While awaiting our last airline connection on the way home — the one just after arriving into the USA — I again find myself feeling frustrated and taking a few <hundred> deep breaths to settle down. The process of entering our own country is more taxing than that of anyplace else in the world. We were in lines for about 75 minutes, including 20 minutes for passport control, 35 minutes for customs, and 20 minutes for security into the connecting departure concourse. I am proud to be an American, but it is dismaying that travel in our country is more burdensome than we have experienced in visiting 25 or 30 airports in other countries over the last several years. My personal view is that we have swung the pendulum too far. In a quest for some unattainable level of perfect security, we have imposed huge restrictions on individual rights and conveniences. Life will never be without risks. Let’s accept that, bring back some common sense, and make airline travel in the USA enjoyable once again.
Author Archives: Dave
Moiponi
The 29 year old daughter of future homeowner Shale, whose Habitat house we are finishing this week, provided some interesting insights into life in Botswana. Although Moiponi has a full-time job, she struggles financially given that she plans to make most of the monthly payments for her mother’s house. Here is a quick breakdown of her income and expenses. Read on
GVTeam Most Wanted List
If anyone sees either or both of these two puppies, please report them immediately to the Columbus Global Village Team! No, they are not wanted for being so adorably cute. They are wanted for Grand Theft Camera!
The Background: Rebecca, Regina, Sarah, Lisa, Casey, Lauren and Jonathan spent an unintended night in Johannesburg due to a missed flight connection. Delta blamed the delay on a “surprise inspection” by the TSA, and denied vouchers for accommodations and food. Read on
An African Welcome
Tambo International, the huge, modern Johannesburg airport, was remarkably quiet when we arrived at 6:30 p.m., about 1 1/2 hours late after bucking unusual headwinds all the way from Atlanta. “Perfect,” we thought, and began sprinting in hopes that our connection to Gaborone might also run late. Alas, we missed our flight; fortunately we enjoyed an excellent outcome! Read on
A Delta Sendoff
Having traveled a time or two, upon arrival at Port Columbus airport today, I immediately steered us away from the self-check-in-kiosks toward the agent line because it seems that for international flights the automated systems eventually direct us there anyway. When the helpful Delta employee encouraged us to leave the line and use an available kiosk, I resisted for only a couple of seconds… Read on
Map: Tucson 2010
Hover over the markers to see the date and a brief caption for each location.
Click on the markers to see additional details and links.
Playing Moose
We visited the Oxbow Bend turnout in Grand Teton National Park on a lovely day, and I was able to capture a couple of pretty nice photos. If only I’d been content and left it at that, I’d have been just fine; but, the sight of some pelicans and cormorants up the river was just too much to resist. Of course, they were too far away to photograph with the lenses I have, so I took a hike.
Many Faces of Mount Edith Cavell Slideshow
Someone is sure to ask, “Why no pictures of Lake Louise, Dave?”
Well, some of you may know that I occasionally suffer from a bit of tunnel vision, and I’m afraid I have to plead guilty regarding this project.
Read on
Works Better Plugged In
WiFi Internet access has become a common feature at RV parks, and, here in Valdez, the service was about average: not too speedy with all too common service drops. Today I learned one of the causes.
Read on
Whale of a Tour
Each time Susi suggests another tour, she silently accepts my quiet grumbles. “What? Another boat ride?” I’m just glad she’s gracious enough to never say, “I told you so,” because our Kenai Fjords Tour was such a magnificent day that we had to upload two albums of pix and videos titled 07-14 Kenai Fjords Wildlife and 07-14 Seward & Kenai Fjords at right. Read on
Halibut Done Right
Homer claims to be the fishing capital of Alaska, and I promise you that the Sourdough Express Bakery & Cafe cooks it to perfection! Furthermore, as we write blog entries using their speedy WiFi, our dessert just arrived to underscore the “Bakery” part of their name. My Obscene Brownie smothered in ice cream and chocolate is a work of art and tastes even better. Susi’s raspberry/apple/rhubarb cobbler has her gushing about good eats she enjoyed as a kid. Make Sourdough Express Bakery & Cafe a “must visit” when you come to Homer!
Fantastic Endicott Arm Fjord
Here are some cool pics of Dawes Glacier and the fjord. A glorious day, with breaching whales for an encore! Words cannot describe the viewing of glacier calving that we saw today. Here’s a brief video of some of the wildest moments: [flickr video=3611465859]
Nothing to do in Juneau???
OK – I confess I was doubtful about what we’d do here – especially since we had to move up our departure from Sitka by 2 days. Boy was I wrong! Once we got the RV set up, we took off for Mendenhall Glacier, which is only 15 minutes away. Check out the nifty pictures we took at Mendenhall National Park. Read on
Sitka Sound
Since we only had a few days in Sitka, we chose to park in the city campground beside the Marina and at the base of the O’Connell bridge. It was listed as a busy spot, but pretty quiet when we arrived at 3:00am. Later that morning, as we’re trying to catch some extra zzzzs, we discovered that the Japonski Island not only has the Sealing Cove Marina, but also the airport and hospital, with the coast guard and a float plane terminal in the Sitka Channel – all within walking distance of downtown Sitka! Busy indeed! Read on
First Sunset
Finally, a reasonably clear evening gave us a pretty sunset picture, one of several nice shots in the album titled 05-28 Clover Pass at right.