My Travels

I am in Tokyo this morning. I flew in yesterday guiding my sleek Airbus A-330 ( I know, it's not a Boeing. I can't help it, I flew the 747 for 17 years but Delta sold them all) from Honolulu across the Pacific to Narita International Airport. It was a beautiful day when we landed. Sunshine, light breeze out of the south. On the approach to the south runways in to Narita, the rumor goes, is the world's largest Buddha. I have seen it many times and it is indeed a tall statue. World's largest? Not so sure. Coming in from the South, landing north, their is a very tall building on the left side of the aircraft where it is said they make and test, of all things, Otis elevators. Who would have thunk! Easily observed by any one flying over the coastline into Japan are the ubiquitous wind generators. They seem to be every where as Japan moves in the direction of "Green" technology.

The food is great in Japan, the bottles of beer are huge, the yen against the dollar is killing us and the hotel is the same place I have been staying for the past 28 years. It is like a second home to many of the former Northwest Airlines (now Delta) crew members and I welcome the layovers. After a 25 hour layover I will on my way. In fact, tonight, about the time you are all comfortably snoozing (2am PST) my intrepid First Officer and I will be slicing through the evening Tokyo air on our way to Hong Kong. To anyone who has been to Hong Kong, well that is a story all its own. More later on Hong Kong.

To lend some perspective, a typical trip for me would look something like this: 13 days away from home:

Seattle, Tokyo, Bangkok, Tokyo, LAX, Tokyo, Salt Lake City, Tokyo, Seattle, (bed)

A european trip: Seattle, Amsterdam, Atlanta, Paris, Atlanta, Rome, Atlanta, Amsterdam, Seattle (bed) about 11 days.

Well, there you have it. Perhaps the start of something fun and interesting or just another log from a well travelled airline pilot. Let me know if you would like to hear more.