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Published: March 12th 2009
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The Noble Monarch...
Not a lot of photos pertinent to the text this week...as you can imagine...this is a photo of a Monarch Butterfly (taken before our trip) that allowed me to shoot this picture... Whatta week, oh whatta week it really was, sucha week...or actually two...On Tuesday the 24th, we got a call that my mum had a heart attack and associated difficulties. Quite a scary phone call. I worked my Wednesday morning list, then spent the afternoon running around town making arrangements to fly home with Nahid on Thursday. Due to storms in the Chicago area, we didn't get to our hotel in Jamestown until three thirty AM. My mum is doing better, but will need to move to a nursing facility so she can be watched more closely (24/7) than she can at home. I needed to be there, and my family needed me to be there.
While I was making reservations, I did not even consider a stop in Denver to see our son Mark or to pick up my nerve stimulator, mail, etc. My travel agent here told me I would be able to change our tickets without charge, to change the dates if need be...not thinking that if I changed the itinerary it would be a different story. I called Air NZ in the middle of our stay to inquire if I might change things, and they told me
Leaving Christchurch and seeing things...
we had never seen about NZ, like how we will miss her. I would require a faxed letter stating my mum was in "expensive" care, and they might change the dates or my ANZ flights from San Francisco to Christchurch, but was told that I would need to work out the US legs with United, who would have undoubtedly wanted a letter, and then have charged me anyway since I was changing my itinerary. It sounded like too much trouble, and I resigned myself to flying back on Wednesday the 25th as scheduled...but God had other ideas...
We got to the Buffalo airport in plenty of time to make the flight. The plane taking us to Chicago arrived somewhat late, and was not the United Express painted CRJ, but a plain white version. We left somewhat late....and arrived somewhat later...we only had 50 minutes or so for our connection as scheduled, and as we were scampering to the gate, I was grousing about how our bags would not make the connection, and that would be a hassle big time. We got to the gate about two minutes after they closed the doors, and missed it...which made me even more irritated...how little did I know...
Next we went to the passenger
Christchurch Airport
From the air...in the left middle of the photo is a USAF C-130 with some orangeness on the empennage (tail) area which is used to support the joint efforts in Antarctica. They can only fly in and land on the ice in the warmer months. In mid-winter, you are just there... service desk at United to ask "what are they going to do for us..." They offered three options...1) fly Los Angeles, Sydney, Auckland, Christchurch, 2) stay at their expense in Chicago for the night and fly the next day to San Francisco with the next day's downstream reservations, or 3) fly to San Francisco today, spend the night, and follow the next day's downstream. We were warming to the idea until I realized that all of this would be without our bags, and without clothing and everything else that makes visiting a city fun. I suddenly thought of another option...how about if you fly us to Denver today, we spend the night in our own home at no expense to United, with clothes, and all the frills we wouldn't have in the other options, fly us to San Francisco tomorrow to reconnect with our bags and Air NZ, and proceed on from there...win-win. Well she didn't seem too crazy about the idea, but started typing up a storm on her computer terminal, and, in a few minutes, printed out boarding passes for just that itinerary. We were looking at each other thinking "Holy Cow...I don't believe this."
So, we
Auckland Airport
In front of the All Blacks (rugby team of NZ which carries the national reputation with them every time they play) Adidas Store at the airport. The leagues are a bit confusing...these guys were obviously a rugby team dressed in uniforms transiting the airport. The shirts said "Super Seven" on them...whether that excludes the possibility they were on the All Blacks I don't know. Seems they can play on a number of teams worldwide and still be on the All Blacks. Anyway, took this picture of them outside the All Blacks Store, having a picture taken with a group of girls from Argentina that seemed to think they were of some import. called Mark to ask if the guest bedroom was available for the night...he allowed as to how he thought it was, and off we went. Landed at DIA and were picked up by Mark. We have made our house available to some friends who have been working in Africa, and are back in Denver for a few months until they return in late spring. After we landed, we called Bob on his cell phone, and left a message that we would be spending the night in the guest bedroom. Apparently he and Inis went to bed before the message hit his phone, which he left downstairs. We ate a fine dinner at Sushi Den in Denver, returned home, and went to bed...our house...our guest bedroom...somewhat unusual experience, (but we decided we might try it out again once we are home for a low budget get-away). We were gratified to find that the bed is reasonably comfortable (good news for anyone reading this who might be a potential visitor). In the morning, we awoke to the sounds of our guests coming down the stairs, fixing coffee and breckie in the kitchen and preparing to go to work.
I had just
ANZ 747 Flight 6
Photo of the 747 that is preparing to be the "Freedom Bird" to take us "Back to the World" as we termed it during my participation in the Southeast Asian invitational (by draft or otherwise) games. In my experience, ANZ is one of my favorite airlines, perhaps due to the places they do (and don't) go. asked Nahid whether we should get up and walk out to say hello...(I was afraid that I would give them such a start that they might have some sort of physical event, seeing us there when we are supposed to be here)...we had decided to let them go to work and explain ourselves later...anyway, they were apparently expecting a guest that day, and Inis, being the good hostess, decided to place some towels on the bed in advance...she opened the door to the guest bedroom, flipped on the light...and Holy Cow, there's someone sleeping in the bed!!! (Shades of Goldilocks and the Three Bears). We didn't really have much time together, as they were on their way out, just as were we.
Interesting how our time here in NZ has changed us...spoiled us in a way. Not so much for being in Jamestown, but definitely in airports and in cities (Buffalo and Denver, we) were struck by the noise, the business, the crowded conditions and lack of solitude. We both independently began to look forward to our return here...part of that was because we knew that this is the direction our paths must lead, but also because we missed
More trashy souvenirs...
More of the stuff of vacations... the slower pace of life, the ability to easily find a quiet place, a place to hide, a place to think and process life apart from the rapidity of life in the US. Even though we both agree we could probably not stay here for the long term, we definitely will miss it, warts and all.
Getting back was a joy. It is good to return to our new (interim) home and friends. I have appended some of the highlights of our first few days back to the end of this, including the solution to the mystery of the unusual plant we saw in Sumner. Here is a link... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agave
Our three sons will be arriving here on the 23rd of March for 7 days and 6 nights. We are looking forward to a great time of driving around, seeing stuff and having fun. The weather has been unsettled and fall-like the last few days after being wonderful last weekend. We are hoping for extended fine-ity for the week they are here.
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Joyce and Ron Olson
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Way cool
Hey Dr. Jack and Nahid, Sounds like you had quite an experience (positive) with the airline industry. That is good. Did they give you free tickets too? They usually do. All is well in Denver, it is very dry and they are calling for some extreme fire danger in places. Our son and his wife were here from NJ last weekend and took them to the Butterfly Pavilion and the Denver Zoo. Love the picture of the monarch you have in this journal. Was it just migrating through NZ? Good to hear from you and hope your mom is doing better. What a scare. Will keep her in prayer. Take care and look forward to the next entry in your saga. God Bless you both. J/R