WHEW! We made it!

The tiny plane on United Airlines' Flight Sky Map screen slowly traces our path across the Pacific Ocean.  We sleep, eat, drink water (trying to stay hydrated), watch a movie or two, and eventually land at our next destination. Catch another flight and do it again!

Early Morning Las Vegas Departure

It is almost midnight when we arrive in Bangkok Thailand. One more flight to go! The last layover seems the longest. Curled up in the darkened waiting area, we sleep a little. When the Air Asia counter opens at 4:30 a.m. we check our bags and find a coffee shop.

Finally after four flights; 39 hours; 14 time zones: we arrive safely in Chiang Mai Thailand, our home base for the next 2 months.

Street Food Carts

There is a sense of 'being at home' as we explore a profusion of street food carts and choose an afternoon snack of Thai ice tea and banana roti (similar to a stuffed crepe). Then it's time to sleep off the jet lag.

A lifetime of praying, seeking God, planning and dreaming and we have literally stepped into our destiny.

Our hearts are grateful - to you for your loving, prayerful support. To God - for using us to share His love and salvation.

The Journey Continues ~ Pat   

Banana Roti & Thai Ice Tea  

Abundant Blooms

Safe Travels

Apologies for the delay in postings of our travel progress.

 We had some technical glitches, but I think we're back in business. 

To catch up:

We arrived safely at our base in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka on Thursday, 12 October 2017,

after roughly  35 hours en route, 

with airport stops along the way in:

Tokyo, Japan

Departure line, more than halfway boarded!

Bangkok, Thailand

Colombo, Sri Lanka

After taking it easy the rest of Thursday, we then set off down the road Friday morning towards our first clinic base. But more on that tomorrow - mid-morning Montana time is well  past my bedtime 11.5 hours ahead in Sri Lanka!

Leaving North America

Tuesday morning, 0-Dark-30 (aka 2:50 AM PT): Monica The Saint drives us to Las Vegas International Airport.

5:50 AM PT: Bye bye, Vegas!

7:25 AM PT: Hello, San Francisco!

(& all this before Starbucks was even open to brew up the morning's first coffee!)

11:50 AM PT: Aaaand bye bye, San Francisco - we're off to Tokyo, and so it has begun!!

Heading Home: Bangkok

What 4 am looks like.  Waiting to board our 7:00 am flight to Tokyo.  Then on through San Francisco to Las Vegas.

See you on the ground ~ Pat

Learning By Experience

Things I learned en route to Tokyo and Bangkok:

-the stars are amazing at 38,000 feet over the ocean;

-I might be a bit too enthusiastic about international flight food and its presentation;

-earplugs should be inserted BEFORE falling asleep as there WILL be a sad, crying baby who materializes only AFTER you're in dreamland;

-'NO!' is universal in the language of crying babies;

-the tiny button to turn on the in-flight entertainment screen is the same size and shape as the tiny button to call the flight attendant;

-if you hear a 'ding!' and your screen is still dark, you may have pushed the wrong button (oops! and profuse apologies...);

-Pat said I can't talk about the Tokyo airport public, ahem, water closets (to borrow from UK parlance) so I'll just mention that they are a far cry beyond those to which North Americans are accustomed.

-it is just plain weird to depart 6:30 PM Tuesday - in the dark - , travel 17ish hours, and arrive 5:30 AM Thursday - still in the dark!

But at last we are in Bangkok, Thailand, and amidst foggy daylight. After a bit of a scare about actual existence of our re-booked tickets, we are at our gate with just one more hop to go to Columbo, Sri Lanka! TTFN!

Wing And A Prayer - Waiting In The USA

Thus far today, we've had double  opportunity to build our patience muscles, with a departure delay in Las Vegas, and now gate roulette in San Francisco. Apparently, our arrival gate was double-booked, so here we sit out on the tarmac, 3-shot Americano-fidgeting until the little red ball drops on an open gate number. I'm hoping it's gate 94, right next to 95 where our connecting flight to Tokyo hopefully waits for us. It will be nip and tuck to make the flight, but as my sister said, God is not surprised by any of this. We'll keep you posted!