Long trip indeed. Portland to Minneapolis–2 plus hours. Short trip no problems checking luggage. Security must have relaxed in the new days of Obama though maybe if you are headed out of the country, white, and older than 60 no one really cares about assessing your potential.
With no trouble I found my new gate. I was soon on a 747 on my way to Amsterdam. My earlier feeling of going through the birth canal while heading to the Portland Airport had dispersed. Fortunately I had spent time with Nick and Megan on Sunday. They kept me busy. Trev took me to the airport and made a last minute dash to Portland Teacher’s Credit Union (now OnPoint) to get 1 dollar bills as there is very little change in Zimbabwe. I am happy that I did. Trev suggested $50. Good guess, Trev.
All of time sequences will be confused here as I am trying to text message from my phone to Nick so he can post to the blog. My e-mail doesn’t work from here near Arcturus, Zimbabwe. My call would be $4.99 a minute even if the reception were good.
While I am gazing at the night walls here at Bushbaby lodge, I am noticing the wall decorations, different sized spiders that seem like they belong to the wall and yet they move around. And yes, Rosalie, I saw one the size of a minidisc. At first I thought you were exaggerating. Ha!
Thanks to the spiders in the daylight basement in Ashland, including hobo and Black Widow spiders, I have come to accept these lovely weavers into my life. Though thanks for the warning, Rosalie, so I could call these night dwellers the weavers that they are and not call them “fear.” I will bring home photos to share.
I have many more impressions from airports, Amsterdam, Nairobi, and Harare and of the wild ride thought the roads to Bushbaby lodge making 4 lanes out of 2. This reminded me of the sometimes wild rides in Europe that Trev’s dad and I took in 1971. Without Jim’s stellar driving, I wouldn’t be in Africa today.
I do believe that the trip will be life changing.