Greetings from the Canadian Stratosphere....Again!

Hello friends,

This time I am 31K feet (9448m) in the sky, flying Etihad Airlines over Eastern Canada. In a few short hours, I will be in Greenland airspace. Sweet. After almost two years of planning, I am on the plane to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. I feel pretty good. It was hard saying goodbye, but a) it isn't forever--a year will pass quickly, and b) I am still on Earth in the Solar System, and not on an exoplanet in Andromeda. Simmah donn nah!

Rereading my last blog entry, I note that when I made the post about Moke the Cat, unbeknownst to me, he had already passed away. When I got off the plane in Anchorage, my mom had left me a message that he had to be put to sleep.  Not sure how so much love and goodness can be fit into such a small and fluffy package as Moke, but it was. Like my James said, Moke is certainly sitting on a perch in Heaven, being his quiet, observant self. <3

At the risk of getting all Ellie May Clampet up in it, I post these pictures of this Business Class sky adventure thus far:

Greetings from the Canadian Stratosphere! Phoenix, Denver, Chicago, Anchorage, SoCal, Chicago

Mobilization Date:  Ten sleeps.

I'm en route to Anchorage, Alaska, where I lived and worked from June, 2014, through July, 2015, trying to get in as much as I can before going abroad. I fell in deep love with Alaska; it is easy to do. There is a freedom there, and the natural beauty is indescribable. Plus, I fell in love with my former colleagues, too, and need to spend time and laugh with them again. The Northern Lights have been crazy glorious lately, from the posted photos I've seen. Hopefully the current cloud cover will recede for a few hours so that electromagnetic glow will rain down on me this week. They had a foot of snow yesterday!

To backtrack a bit:  Last week I visited Phoenix to see my Mom and our sweet family cat, Moke (pronounced mo-KEY, it's Hawai'ian), who became acutely ill. We resuscitated him with fluids to help reverse the acute renal failure he suffered, and hopefully bought a few more comfortable, lovable months for him. Here he is, 14-year-old Moke in his favorite environment, the backyard tall grass:

From there, I flew to Denver to see my BFF Britney. This was my first trip to Colorado! It, too, is gorgeous. It reminded me of "Alaska Lite" for its ruggedness and natural beauty. It is also an amatuer geologist's dream! The Ruegseggers were wonderful hosts! I rode two of their horses and did lots of hiking at Garden of the Gods, Garden of the Angels (Red Rocks), as well as trips to Boulder, Manitou Springs, Golden, and Colorado Springs. And we enjoyed some great restaurants and bars!

Back to the now: This Anchorage trip will be capped off with an anniversary celebration dinner for two dear men, Tom and Andy, who celebrate their anniversary on Saturday night. Around midnight, my pumpkin will morph into a Boeing 727, which will fly me to LA. I will commune with my sisters from another mother (and father), the Goodes, and then go back to Chicago to make final preparations for a year abroad. In the meantime, 'Murica!

SET UP ENTRY.
Scheduled date of mobilization from Chicago, Illinois, USA:  November 19, 2015.  Please come with me!

It's 7,265 miles from home.  Chicago to Abu Dhabi, here we go.