Saturday, June 7th, 2003

Well we are off. Left St. Louis at 14:45 and I did not puke or freak out. Almost enjoyed it. Up above the clouds now. Everything seems so small, insignificant. Do not really enjoy the plane titter tottering, but oh well. All the little farms in all there little squares it is just like all the pictures you see but seeing it is different. We are still rising; do not really know what that means. It is not as loud as people made it out to be before. It is neat seeing the shadows of the clouds on the ground and to think how much I am actually seeing.
Up here Illinois, all looks the same, if we are still over that great state. Driving, there always seems to be variety, but up here, they are all the same. I could take a picture of the ground at any time and say there is our house and you would not be able to tell the difference. More titer tottering. I am glad I did not eat anything to soon before we left. Not going to sleep on this flight, but I cannot imagine I will have much luck on the longer flight either.
I know I should not be, but I cannot help thinking about what people are thinking when one of these starts a dive. I really cannot imagine I am going to like the landing. It will be like the Tidal Wave only longer. Kind of wish I had brought a US Atlas so I could identify some of the towns I am seeing. I have been so busy looking down that I have not noticed how dark the sky is above us. We are flying in the sky blue and the space, black/blue, is right above us. I am looking forward to the night flight tonight. We well see New York lit up and probable more stars than ever before.
I will have to get rid of the black and white film in New York. I can see why people would want to be flight attendants. 31,500 ft. going to 33,000. Clouds are getting thick. Cannot really see too much. The clouds look quite sturdy. I imagine they would hold Jenn up. Probable not my lard ass. Pilot said, "the last half will be pretty rough" (wonderful). I guess if you are going to have a first experience, it ought to be rough so you have something to look forward to.

Everybody says it really does not feel like your flying. I was just thinking about that and yes, it does. This is what flying feels like. Is it supposed to feel different? It is like when somebody says frog legs taste like chicken. But they also taste like frog legs. Except for the taking off, this feels just like the train to me. I was not paying attention, we flew into a cloud, and now all you can see is white, which sucks kinda. It is kinda eerie, which the pilot just said is on our left, cannot really see it.
Jenn said her stomach was giving her fits and I have to say that mine has been better. I would assume that the turbulence right now is bad. We are going up and down like Dusty driving down Paloma blacktop. It is like a thick fog but you cannot tell how thick because there is nothing to give a perspective. I see the edge of the wing, but that does not say much. My ears just popped so I guess we are on our dissent. Although the pilot did not say anything. We are still in the clouds, but the turbulence stopped. 30 minutes left, 150 miles, captain said. 300 mph, not bad.
Left New York at 11:30 P.M., but in England it was morning so we will make this…

June 7, 2007

I still don't mind flying. They do get kinda cramped and I never think the plane is going to slow down in time on the landing. 4 years. A lot has happened in that time. Graduated, married. Michelle and i had just started going out before I left. She wonders why I am doing this when it is already up. I was thinking about that. Besides the fact that it is the only journal I have ever kept, I was a country boy, plopped into Europe, basically on my own. Somethings I handled ok, some not so much, but I feel I learned a lot about myself and the world on this trip. I think it is interesting to look back and see if anything has changed. So, as they say in Star Wars, "Here we go again." I figure this time I will throw in some pictures to add a little to the story. No scanner, so pics are ones I find on the internet. The trip was before I had a digital camera.

MILK