The start

It all began with a pretty jammed day that started about 6am. It's surprising how much really goes into getting a house ready to vacate for an extended period as well as getting everything finally packed and ready to go. But it got done.

Carolyn and Jason picked us (yes, Phoebe the Corgi was a part of the first leg of this trip) up and we headed for Logan a little after 2pm. We got cut off in the Ted Williams Tunnel by a crazed cardiologist distracted by his beautiful passenger. Oh, that's right, it was Lauren and Marc headed for the airport to see me off. They were heading for the international terminal where, had we not seen them, they'd have been scratching their heads. I was leaving from Terminal B.

Arrived in plenty of time to have a quiet and personal trip through security. Quite a change from long lines and pressured employees. Even made a couple of them smile. The journal the kids gave me for the trip caused a little stir, though. The Xray machine balked at it and they opened my carry on to take it out. It apparently was so dense that the machine couldn't penetrate it.

It's always good to see a ship and a crew at the gate. The crew arrived before the aircraft and I talked a bit with the captain while we waited. Told him I'd retired from Delta in 2004. The story is much the same as with other crewmembers these days. The job isn't as attractive as it used to be. Kind of sad, really.

It was a great flight to LAX. Arrived early and discovered the connection to Qantas #26 leaves from the same terminal. It's now a little after 9pm PST and we've got a couple of hours before departure.







So it's all begun.