Where in the World?

Vernal Falls in Yosemite National Park is one of the more beautiful waterfalls I’ve seen. The trail starts at Happy Isles Bridge and is 0.75 miles to the footbridge that crosses the raging Merced River.My daughter and I hiked to the top of Vernal Falls via The Mist Trail. I was not confident in my physical endurance to make it to the top as the trail is 0.5 miles of extremely steep grade from the footbridge. It’s basically a staircase. A lot of the steps are over sized and require continuous leg strength. My daughter was very persistent and I started the hike.

I stopped numerous times to catch my breath and let my legs settle down from the exertion. But during each stop I was able to view the waterfall from very close. The roar was almost deafening. We saw multiple rainbows in the gargantuan amount of mist that was thrown up from the pounding water.

The hike to Vernal Falls is a lot like life. Some parts are steep and require more effort while others are flat and easy-going. Some spots are rocky and others are almost soft. Around every corner is a surprise or great view. Some spots are sunny while others are dark. You meet all sorts of people along the way. Many moments will take your breath away. Focus on each step and not your destination. Friends and family make the journey more enjoyable.

I think the best advice is to wear good shoes and drink lots of water.

Michael

Yesterday, my daughter and I took a 3.5 mile hike on trail that started near the parking lot of Inspiration Point which is on the south side of Yosemite Valley. Our destination was the Old Inspiration Point about 1000 foot elevation above where the new Inspiration Point is located. Most of the hike was over 5000 foot elevation.

The hike was difficult mainly because we were not in great shape. But after many stops for rest, we finally reached our destination. Patches of snow became common place but the temperature was around 60 degrees.

After a short rest, we headed back down. The views of Yosemite Valley were breathtaking. Around a 1/2 mile from our car, we stopped to enjoy a grand view of the valley with El Capitan on the right and Bridalveil Falls on the left.

We were able to witness a full rainbow in Bridalveil Falls. This was not an ordinary half circle rainbow. The subtle colors (purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and red) were in the mist itself. So, the effect was like shining multi-colored lights on the waterfall with purple being on the bottom and red on the top. It was quite stunning. I had never witnessed anything like this before. My daughter and I watched transfixed for about 15 minutes. And then it was over.

If we had arrived as little as 2 or 3 minutes earlier we would not have seen the rainbow within Bridalveil Falls. We came to the realization that all the events of the day actually led to us being at the right place and at the precise time to view this extraordinary natural event.

Magic exists in the world. All we have to do is have the patience, belief, practice going with the flow and we will experience and participate in it.

Magic can be right around the corner. Are your eyes, mind and heart open?

Michael

My daughter and I drove to Yosemite yesterday. The Sierra Mountains are magnificent. Shortly after entering the park, we spotted three deer on the side of the road where they were grazing. I was able to slowly get within 8 or 9 feet of them while they cautiously watched me. I made no threatening movements, which seemed to keep them calm.

Passing El Capitan (the tallest granite cliff in the world) made me feel tiny and at the same time connected to something much bigger than myself. We watched through binoculars at mountain climbers camping on the sheer rock face. Turning south, we could easily see Bridal Veil Falls. The splendor and enormity of the scenery was almost overwhelming. It was nice to share this with my daughter.

Yosemite is one of my favorite places that I’ve been too. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve had the opportunity to visit again. I’m glad to be back. Yosemite therapy is some of the best in the world.

More tomorrow.

Michael

As the community developed from the shared travel mishaps on March 16th and 17th, many people began to talk to each other. Obviously, a very common question was “what do you do?” I had some interesting conversations with a gentleman from New Hampshire. He had traveled all over the world averaging 120,000 miles/year in his consulting business.

We talked a lot about where we had traveled. I was quite intrigued to learn that he had traveled to 77 countries. That was exactly 7 times more than me, so I was completely fascinated and asked a lot of questions. As my friends can attest to, I can be quite curious and don’t mind asking tons of questions.

I have a personal goal of visiting 100 countries before I die. Since I’ve only been to 11 so far, I’m working on ways to get to more. This gentleman had a lot of good tips for places to go. But I was mostly interested in the perspective that he had gained by visiting and meeting all of these different cultures.

Our world is full of richness and diversity. I would like to experience as much as I possibly can as I learn something from most people I meet.

