Flying Around

Finally, after years of working with Chinese suppliers, I got my opportunity to visit their land. I went on a whirlwind 1-week trip that added 16,500 miles to my frequent flyer account.

We started in Lincoln (LNK) and then flew 6600 miles from O'Hare (ORD) to Beijing (PEK). We nearly went over the north pole (we hit 80° north latitude) on the great circle route. It seems weird to fly north from Chicago to go somewhere to the west. From Beijing, we went to Chongqing (CKG) and Hangzhou (HGH) and then back the way we came.

I got a window seat so that I could check out the glaciers and ice along the way, but it was cloudy the entire way. How is that possible?

I had my last real diet coke in Chicago. From there all I could find was Diet Coke Light, which tastes like real Coke. All of the Asian cans have pull tabs. 

Here's what it looks like at mid day at 80° north from 39,000 feet. Before we began our descent, we hit 40,000 feet and -93°F outside. I really enjoy having the map display available on the seat back in front of me.