Return home from Dalat via Bangkok

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11 June (Thursday) - We departed Dalat at 7:15 AM for a 8:45 AM flight to Saigon. As I walked across the tarmac to the plane I recalled to another passenger that the last time I made the same walk was in 1964. Our flight was only a half hour, so we had from 9:15 AM to 5:55 PM to spend in Saigon. We checked our baggage, and said farewell to Ruth who had a noon flight to Phnom Penh. Then Barb, Will and I caught a taxi into town for some last minute souvenir shopping...I bought some more lacquerware as gifts for my daughters. We ate at a food court...Will and I at KFC and Barb tried for the last time to find the perfect chai goia, to no avail. I will report to the Saigon Grill in Old Colorado City that they still make the best chai goias...better than any I had in Vietnam. By 2:30 PM we were done so returned to the airport, picked up our luggage, and tried to check in to our Air Asia flight, but it was too early. While waiting, we talked to three Canadian college girls who had just finished five weeks at the University of Dalat. We eventually caught our flight (the poor girls were way over their weight limits which is where discount airlines really make their money!). We landed on Bangkok and caught a taxi to the guest home; arriving about 8:30 PM. My brother in law, Steve, took Will and I to McDonalds for dinner.

12 June (Friday) - After breakfast my Mom, sister Carol, and I went to the weekend market to finish the shopping list that Linda had given me...mostly blue and white bowls or various sizes...now to figure out how to pack all this stuff! We returned to the guest home in time for all of us (including Steve and three nephews) tp drive to the Paragon Mall for lunch and a search for Rosetta Stone Italian software so that Will could learn the language before he goes to university in Rome this fall. He is now half way through the first unit and knows how to say all the various iterations of what you do with a ball.

We returned to the guest home in time for Barb and I to meet with Dave F, another Dalat student who was unable to join us for the trip, but who wanted a full report. It was great sharing our memories again with each other for several hours. We said farewell to each other as barb would be leaving early the next day.

We then went to a Texmex restaurant for dinner, and returned in time for me to spend the rest of the evening completing my last five blogs with pictures.

13 June (Saturday) - We slept in and then I talked to Mom for most of the morning. She will be staying on with my sister for awhile, although we really want her back by Fall. After lunch I wrote this blog to finish my blog for this trip. We don't have anything planned for the rest of the day other than packing, which given the amount of stuff we have accumulated may be a challenge.

I have an early flight tomorrow morning to Narita, Japan and then to Los Angeles, all on JAL which should be good. In LAX I have a five hour layover before catching the last flight to Denver, arriving there tomorrow evening. Hopefully, Linda and my daughter Tamara will be waiting to take me for the two hour drive home.

Linda called earlier today to report that one of Tamara's two cats had died suddenly and that I needed to increase the credit limit on her credit card so that she could pay the vet to find out what had happened and whether it might affect the other cat. And then Linda reported that Rosanna's credit card had been denied even though I had increased her credit limit the previous day...something to do with the adjustment for a gas charge. So life has been difficult for my family while I was away!

Will will watch a soccer game that his cousin is playing on Sunday morning. He has a 11:50 PM flight an Thai to Narita and then ANA to Chicago and United to Roanoke arriving Monday afternoon. My daughter Rosanna will meet him at the airport. After saying farewell to friends there he will drive back to COlorado for the summer before going to Rome this fall.

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