HONG KONG AND BACK IN 72 HOURS.....

Or...... how to read a 400 page book [plus 1/2 of another], watch 5 movies, read 10 magazines....sleep only a couple of hours in 32 hours on a plane.  OK...maybe there was some eating.

As you know I flew my husbands final turn at the helm with his  career at United Airlines.  We picked Hong Kong because there is no visa required and it actually had a one day layover.

I was lucky to be seated in business class.  #thankgod

 This was the panoramic scene from the Marriott Renaissance but unfortunately this was the view on Tuesday.  Insert sad face.

 Yep....it got worse.

Fortunately I managed to talk big daddy into going for a walk.  He would have been perfectly happy to hang in the room with the bottle of champagne the flight attendant gave us....wink wink:)

But there was a small window of no rain and I felt that was my best shot....let's roll baby.

We started out with another [female] pilot on the trip who happens to be a very good friend.

Sad to say it just kept pouring so we did the next best thing.....duck [reference to animal who does not mind water]  in a restaurant....order a bottle of good wine and eat.

Right? 

We ordered this amazing salad that I can't wait to try and recreate. Those of you who know I don't really cook....go ahead and laugh.  This is pretty easy.

Check this out....sweet potatoes, goat cheese and pomegranate seeds.  Mouth party.

 This was the morning we were leaving.  This is my husbands best friend and he managed to fly in the night before [he is also a pilot and was on the same trip only a day later] as a surprise!

Us a dinner that night!

I have to say it was so emotional.....he did both landings [there are a total of 4 pilots in the cockpit]...and they were smooth as a babies butt.  As I watched him pull into the gate for the last time I felt so proud thinking of his 40 year career and how many times he took people safely to their destinations.  I also thought of all the  occasions when he missed parties and fun events because he had to fly on the weekends and holidays.

Seriously....I do not want to know what everyone of these buttons do to make this baby [Boeing 777] stay in the air.  Explain flying to me as many times as you want and I will cock my head like a dog and go "huh"?  Need a paint color fella?

I know it is a small picture but see the 2 lime green trucks?  When a pilot retires the plane will fly in between while water cannons  spray over it!  That is when I started the ugly cry.

After being up 24 hours and crying....good lord girl some blush and lipstick might have been a good idea:)

Now for the part when I got a little crabby, irritable......grumpy.  Our 4:00 flight back to Atlanta cancelled because of  thunder storms in Chocago....[would have been home by 7 pm].   We managed to get on another flight that was leaving at 6 but actually left at 9:30 so we rolled into the ATL after midnight.  Which meant I had been up for about 36 hours....

I guess now he will be home all "up in my business" as they say but I am kind of looking forward to having him around:)

Oh yeah...here is the book I read and it was  damn good ...

If you got this far you have figured out that there is no design happening on this post.  There are times when we have to take note of the important moments in our life and today I was happy I had a place to  share one of mine.....with you guys.

Thanks.....

Shamotional