Home for the Holidays

I got to be home for Christmas, which was delightful. Even after a career in the military, this is the longest I’ve ever been away from, so it is always a treat to come home after an absence, but even better to get there and we are all together!  Dana and Darby decorated the house and tree most beautifully – it really felt like coming home when I got there. Of course, we had to go straight from the airport to the University of Arkansas campus and see the second half of a Razorback basketball game – Go Hogs Go!! I know, sounds crazy, but it was fun!

Shannon and David made it in through awful weather from Montreal, and Darby trekked up from Little Rock. Everyone seemed healthy but me, who had a sniffle with sneezes – my classic allergy symptoms. We ate at our favorite places – Penguin Ed’s BBQ, the Catfish Hole, and almost P.F. Chang's.  We went on Christmas Eve to Rogers intending to eat at PFCs and then go to a movie, but they had a 1.5 hour wait; just too long.  So we went to Mimi’s Café next door and had a delightful meal together (and got an order of orange/cranberry muffins to go to have with brunch on Christmas morning!). I highly recommend Mimi’s Café!!

We saw several movies over the break – the new Hobbit, the Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and the Hunger Games: Catching Fire.  All good choices!  We hoped to see American Hustle, but my allergies turned into a sinus infection and I just couldn’t do it.

Christmas day started with brunch, then presents, then cooking the turkey, then a lovely dinner, which my friend John was able to come and share with us. And I got everything on my wish list – I’m just a little fuzzy about who got me what because I was just a little sick and simply can’t remember – I got back to KSA with things I didn’t remember getting.  But I know who got me each significant thing, and I am thankful for and appreciative of everything!

Shannon and David had to head back to Montreal a few days after Christmas and it was hard to see them go.  Then Darby went back to Little Rock for a few days, and then I got really sick Wednesday night of New Year’s Day!  We’d had a quiet evening in for New Year’s Eve – Chinese food from Mong Dynasty in Fayetteville (my favorite!), we watched a movie and an episode of Elementary (CBS’ excellent Sherlock Holmes drama), and watched the ball drop at midnight. Not too exciting, but I was right where I wanted to be!

I was able to get in to see our family doctor late Thursday morning and he gave me the works. I had two shots and got an oral antibiotic chaser.  By Friday night I was feeling a bit better, and by Saturday noon I felt much better, and good enough to travel.

Big mistake. Don’t fly when sick, boys and girls. It wasn’t the flying so much as the traveling. Flying was fine. Sitting in an airplane for 8 hours was hard. Getting nothing more than catnaps for 2 days was exhausting.  Literally running through the Chicago terminal, wearing a 30-pound backpack, to make my second flight with 15 minutes to make it and arriving as they were closing the door, was almost more than I could do, and I coughed uncontrollably for 2 hours once I got on the jet.  Pretty sure that little jaunt set me back at least a week of recovery.

Nonetheless, I made it back safe and sound, albeit without my suitcase. In the quick turn at Chicago during a snowstorm, my bag took its leisurely time while I was running to make the flight. It took four days to show up in Bahrain, but I’ll forgive it and Lufthansa – it was a rotten day in Chicago and a lot of people had it rougher than me. Next time though, I will take a delay and email work and tell them I’ll be back soon, but not yet!

747 in Frankfurt, Germany 

And now I am pretty much all better – I have a little residual cough that shows up once or twice a day, but yesterday I took a good long walk and it felt great. I can focus again on my work and don’t need an hour hap every after work day to make it through the evening.   

just after sunrise in Frankfurt 

Of course Dana and Darby came down with strep throat a few hours after dropping me at the airport, and then were immediately snowed in for several days while prescriptions were waiting for them at the pharmacy! It’s lovely to live on top of a hill in the woods, but some days it can be problematic.  Thanks to a neighbor who has a lovely little tractor with a blade, they finally got down the hill, got their meds, and are finally starting to feel better!  This is the worst time for me when I'm away, wishing to be home to help my girls and there's nothing I can do!

I am grateful for the opportunity to get home for the holidays, and even more grateful for my wonderful family who make my efforts worth the trouble. I love you all!!

October Trip Home Part 2

In October I was able to come home for a week. It was a great trip but not enough time to deal with the 2-day travel time on each end. It was still worth making the journey, though!  So here is part two of what I did at home while I was here!

I got to the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA) Friday night at about 7 p.m. and got home about an hour later.  Dana and I had a lovely visit and then got 8 hours of sleep and woke up ready to go.  It just happened that my trip occurred on a weekend that we had a wedding booked, so Saturday afternoon we geared up and went to shoot a wedding at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers.

It was a lovely, pleasant day, although mostly cloudy. The sky cleared up right at sunset for some beautiful portraits of the couple in the most beautiful light of the day. All in all I had a great time and it was wonderful to work with a camera in my hands again! (I've added a few wedding shots here!)

We took Sunday off, mostly just taking it easy and resting up.  The rest of the week was spent in errands, getting the cars worked on, doctor appointments, shopping, and so forth. Essentially stuff I hoped to get out of the way so when I got home at Christmas I wouldn't have to mess with any of it then. I got a lot done, but as always my list was longer than the time available.

 Where my flights home were relaxed with generous layover times, the return flights were crazy tight. The XNA to Chicago flight was 35 min late (why is this flight always late??). We made up a bit of time en route, but literally taxied in circles after landing for 20 minutes before turning into the gate area, then ten more before getting off the jet. Boarding for my flight to Doha, Qatar started about the time we touched down, and I had to hustle to get out of terminal 2, take the tram to terminal 3 (NOT the international terminal as you might expect glad I was paying attention!), and run to my gate -  getting there two minutes before boarding closed.

The changeover at Doha was nearly the same. We landed and taxied to what seemed like the furthest corner of the ramp, then waited nearly ten min to open the doors, go down the stairs and get on a bus. It took nearly 15 minutes on the bus to reach the transfer terminal. I ran in there, went through security, through immigration, then up a set of stairs to the gate (which was actually right across from the stairs) to check in, down a set of stairs and onto a nearly full bus to go to the next plane.  Wow!

It is only a very short flight from Doha to Bahrain, like 25 minutes. It is 89 miles in a straight line from takeoff to landing. Late at night at the end of a long trip it feels much longer though, and I actually dozed through most of it. We landed in Bahrain at 2020 (8:20 p.m. for you non-military, non-international types). It only took about 10 minutes to go through immigration, but 20 minutes to wait for my bag to come off the airliner!

I found my taxi driver in the arrival hall, holding a sign with my name on it - "Mr. Mark." My last name seems to be beyond this culture!  It took 20 minutes to get out of the airport parking lot - traffic engineering doesn't seem to be much of a priority in the Middle East, and a traffic jam after the arrival of a large jet full of travelers is nothing out of the ordinary.  Crossing the causeway back into Saudi Arabia was pretty painless - traffic was surprisingly light. I got back to the Aramco camp at 11 p.m. Total travel time was about 36 hours, with catnaps along the way.

Have I mentioned that I don't sleep on airplanes? Ironic, I know, for a professional pilot, but never have. I hope I will get the knack of it someday, as I'll have more of these flights ahead of me. The next one, though, will most likely be business class, which is a whole 'nother story!

Happy New Year to all!!