July 05 - delivery to Houston

07/05/2008
- the airports have not been packed, but it was impossible to sleep well on the plane, and we are starting to experience heavy exhaustion ... it is now six o'clock a.m. our (old) time, and we've had no more than three hours sleep; our skin is extremely dry, and our eyelids are sticking to our eyeballs
- breakfast was an energy bar and most of Bill's grapes
- we wander concourse B, stretching out our legs
- two hours until takeoff, and I could really use a nice, comfortable bench, but they are all upright torture devices ... airlines and airports never seem to get good press anymore ... I hear that my pregnant cousin needed several barf bags on the way home, and the flight attendants were so very not helpful, pretty much got an "oh, well" when she ran out ... luckily she has a loving little brother (much like my own) and he pulled some from other rows
- pick up lunch from Quizno's and wait for our flight to be called ... and wait ... and wait
- spoke with my seat-mate David the whole trip, we compared jobs and AK and TX and various vacations and then he got the strangest look of devilish delight in his eyes and asked, "Are you on Blank Street?" I was so shocked ... turns out his mother lived down the street for a couple of years, and he had seen BH ride his recumbent up and down the street ... how odd and amazing was that co-incidence? We had a great chat.


What I've learned on this trip:
- there's nothing like a long trip to teach you what clothes are useful versus which ones are not, and how much I hate companies that can't be bothered to properly finish their clothing
- I only need one tube of sunscreen for the two members of this family ... I ended up with four on this trip, they have wasted valuable space
- Kira food is essential, never leave home without it, bring more than you think you will need
- traveling without a vehicle is nice, but it does bring scheduling challenges, though I know the few miles we've walked on this trip are trifling compared to the miles our ancestors walked
- tourist towns are not for me, neither are highly populated areas, off the beaten path makes me happier
- if shoes are not thoroughly comfortable, think twice, my merrell hikers have worked fairly well, but they bruise the tip of my right fibula (the place I've got bone missing) and it has made a couple days of the trip uncomfortable, especially following a day of rapid elevation change ... I'll be checking out Salomon next
- we like staying somewhere more than one or two nights, it really gives us the opportunity to get the lay of the land
- bring more lotion than you think you will need, running out of "your" brand is a killer
- miniaturize as much stuff as possible, especially palm and cell phone, less weight and bulk is preferable ... it all gets heavy lugging it around
- brush up on your geography, you meet people from all over and it is nice to picture their city/homeland/etc.
- bring plenty of plastic/biodegradeable utensils ... we had to beg and borrow a couple of times, and EVERYTHING got washed several times
- don't bring workout clothes, you walk too much, be prepared for sore feet
- bring multiple sock weights
- don't forget a swimsuit
- you do adjust to a changed temperature after two days, don't over or under pack
- bring minimum makeup, most days I won't bother with it