Los Angeles, who needs it?

     We flew the friendly skies yesterday and arrived late at LAX.  Late in two ways; late in the evening and late because United loaded our full flight from Chicago into the plane and the flight crew (Pilot) was not there.  We were informed that they'd been delayed and were en route from Houston, but we sat there and waited.

     After arriving in LAX we collected our luggage and hunted down the shuttle to Thrifty car rental.  I mention them by name because I don't recommend them.  Normally the shuttle drivers help you load your luggage on to and off of the bus.  This notion was lost on our driver.  Similarly, the customer service picking up the car was underwhelming.  They told me to walk thru this door and see the man.  Then the man told me to walk outside and pick a van.  There was no van to be picked.  I confess, my string was stretched a little too tightly, anyway I expressed my discontent.  A candid and heated conversation ensued.  Finally got some action, much like trying to wake the dead.  It may be that this is just the quintessential inept franchise, but it makes me think that price is not the best indicator.  Of course, the last person I spoke with was not a native English speaker.  He was trying to apologize for my dissatisfaction, but all I could make out was "Sorry".

     With my rental car beneath me, we made our way back to pick up a fellow traveler at the terminal and then set the GPS to our destination for the night.  I'd forgotten what driving in Los Angeles was like.  YIKES!  I thought Ft Meyer drivers were in a hurry...  Don't bother signaling a lane change, they see it as a challenge to cut you off.

So we arrived unharmed in Garden Grove and "Little Saigon".  I was treated to a massage by their chair.  It was wonderful.  It has rollers everywhere you could want them.  It squeezes your legs and rubs your feet, and stretches you out.  I fell asleep.
Anh woke me to come to bed because I was snoring too loud.  Ever wonder why people who snore are not awakened by the sound?

So today we will be visiting old friends and acquaintances.  I'm hoping there's a massage and a haircut in my future.

Oh my bags are packed...

     Anh has had the bulk of the packing done for several weeks.  She's really good at this.

     I keep wondering what I'm forgetting.  I've been making lists and checking off as I get each thing done.  Sometimes I think done is simply when you quit whether the task is completed or not.  This morning it was fiddle with the irrigation system.  Make sure everything is getting water.  I discovered numerous fountains where the spray nozzles have broke off and so they shoot a stream of water straight in the air.  I also spent some time whacking at the banana leaves that shade mango trees.  Also whacked on some of the coconut trees.  Trimmed the roses.  Mailed our ballots for the November election.  Bought food for the ducks.  Did some house cleaning.  Harvested some bananas for a friend.  Checked in for our flight.  Inventoried needed papers; passports, plane rides, car rentals.

     Then this evening we had supper with Anh's cousin and his wife and our friend John from Georgia and his friend Ky.  As usual, the conversation was all in Vietnamese, so I'm not telling anyone what was said.  We ate at the new Ginger Bistro in Cape Coral.  They've only been open about a week and the place was packed.

     I thinned out my reading list, mostly so I can fit the books in my backpack.  The list was quite long and almost certainly overly optimistic.  While the trip is for fun, I am trying to stay focused on my studies.  So I'll be working on Mounce's "Basics of Biblical Greek".  I have several books to read about Postmillennialism, I have a lunker of a book on Biblical Hermeneutics copyrighted in 1890.  And to round out the festivities, R.C. Sproul's book on the holiness of God, John Pipers book called "Think, the life of the mind and the love of God".  I'm thinking these should test my self-discipline. 

     The other big test is weight control.  I have set a goal for myself to lose weight on this cruise.  This could be an historic undertaking; who loses weight on a cruise?  Pray for me! :)

     The plan is to journal our grand voyage on this blog.  So if you're interested you're welcome to come along vicariously.  Our Med cruise this time last year resulted in thousands of pictures so I'm sure there will be some here as well.

     This picture was taken today about 1600 looking NNW from my back step.  I thought the storm cloud looked pretty cool.  We've been getting these afternoon storms almost daily.  Some more dramatic than the rest.

I'd like to get you on a slow boat to China...

There's a trip in our future; a rather long one.  Expect updates

No news is no news

I have no news about the situation in Vietnam, but if you are familiar with our experience in Vietnam (or want to be) I just remembered that I blogged about it at the time.  Here is a link

Da Plane Da Plane

It's been years in the making and is not done yet.  We started the project sometime in 2007.  This is a Vans RV9A that we built from a kit.

N9XG

I was back in Washington in July and we were modifying the fuel system.  We added a shut-off valve for each wing tank.  This entailed modifying a couple fuel lines.  As usual, nothing goes as quick as expected.  The fuel lines (which should have been a one day task) have not been finished.  Once done, they should be a quick install.  Then an engine start and some taxiing around just to head up the engine.
    After this is completed we're ready to submit papers to the FAA for our airworthiness inspection.  Stay tuned.

Oh By the way, If you're interested in the background of the plane project you can look at some of the older posts like those from 2012 and there is also the old blog I started with the plane project.

Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. 

Psalm 63.3

Our trip to the Med 2017

This posting is a work in progress.  Selecting photos and working to get a more pleasing format is ongoing.  But such as it is, here it is.

It's been almost a year since our last cruise.  In October 2017 we cruised to the Med for forty-nine days.   Here are a few pictures from the Med cruise.  I have thousands of more pictures but here are a few.  Click on any to see a larger view.

    Crossing the Atlantic took six days and brought us to the Azores.  This trip took us to many places I'd never been.

 We left Ft Lauderdale late in October so the weather was often on the cool side.

Boyd and I made it a point to have a local beer in each port we visited.  Here we are in Horta

Here are a few examples of life imitating art.

Cartegena

Columbus Monument

Anh with some stiff

View from atop Columbus Monument

View of the street below

Nov 1 - Lots of walking

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Never want to lose your head

Big Hole

Palma

Palma

Florence Perseus w/ Medusa's head

Florence

Florence David

Florence

Florence

Florence was awesome if you love art and history.  This is where the Renaissance began.  Everywhere you look there is something of beauty.














Pompei - Nov 10-12
    I was surprised to see how large and well developed the city was.  This was not some humble village, but rather spacious and beautiful homes.