When we fly to the U.S. from Taiwan we used to fly from Kaohsiung to Las Vegas. But as the economy has tanked we have more and more hassles getting our luggage on the domestic flights. In the “good ole days” we could bring 6 bags at 72 pounds each along with six carry-ons for the three of us. Those days are gone. Now it is down to 50 pounds if we can upgrade to business class, 30 something otherwise. China Airlines is very lax about luggage so we don’t have any trouble with them if we start the trip with them. But that means starting in Los Angeles when we return and ending there on the east-bound trip. This leaves the problem of getting to Bullhead City from Los Angeles.
In the past we have rented a van (we once rented a Lincoln Towne Car but it was way too small). Once, our friend John Cowgill drove us in to LAX in our van. This time we were lucky again in that my brother John, (lots of Johns in our life), was going to Mammoth with his son for a Father’s Day outing, and since we were staying with his son for the first night, my brother drove our van to Manhattan Beach and went to the mountains with his son while we drove home. In exchange for this, I agreed to fly to Mojave on Sunday to pick him up since he had no other way to get back to Arizona.
Friend John Cowgill came along on Sunday and we flew to Mojave in central California to pick up brother-John. Mojave is where Burt Rutan has his operation. He made the voyager that flew around the world non-stop, piloted by his brother Dick Rutan and Jeanne Yeager. He also built the first privately built spacecraft. It was Sunday, though, and no one was around. We did see the scrap yard for 747’s and the storage area for other big jets moth-balled and waiting for their next life.
The flight home was bumpy, but not bumpy enough to make my brother sick, even as hung over as he was. Next time I'll get him.
No comments:
Post a Comment