Still beginning

The beginning of our adventure (backpacking around SE Asia) has taken us so far to Saint Paul, MN. We tried to get on a flight yesterday as we’re flying standby.

We were all bright eyed and bushy tailed. However, even though we knew that we may not get on a flight, our hearts dropped a little when the flight took off without us. We bought ourselves a cup of coffee and iced green tea.

Maritza had made herself her first nest. She is really quite good at making nests.  This was the first nest of this trip.  Even though we didn’t get on the flight, I had to document the first nest.

So, we headed back to my sister’s house. We kept busy. Finishing up some planning and preparing.  It was good to have an extra day.  Tuesday morning though the flights looked terrible.  We were #20 and #21 with only 5 seats open.  We didn’t even go to the airport.

However, we did go to the Como Conservatory and Zoo.  It was warm and kept us busy.

So, we managed to enjoy ourselves. I must say it is a good beginning to our adventure.  Even though we haven’t left the snowy winter, we’re still exploring and discovering.

It is good to have a daughter who stays upbeat and positive. She misses home, but a phone call this afternoon was comforting. She looks forward to Skyping with our neighbors, cousin, Uncle, Mormor, and Papa.

P.S. I didn’t finish this when I wrote the other day, so I’ll add a little note. Today is Thursday, Day 4 of our adventure.  We tried to get on a flight yesterday again, but no luck. We had another coffee, but this time with frozen yogurt

Today we stayed home and worked on school for the first time. Maritza and I did well.  I was patient, and Maritza was persistent.  I think we’ll do just fine. We learned about animals of SE Asia and how to say “thank you” in Malaysian, “Terima Kasih”. I must say we’re more than ready!

We’ll try to get from Minneapolis to Narita, Japan once more tomorrow morning. If not, I think we’ll try to go to Detroit and then Shanghai, China. We can buy fairly reasonable tickets to Singapore from there.  I appreciate being able to fly at a cheaper rate, but I’m also appreciating the ease of confirmed seats. Of course, we might both be loving standby as we sit in an airplane in first class for 10 hours. Stay tuned!