Category: Travel Page 52 of 62

Globetrottin’

A Flight to Remember

On May 12, 2008

Went to Dana and Eric’s fabulous wedding in the mountains of North Carolina. It was a gorgeous day, and both the bride and groom looked stunning, and their exit to the opening riffs of Kashmir was eminently appropriate. The party involved pulled pork, a meal expertly prepared by Ashton, moonshine drinking on a verandah, and interesting mix of Princeton graduates, Atlanta residents and a few yankees. It was a real cultural experience.

While the events were perfect, the transportation there and back was not. Our flight into Greensboro was on the heels of a category 2 tornado with winds of approximately 130 mph. Two FedEx planes were damaged, pushed into a fence and ditch. We landed safely, but saw some sweet lightning and experienced some pretty strong cross winds.

You’d think that this would be the extent of the travel related incidents, but our flight back was even more exciting. The flight on Sunday night was cancelled due to crew worktime issues, so we were rebooked to Monday morning. Janet scored us a free night at the airport Marriott thanks to her impeccable negotiating tactics. The morning flight to Laguardia was fine until the approach, just after we passed over Lady Liberty. At that point, the pilot came on the intercom and informed us we were having “mechanical trouble” and were diverting to Philadelphia. It turns out that the flaps were malfunctioning, so a higher landing speed would be necessary to avoid stall, requiring a longer runway than Laguardia has. A perfectly reasonable explanation, but not the one that was offered at the time, so there were some ripples of passenger nervousness. Lou popped a Xanax and Janet tightened her seatbelt.

Philly was also experiencing strong crosswinds, so our first approach got down to perhaps 50 feet before the pilot gunned the engine and went around for another try. Again, not out of the ordinary, but when mixed with the previous circumstances, people started to get freaked out. The second landing was trailed by emergency vehicles, and I managed a quick snap of one just off the wing.

Sangre de Cristo

By Josh

On March 9, 2008

In Outdoors, Travel

Went to Taos for Lynn’s 60th birthday bash. It was a nice opportunity to get to know Martha’s family more, and I managed to skip out for a day to go skiing. Turns out Taos is about to open to snowboarders, so I got there to see the end of an era. Hiked up Kachina Peak and dropped off the ridge just below the summit. The slope wasn’t as steep as other things I’ve skied, but the foot of fresh powder made it just as much fun. On a weekend when the east was covered in rain, I was living high under the high desert sun. Not a bad life.

On Kachina Ridge

My line

Ridge panorama

Our favorite truck

Which in German Means

By Josh

On November 1, 2007

In Travel

Spent the week at a robotics conference in San Diego, which was less the beach romp than I thought and more slow suffocation by Powerpoint. I saw right inside the belly of the military-industrial complex, and while I was pleased that the starred generals there had “saving lives” as their ultimate goal, it was clear that they are only counting American lives. One large company (name redacted) played a video of its vision for the future, which included having robots autonomously determine the threat posed by a man in a turban driving a truck toward a checkpoint, and asking Marines to let it fire on him. Of course they accepted, and disaster was averted. Another life saved by the intelligence of military robots! Of course, the robot I work on is designed to save casualties and will not be armed, but we’ve already had discussions of having it run “point man” operations, where it is the first guy through the door. Scary stuff, and I’m not sure I’ll happy to be working on it if we go that way. Might have to run back to the warm welcoming arms of academia. Going to bed now to catch up on sleep, maybe everything will be right with the world in the morning…

Day 19/20 – Home Again

By Josh

On July 5, 2007

In Birthright and Beyond

I finally arrived home exhausted after 24 hours of straight travel. From Jerusalem I took a bus to Tel Aviv, where I went through the security gauntlet again. I was inspected on the bus as I approached the airport, and then again in line, where my interrogator was delirious with fatigue at the end of her all night shift. I now sympathize.

The Bosporus

I ran into Rich and Scott in the airport, and chatted with them on the plane. They didn’t make it all the way up Kilimanjaro, as Rich got pulmonary edema and heard his lungs crack when they began to fill with liquid. So they went back down and went on a safari instead. He seemed alright a few days later, but was still shaken from his brief visit to a Tanzanian hospital. In the air, we flew almost directly over Istanbul That visit will have to wait for another trip.

On landing at JFK, I got a bus to the Port Authority Bus Terminal, and then the Greyhound to Boston. This was almost more arduous than the flight itself. Why New York, with their comprehensive subway system, doesn’t have a decent transit link between their airports and the downtown is beyond me. Yes, there is the AirTrain, but it doesn’t go anywhere near where I needed to get.

I staggered out of the T and stumbled home, where I greeted Mike with my shaggy beard and personal aroma. He welcomed me with open arms, a sign of our true love. Now just to recover from my jetlag, exhaustion and shilshul, before I start work on Monday. It was an incredible trip, and a fitting break between my old life and my new. Next year in Ulaan Bataar!

Day 18 – Jerusalem

By Josh

On July 4, 2007

In Birthright and Beyond

The Security Fence

Today we crossed the Security Barrier into Bethlehem, ostensibly to see the Church of the Nativity, but really just to see the wall from the other side. We were able to pass easily with our American passports, although we had to wait in line with everyone else when an alarm sounded and the guards all put their blast vests on. Then the alarm stopped, everyone looked aroud, and business went back to normal. Palestinians have to show two forms of ID and a reason for crossing, but we were waved through without any hassle. Ethnic profiling at its finest. The crossing cuts across the old road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, and while there is a bus stop and a turnaround on the Israeli side, the Palesinian side is a mob of taxis at a dead end road.

Our taxi driver

Bethlehem used to be a major tourist attraction, and the infrastructure is still there, but not the tourists. We went to the Shepards Field, where they saw the stars that heralded Jesus’ birth, and stopped in a tourist shop that was overjoyed to open up (they had to turn the lights on) and have me browse for a few minutes. I spent ten dollars, and they thanked me profusely. The shopkeeper joined our taxi ride and told us about her sister whose son was sick and unable to cross to get decent medical treatment in Israel. Such is life on the other side.