I experienced the following lessons on this trip:

1. You never know what’s inside someone until you talk with them.
2. It doesn’t take much to develop a community.
3. Friends can appear out of nowhere.
4. Most people want to have fun regardless of their circumstance.
5. My patience has increased over the years.
6. It’s becoming easier for me to “go with the flow.”
7. Don’t let someone else’s “baggage” be an excuse to be unhappy.

I can’t wait for the next adventure. It’s probably just around the corner.

Have a great day!

Michael

I finally arrived home, 46 hours after leaving London Heathrow airport on Friday, March 16th. I wrote about the first part of that saga yesterday. At that time I had no idea how today would play out in this adventure I was wrapped up in. The snow fell thick and heavy during the night. There were two foot snow drifts up against my hotel window when I woke up this morning.

Since my return was so full of craziness and adventure, I’ve summed up the events below:

March 16th

• Woke up at 3:00 a.m. in London on March 16th.
• Travel to Heathrow. No traffic at 4:00 a.m. in the morning.
• Relatively easy check-in with Lufthansa.
• Arrived in Frankfurt around 8:30 a.m.
• The 747 developed a fuel leak before we board. Flight delay of 2 hours.
• Left Frankfurt around 12:30 p.m.
• Toddler began screaming right before take-off and continues to scream for almost 7 hours. The flight to Boston was 7 1/2 hours.
• 60 miles out from Boston, we started flying in a holding pattern due to the snow fall at Logan. Total time = 45 minutes.
• We began our approach to land and at 1800 feet elevation, the captain aborts the landing due to a low breaking coefficient on the runway (e.g. ice and snow).
• We circle north and west of Boston for 45 minutes. As we began the approach again, the captain got the call that Logan is closed.
• Toddler was still screaming.
• Someone made a decision to fly us to Bangor, Maine where we land around 6:00 p.m.
• We waited on the tarmac for about an hour. The plan was to fly back to Boston as soon as possible. Unfortunately the weather keeps Logan closed.
• Still sitting on the tarmac, we learned that the crew cannot fly anymore due to the fact that they have reached their flying limit for the day.
• We were told that a fresh crew will be flown up from Boston. The plan was to fly back to Boston in the evening.
• The captain informed us that the fresh crew cannot leave Boston because of the weather. 350 of us had already figured that out.
• The toddler screams some more.
• We exit the plane at 8:30 p.m. and sat in a holding area for one hour so that the one baggage worker can unload our 747 in the snow storm.
• At 9:30 we got through customs, grabbed our backs and fought each other (not really) to get on the bus to take us to the hotel.
• I walked in the snow about a block to a convenience store to grab snacks for dinner.
• Sleep overtook me at 11:30, some 24 hours since I woke up in London.

March 17th

• Leisure morning while on hold for 1 1/4 hours to find out when our plane will fly to Boston.
• ETA was 4:00 p.m.
• Got to the airport at 12:30 p.m. and checked in. New time for flight to Boston was 2:30. Excitement was in the air.
• Grabbed some lunch and stood in the security line for 30 minutes.
• We were now back in our holding area from last night where we got to wait until 2:35. Apparently a 2:30 take-off was optimistic.
• The toddler began screaming again
• Everyone rushed to get on the plane
• We sit for quite some time. Finally the captain gets on and tells us how the baggage handlers don’t have experience loading a 747 and are taking longer than usual.
• 3 (Three) hours later the last piece of luggage was loaded.
• Toddler screams for about 2 hours during this time.
• Next step was de-icing. The engines were shut off and the crew (2 people) began spraying the hot chemical on the wings.
• It took them 40 minutes to de-ice the plane because 1 of the 2 de-icing machines broke.
• The temperature continues to climb to sauna levels which puts everyone on edge and makes the toddler scream some more.
• Finally we take off and land about 7:00 p.m.
• Our luggage literally dribbles out of the carosel because of a jam.
• It took an hour for me to get my luggage. It was now 8:00 p.m.
• The toddler stopped crying.
• I drove home and arrived about 9:30 p.m.
• The entire adventure had taken 46 hours since I left London the previous day.

I would say that 98% of the time, I was quite calm and took everything in stride. It made the whole affair much easier to deal with. Several things fascinated me about this entire event. #1- The majority of the people were in really good spirits. They accepted the adventure and just went with the flow. #2 – As I mentioned yesterday, a wonderful camaraderie developed that “glued” everyone together. #3 – The flight attendants were fantastic. This could have been a really stressful occasion for them. #4 – Everyone tried to help each other either by talking or giving a hand with the luggage.

