Up early, packed, breakfasted, and on the bus by 7:30. We checked bags and cleared security and had time to sit at the gate and wonder why we weren’t still asleep.

The first stop was Istanbul. We had a long enough layover that we had time to take a few photos of their fancy new airport on our way to our gate.

All was well until we got to our gate. There we had to present our passports 3 separate times to get into the gate area, then we were frisked. On the plane I was seated next to an airport security consultant. He explained that Turkey is a hostile country so between them and us people traveling to the US are subjected to extra stringent screening.

Speaking of the plane, we had seat back video screens which we, of course, set to the map setting. In the scrolling mode here’s one of the screens presented.

Now we’re sitting in the San Francisco airport. We arrived at 4:00 and leave at 8:00. Dinner was sushi (for me) and pot stickers (for Cheryl). Now we sit, and wait, read and post, and wonder why it’s a bit difficult to put a coherent sentence together after 21.5 hours on the road.

It’s been a great trip. We’ve seen lots, learned lots, made new friends and been energized by associating with college students. But all good things must come to an end. So we’ll take one more flight, put our future in the hands of a taxi driver who is a former MIG pilot (and drives like it), say Hi to Lindy, wash clothes, and look forward to the next adventure.

Till then,

Thanks for watching!

R