Neil Page, meet Del Griffith

To get to Europe I need to the trifecta of planes trains and automobiles so I do feel like Neil Page and Del Griffith right now. The good news is that the dogs are not barking so everyone can rest easy.
Well I am now in Germany and life is good. The flights went smoothly. I started in Sault Ste. Marie and it is a great small airport (3 gates). Also you did not need to take your shoes off to go through security. That was really nice especially because I was wearing boots. The view from Sault Ste. Marie to Toronto was really spectacular. It was a really sunny day so you could see all of Canada.
The Toronto airport is way oversexed. They sell condoms at the magazine shops as well as in the bathroom. Who knew that the airport was such an awesome place to pick up chicks? Once they started boarding I looked around and it did not look like there were a lot of people waiting to fly. Once they closed the door I looked around and the flight was about 30% full. I am totally spoiled now because I think that every flight will be like this. When the flights are full I am going to be really upset. This is all I really hope for when I am flying a seat next to me that is empty. It makes your life so much nicer. You do not have to be nice you can flop around as much as you would like trying to fall asleep. So that was very pleasant.
The nicest part of the airplane other than empty seat was the movies. Everyone had a screen on the seat in front of them, but here is where it gets cool. It is a touch screen. Very high-tech and it worked really well. I saw the Invention of Lying which was pretty funny, and good.
Once we arrived to Germany we get off the plane and we see nothing but rows and rows of cots. It is odd until I figure out that the pilots are on strike and this them preparing for the overflow of people that have no where to go. I guess they have put the strike on hold now so it was only a one day strike but it is pretty crazy to think that we were the last flight before the strike. The one day has already created a huge mess. Something like 4000 flights were canceled. It is a good thing that I did not have any more flights. I took the train to Würzburg, and one of the stewardesses was on the train as well and we said hello. It was really nice that she noticed me. So Germany is good and the jet-lag is not too bad. More meetings with the big one tomorrow, so we shall see how it shakes out. More to come.

Snowmobile pictures

The view


Getting Closer


Closer

We are here

The first stop -- The land of the north

So let me bring you up to speed on what is happening. We left Thursday morning on our way to Canada (country number 1). We had to pick up one of our customers (Tony) at the airport in Sault Ste. Marie (SSM). And that is where the problem started. There are 2 SSMs. One of them is in Canada and one is in America. Tony was in America and we were already in Canada. Not such a good plan to cross customs 3 times in an hour. So we waited across the border for Tony to grab a taxi and meet us over in the land of the north. That was about an hour and half delay. Other than the time it was as painless as could be. The trip went well and everyone made it safely. You just feel like a bonehead when you read the flight plans wrong.
When I was up here I found out the biggest bummer. I logged on to the Internet (thanks Al Gore) I went to Netflix to check it out and I found out some bad news. You are not allowed to watch movies instantly outside of the US. I was planning on watching a bunch of movies at night in my hotels but I guess that will not happen. I will just have to settle for shows that I have no idea about because they are in a different language.
On Saturday, We decided to go a different route and head to Drummond Island. For those who do know that is back in the USA. Once we got to the states we had to call customs and let them know we were here. Because there were 20 of us, it was a long process that took about an hour and fifteen minutes. Once we had cleared customs we got fuel and had lunch. The lunch was good but long. Because of the large pressure cracks in the ice we decided that it would be better to cross the ice back with the most sunlight so after lunch we rode back. Yes we went to a different country for gas and lunch. I do not know if it was worth it, but the cheeseburger was good. So now I have sailed to Canada, Driven to Canada and Snowmobiled across the ice to Canada. Next I think I want to try something different.
So I leave today and I am leaving Canada during the Canada vs. USA hockey match. I hope the pilots are not Canadian because if they are I do not think we will be leaving. It is the talk of the Olympics and everyone here is getting excited. Let’s hope for some German Pilots. Snowmobiling was a lot of fun. When finished I did a little over 100 miles which was a good amount. There was not a lot of snow so the trails were pretty bare but a great time was had by all. The days were very nice with the sun out not too cold. Now onto the next continent. The next post will have pictures, I promise. More to come.

What did I forget

I am one day away from departing on my journey and I am really nervous that I am forgetting something or I will forget something. I know the one item I forget is going to be a big item. It is a long journey and I am not coming back to any place to leave stuff or pick anything up. It is going to be pretty crazy. The things that I am most excited about is seeing how many miles I will have flown when I get back. I really hope I do not get sick because getting sick sucks ass. I have all of my medicine so things are good with that but I just hope I do not forget anything. This is going to be the first trip that I have been on where I have had to do laundry in a hotel or something like that. I hope I like the clothes that I brought because I will be wearing them for 3 weeks. Let’s pray for no stains because that would be a problem. The weather is going to be so different in each place that it is going to be hard to bring the right clothes. I hope it goes well and everyone is along for the ride so enjoy.

More to Come.

Shots

Well today I recieved all of my shots that I needed for my trip to India. It is so crazy to think that America is so far ahead of places and you live safely not having to worry about Typhoid and Diphtheria . Well now I will not get them so that is good. The shots were not that bad. One was a little painful and she said it was because of a square needle. How does that work? Why would you make a square needle? That is crazy. The total bummer about the shots is that they only had regular band-aids and not the Scooby-Doo kind. I would have even settled for Penny Lane. She traveled a lot.

We can do this

SO it has been a long time since you have seen me but I am here and all is well. I have a big trip coming up so I wanted to get back into this before i started the trip so it would not be such a hard transition. So here is the deal, the Census is coming up and if we can get everyone to do this, it would be awesome. SO when they ask what religion you are, please write in Jedi. If we can get enough people to do it, it will make the next census. They have been doing this in other speaking countries as well. so it is worth a shot. The force is with you.

Have a blessed day

Well here is a quick post. I am currently in Alabama and life is going well. The meetings have gone smooth and I have not felt unprepared at all which is really nice. I just finish up in Mississippi and I am on my way back to Alabama and I am filling the rental car up. The guy behind me tried to convert me to Jesus while standing in line at a Truck stop. How crazy is that? Who does that? So he gives me a CD and tells me that just like Dion Sanders there is more to life than Just winning Super Bowls. The reason for the title of this blog post is because that is what everyone used to say when I lived in Charleston. It never sounded right to me. At this truck stop they had some awesome Elvis stuff so I had to buy some. I think I might but all of me lights and everything I can from a Truck stop. If it is not sold in a truck stop I do not want it. I went and had some BBQ tonight and it was very good. I ate enough to be really full but not so much that I do not feel good. That is the best thing about the South is committed to the making really good food. I say keep it up, and we will look the other way when it comes to healthy eating. MORE TO COME.

Peace out.
Kirk