The Dynamic Duo

Here we are on a big airplane, at an altitude of 38,130 feet (11621 Metres), going 532 mph (865 kph), having traveled some 3116 (4999 K) miles since departing from Portland, OR at 12:30 pm Pacific time. I am trying to give the people what they want here, with both metric and miles so we can all get a good idea of just how far we have come.
We have 1825 miles (2952 K) to go, or about 4 hours, and have a headwind of 58 mph. How do I know all this? Of course I have UltraDad along and he is, occasionally, quite smart, but mostly I’m just tracking the flight on the interactive world entertainment network, in between browsing music, movies and games, such as Bejeweled.  UltraDad looked through the seat pocket literature and has decided we are flying on a NWA A330-200/-300 Airplane with seating capacity of 243-298 with a main cabin-seating configuration of 2-4-2. We are sitting in a ‘2’ right nearly over the right wing, so visibility is a bit limited. Of course, mostly there is nothing to see anyway, except for clouds, but UDad did catch a glimpse of some spectacular snow-capped mountains, which just had to be Alaska. Yes, Ultra Readers we are on our way to Japan and a much-anticipated first meeting of the young master Linc and a reunion with his much loved Ultra Parents.
We had a nice Christmas, though an unusual one. Johnny and Jimbo arrived in Carlin Monday afternoon, and UtraMom worked and tied up loose ends at her work by Wed (Dec 24) morning. That was about when Mother Nature let loose her winter fury she had been keeping at bay. It snowed, the wind blew and me and my car slipped an slid on icy streets and sidewalks. By Christmas Eve late we knew there was no way UltraDad was making it home that day. He would be, in fact, plowing snow in Ruby Valley from 3 AM to 3 PM on Christmas Day. We finally got him home at about 5:30 pm Christmas Day, upon which we dug right into our dinner of pork roast, mashed potatoes and gray and got down to the business of opening gifts.
Sister in law, Pat went to her sister/s for Christmas, so we ended up with 3 extra poodles for a couple of days, bringing the grand total to 5 in the house. I have to say they were mostly well behaved, with the exception of Murphy, who took it upon himself to make sure the food bowl was well protected, as well as policing any rawhide bones in residence. Jim slept on the couch in the living room, and several times had all 5 little poodles snuggled on and around him.
We all got just what we wanted, at least I did. I ended up with 2 ‘treasure hunts’ where I had to try and follow a clue or two to find my actual gift. UltraDad got me yoga blocks and strap, a hiking pole and a cool new game we will be trying out in Japan, called something like “Mad Gibs.” From Johnny and Jim I got a pedometer and a fantastic backpack made to hold my laptop, as well as heavy books. That was one of my ‘treasure hunt’ gifts, and I was beginning to be afraid that the backpack I had requested was not going to happen.  At the end of all the other gift opening, I was given a wadded up scrap of paper.  When I gingerly untapped and spread out the paper and tried to follow my clue “Hey Fara Faucett, go look in the closet”, I finally discovered a blue backpack tucked away in the corner of the ‘tool’ guest room. (To those of you who have been to my house, that designation needs no further explanation). When I got it into the light of day, I realized it had a ‘Newmont’ logo on the front, which was the name of the company Ulta Dad used to work for. My real backpack, as it turned out, was hidden in the top of the hallway closet that Jim had made. The funny thing was that the boys didn’t plant the Newmont one; it just happened to be there from being stashed away long ago! Heather is giving me some cash, which I plan to save for a mother/daughter trip sometime this spring.
John was thrilled with the new spotting scope the boys and I got him, Jim liked his new Braun razor, which I believe is made of solid gold (just judging by the price) and Johnny’s gifts were mostly for his laptop: a new battery, a neoprene incase, and a laptop holding backpack, a little different from mine. Heather and Heath weren’t able to be with us, but seem to like the ipod nanos.
This was the first time I can remember when we did not do our traditional Christmas Eve service, consisting of singing Christmas carols, Bible readings and candle lighting. I’m not sure why we didn’t do it; I guess because Dad wasn’t home and our schedule was thrown off.
As I finish this up, we are safely ensconced in Bob and Tomoko (and Linc’s) comfy and spacious home and have a night’s sleep under our belt. I’ll catch you up in the next installment. Thanks for all your well wishes and I’ll keep you posted.

ULTRAMOM