San Francisco...& Points West

Hi, all.  I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday celebrations this week & is ready for 2020!

I arrived in San Francisco this morning, after taking an early flight from Omaha, as I wasn't sure if (a) there would be weather delays, (b) if there would be plane issues/delays, or (c) some other unforseen issue that might prevent me from getting to San Francisco today, as I meet-up with the majority of our team ~ the International Extremity Project ~ tonight at 9p.  Good news is the weather was great and no plane issues!  Now, I am settled-in to the Grand Hyatt at the airport in a 'day room,' which is a great concept and allows a person to rent a room for the majority of the day at a significantly lower rate than typical for a full night's stay and I am happy to be here for the day.

View from the Grand Hyatt SFO

The Omaha airport was buzzing with people and in my time waiting for my flight, there were 3 couples that missed a different flight.  Strangely, 2 of the couples (separately) came sauntering-into the gate area with their coffee and sat for about 10 minutes, before saying to each other, "Weren't we supposed to leave already?"  The 3rd couple came into the scene about 10 minutes later, discussing how yummy their Bloody Marys were this morning!  Ha!  Good news is, I didn't miss my flight.

As I travel for these mission trips, I always notice "strange" things along the way and this morning's "strange thing" sighting was these hula-hoops, as not only does a person need one hula-hoop when traveling, but certainly 4 are better!  Various sizes and shapes are required!  Ha.

I will meet up with everyone at the San Francisco Airport tonight at 9p (PST) and we will leave for Taipei (leg #1) at 12a on the 27th.  We will then travel to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly, called Saigon) and will arrive there on Saturday, the 28th, around mid-day.  Then, we'll travel via bus about 100 miles south into the Mekong Delta to a city, called Can Tho.  This drive will take about 3-4 hours, due to the traffic and narrowness of the roads.

So,  my next post will likely be in about 2 days.  I am so looking forward to this trip and to working with IEP again, as well as working with some of the therapists and physicians we have gotten to know well over my past 5 trips.  Each time I got to Vietnam, I notice how much it's changed and so, am curious what growth and changes we will see this time around.

Enjoy your day!

xoxo
Stacy