13 hours to Addis Ababa

October 21
From MJ:
Today is the day. Shower, repack, check out, return car, check bags, get on plane. 1-2-3 simple. That is until I go thru security. Tiffany and I decide to race each other thru security in different lines. I lose be twenty minutes. Travler advice "Keep the blonde next to the beard." While we're waiting for our plane a group of thirty, wearing bright orange-red t-shirts boisterously overwhelms the gate area. I just had to ask "why the matching t-shirts?". In deep AK accents they gleefully reply we're off to Burundi on a mission to spread the good word and build a church. Hm... With some kindness from the airplane gods we were seated in the exit row, which on a 777 mean four feet of extra space. Smiles we're all smiles. We were a little concerned when we saw the three infants near us, but they barely murmured for thirteen hours. The missionaries, on the other hand, seemed to have missed their connection to Las Vegas. The bottomless Chardonnay (Cotes de Gascogne and actually quite lovely) didn't help their zeal one bit. Thankfully alcohol is a depressant, eventually she hugs us and lays us down to sleep. The missionary next to us continually used Tiffany as arm rest, invaded her space and lacked the courtesy to acknowledge his impolite actions. I then saw the book he was reading: The Mosque Exposed. All I can say about this book is that it has an American flag and an Eagle on the cover. It's going to be a long flight.