But most importantly, as we were waiting for our luggage, lots of people were talking to each other as new friendships had been formed. Business cards and contact information were being shared. People were actually saying what a great adventure they’d had. I’d never seen anything quite like it. I really enjoyed watching the interactions unfold. The people on this flight will be telling the stories of their adventure for quite some time.

It’s good to be home though.

Michael

Flying back from Frankfurt turned into quite an adventure. The first problem was that our 747 encountered a technical malfunction before take off. Translation – technical malfunction means jet fuel leaking out of the plane.

We waited two hours for another 747 from Los Angeles to land. Luggage and passengers were safely moved to the new plane. After a 7 ½ hour flight we neared Boston only to be told that there was snowy weather, so we flew in a holding pattern for 30 minutes while ground crews cleared the runway.

The pilot began the approach to land. Around 1800 foot elevation, the captain aborted the landing with the engines gunning hard. Quite an interesting experience! The captain put us in another holding pattern as the ground crews tried to clear the runway of snow and put down a chemical to increase the braking coefficient, which was too low on the first attempt.

After flying in circles for another 45 minutes, Boston airport officially shut down and we were directed to Bangor, Maine. The airport is small there except for the exceptionally long runway on the adjoining Air Force base. Several other flights were directed here as Boston was still closed. We were to wait on the plane until we could fly back to Boston.

Unfortunately, the flight crew was informed that they had reached their flying limit for a 24 hour period. So, the plan was for us to wait on the tarmac until they could fly a fresh crew up from Boston to pilot the 747. The new crew never arrived as Boston Logan Airport never re-opened.

We sat on the plane for another hour and then we were herded into a large waiting room in the Bangor Airport to wait for our luggage to be unloaded. That took 45 minutes. Next was a quick run through customs, then find our luggage and get on a bus to the Fairfield Inn. I had reserved a room three hours early. Overall I had been up for 25 hours and 5 minutes. It felt like 26 hours!

I kept my spirits up by laughing at the entire situation. It was a much better choice then what others were making, but generally most people on the flight were upbeat which was great. A kind of camaraderie happened since we were all sharing the saga, which is good since we felt like we had been packed into a can of sardines.

Our friends are those who know their own faults well enough to forgive us ours. – Moulton Farnham

I met my good friend Rebecca for lunch today very close to Trafalgar Square (e.g. Nelson’s Column, The National Gallery, etc.). It always seems to work out perfectly when we want to get together. I had an errand to do near Bond Street Station and she was riding her bike around London. We quickly set up a time that worked out perfectly for both of us.

I find that our conversations generally get right to whatever issues we need to voice and share. We have a lot of trust with each other and that’s what separates this kind of friendship from casual acquaintances. I’m fortunate to have five friends of this caliber and I feel gifted to know each of them.

After lunch, we walked to Watkins Books as we both felt drawn there. Events and timing were perfect to allow Rebecca to do something that had been on her mind. It was great to watch the synchronicity unfold.

I’m rich and blessed because of the close friends I have and I can’t imagine what life would have been like if I hadn’t have met them. I look forward to many more years of their company.

Michael

I’m in Leipzig, Germany today. One of the many things that makes me happy is to try the local food wherever I go. I’m continually fascinated by the seemingly infinite variety of choices, tastes, combinations and culture that comprise local cuisine.

Leipzig is average size city in eastern Germany. The people here are very nice and laid back. There are a large number of restaurants and shops in the city center area. I really love how most European cities are designed to support a large amount of walking. It’s quite different than the majority of U.S. cities where driving is the main mode of access.

After taking a walk, we stopped at Coffe Braum to try some of the local dishes. Each of us picked different entrees. I must say the starter of potato soup with sausage was excellent. The main course for each of us was quite tasty. The food had a lot of subtle flavors that combined quite well.

It’s important for our growth to continually try new things. See my post on teaching old dogs new tricks. You don’t have to go out of the country to do this. Go to a different area of the city you live in. Try a restaurant you haven’t tried before. It doesn’t really matter whether you end up liking it or not. The point is that you are stepping out of your daily routine, opening your perspective to new things and generating a little bit of adventure in your life.

Have a great day!

Michael