 miles so far.

Lunch was pretty good . . . chicken, rice and vegetables, salad,
dinner roll, and triple chocolate brownie. Not a huge quantity, but
enough for now.

5:24 pm CDT - Just woke up from a 2 hour nap, but I'm still quite
tired. The map says that were flying over Queen Elizabeth Islands,
about to leave Canada and flying north of Alaska.

5:57 pm CDT - Enough trying to sleep. Mike says it's morning in
China, so we might as well try to stay awake now. We'll see how that
works. We're over the wide open water, north of Fairbanks.

Being disconnected from the Internet for 5 hours is a new experience.
At least I usually have my phone to connect with. Instead, I'm just
thinking about what work I can get done with no Internet
connectivity. It isn't quite as much as you would think!

7:59 pm CDT - Well, I have been on the flight 7 hours now. I just
finished watching the most depressing movie I have ever seen. I won't
even tell you the name of it, because I don't want to give it the
benefit of any promotion. But it made me thankful for my wife, my
kids, my life, and my faith. I can't imagine how difficult life would
be without Him.

We just crossed the international date line and have been flying over
the Arctic Ocean, headed to Siberia now. I'm not sure how cold it
still is outside, but considering we are north of Siberia, I'm not
sure how it could be very warm. (The outside temperature just popped
up on the screen: -59 degrees fahrenheit.)

It's cool how there is a screen in the seat that gives all kind of
information concerning the flight, a map, the distance, etc.

So about the international date line, how strange is that? All of a
sudden, it's Friday, just like that. We left the College 17 hours
ago, and yet we are something like 30 hours ahead in time of where we
are. It's sort of like trying to explain an episode of LOST: The
more you try, the more confusing it sounds.

I decided to get up and stretch my legs to avoid blood clots. I'll
have some pictures to post later.

8:55 pm CDT - In the middle of watching Yes Man with Jim Carrey.
Looks interesting so far.

10:26 pm CDT - Flying over the Aldan Plateau in Russia. We should be
into China soon. Just got done with Yes Man. Has a few objectionable
parts, but an overall good message. We've flown 5277 miles already,
with about 3 hours left to go.

11:29 pm CDT - Out of power on the laptop. That's all until we get to
Beijing in a couple of hours. We are getting ready to enter China soon.

3:40 am CDT - Finally got settled in at the Business Center with AC
power and Internet access. We're here safe and sound. Pictures and
video to come later.