Traveling Photos

These are views from our return trip to the United States. Thanks to Dean Tagor and Pina for escorting us to the airport and Medan (and to Maylena for meeting us there) and to Mitzi and Roland, my mother and father, for picking us up at the airport in Knoxville and gently depositing us home so we could crawl into bed. 

Home sweet home in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA! We were very happy to finally touch down at home, and
thrilled to have my parents meet us at the airport. Thanks to them for staying up so late to "fetch us".

Warning, out of sequence! Blogger is acting up again! This is an orange juice squeezing / serving vending machine in the Moscow airport.

Jacob, Pina and Nancy squeezed together in the middle seat
for the ride to the Medan airport. The back is completely stacked with
our luggage. If Esra had come she would have had to balance on the roof.

Besides the huge potholes, the journey is made slow and long by the
trucks and other traffic. This truck is carrying huge rocks, kept from falling out
onto the road (onto our car) by just a suggestion of a tailgate.

Yes, Dean Tagor, I like to take pictures of cows on the side of the road!
The view of cows grazing along the edge of the road, or for that matter, blocking
the road, is not unusual on the way to Medan. Cars, trucks and motorbikes seem
to steer around them without any issues. I guess when you are looking out for
everything else, what's one more obstacle?

We are told that this cardboard will be reused, qualifying this truck as one of
the biggest recycling projects in Indonesia.

At the Medan airport there are many interesting things to see, including the slogan ads for
Wings Air. I don't know if this is an airline within Indonesia or one which serves a wider market,
but they must have saved money by not hiring an advertising agency that masters English. Hopefully the
quality of their flying machines and pilots is higher.

Maylena, a great friend from our trip last year, met us at the airport. She now lives
in Medan and we had not had the chance to say hello before then. She arrived on her
motorbike, dressed in her black work outfit, having made her way through the hot sun.
Thank you for making such an effort for us.

We enjoyed a simple meal of nasi goreng and mei goreng together. The food included a spicy kick
and at that point of the trip our stomachs couldn't handle it very well. 

This is just a small part of the huge Singapore airport. There is enough to see in that
airport that it is almost worth the trip to get there. It is beautiful and done with great artistry. The big light
pods look like either sea shells or leaves, we couldn't decide. 

The Singapore airport features many opportunities to get on the internet for free, and also some
opportunities to stretch out...even more comfortably than what Nancy is enjoying here.

Here we are in Moscow. This looks like a new and modern airport, but unlike Singapore is very crowded and without
much opportunity for relaxation or comfort. It reminded me of a big bus station with a few fancy shops. There were just enough souvenirs to give us something to look at for an hour, but nothing spectacular enough to squeeze into our carryon bags.

The walkway to the plane is decorated with advertisements for a credit card...I guess. Translation, anyone?

Legroom on Singapore Airlines economy class isn't bad, but for tall folks like Jacob it is still a squeeze.
The entertainment options were good, with each seat having it's own large video screen including a
video and audio on demand system with thousands of choices. The movie choices weren't spectacular, but good
enough to watch with our very tired eyes.

Food on Singapore Airlines rates at least a solid "good". There was enough variety to keep us interested.
As dessert for a meal on the Moscow to Houston leg, we enjoyed some premium Russian ice cream bars.
They were on pad with Dove or Magnum bars...a welcome treat.

On the Moscow to Houston leg (11 hours worth) we were entertained by two pre-school age Russian boys in the row ahead of us.
Their mother deserves sainthood status for her gentle care of the boys, one in diapers but very active! Except for standing in the
seat and sneezing on Jacob and Nancy, these guys were just fun to watch.