As readers of my blog know, I enjoy and try to make the most of travel days. You have a choice to be annoyed at the hassles and discomfort that come with long-distance air travel. I choose to view it as an adventure, not knowing how the day or night will go. I am also mercifully out of digital communications and have time to read and write. I’ve finished many books and blog posts through the years on these long travel days. The best aspect of travel days is spending quality time with family!
The highlight of our morning was rushing through check-in, immigration, and security so Ocean could see her boyfriend one last time before leaving for summer break. Roman’s flight was scheduled to depart about 30 minutes before our flight. We had a relatively fast check-in after hiring a Yandex Cargo truck (Yandex is the Uber of the Russian-speaking world and is a brilliant service!) to transport 9 large suitcases and boxes from our home to the Uzbek Airways check-in desk. There were a lot of flights departing this morning, and the lines at immigration were long. Ocean was tired and anxious to see Roman, so we purchased the “fast track” (around $25 per person) service. An airport official walked us to the front of the immigration line, directed us through the business class security check, and Ocean was able to spend a few precious minutes with Roman before he boarded. We were apologetic to our fellow passengers waiting in the immigration line. I explained that my daughter wanted “one last kiss” from her boyfriend before they left for separate lives. They were smiling because it was a good story. It is probably the best money I’ve spent in a while to see Ocean reunite with Roman.
We usually stay for a week after school gets out to close the office, but with us switching schools and Ocean’s entry to university, we departed the morning after the last official work day. It was nice to be on the same flight as my friends and colleagues Rob and Frank. We had a nice coffee and conversation while waiting to board.
Uzbek Airways has improved a lot in our seven years here. The plane was really nice with plenty of legroom and space between seats. The breakfast was delicious. I loved the White Wolves World Cup Soccer Logos recently painted on the plane. The complimentary travel kits were World Cup Soccer themed and included a nice bag and a Uzbek soccer key chain. Brilliant idea! Uzbeks are proud to have made the World Cup and after experiencing it first hand in the country, I agree with FIFA’s decision to increase the number of teams from 32 to 48.
Our bags and we arrived safe and sound. We are impressed with the improvements made by Uzbek Airways. Uncle Jack picked us up at JFK and got us through the bumper-to-bumper traffic through NYC. We arrived in Freeland, Pennsylvania in the late afternoon. We finished the long day with a nice meal at a local bar/restaurant, and exhausted, I fell asleep around 9:00 PM.
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