One Night in Bangkok.................

..............oh yes, just like the song (from the musical Chess), our first Bangkok night was short as we arrived at our hotel from Seoul, Korea at 3:00am Bangkok time last night.  I guess that was actually Sunday.............and we did sleep in a wee bit this morning!

A heads up here for ASIANA, the Korean airline that took us on the first leg from San Francisco to Seoul. 13 hours in a very comfy Business Elite seat..............complete with duvet, pillow, slippers, and wonderful L'Occitane en Provence lotions and potions.............

 .............crossing Alaska and the 

frozen Bering Sea................... 

..........down across Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, and over the Sea of Okhotsk to South Korea.

These delightful Korean flight attendants were the best I've ever flown with, nothing was too much trouble, all done with a gentle manner...........and fabulous food. 

My 20 year old Port came while I was still on my excellent Shiraz - unfortunately even they didn't help much with sleeping, guess it just wasn't my bedtime!


A layover in Seoul for a couple of hours, then off again on Thai Airlines for the almost 6 hour flight to Bangkok.  Understandable that Paula and I were feeling a bit tired by then!  A long trip but all flights were on time and everything went very smoothly.

Baggage Claim at the spotless and very attractive Bangkok Airport.

More on Bangkok coming - we'll be here for several days.

Nature's fury..................

......passed over North Carolina yesterday afternoon.

At 3:15 PM we ran to the cars and drove them away from the cottage to park in an underground deck at our nearby shopping center.  A huge shadow hung from the sky, ever darkening as the wind gained strength.  The 'watch' had turned to 'warning, usually only heard when hurricanes threaten late in Summer or early Fall.  They have come inland and caused us devastation in the past.  This time, the first since 1988, a tornado was on the way, already causing devastation to the west of us and headed on a path to take it right through Raleigh.

The shadow turned into a funnel, demolishing a Lowe's home improvement store in Sanford. The 50 employees, and another 50 customers, raced to the break rooms in the rear.  Thankfully nobody was killed as the roof was ripped off and the entire store appears as if it exploded.  Many businesses and homes south of here are lost.  Then, just a couple of miles from our home, it ripped through a mobile home park, killing at least three, two of them children according to the local news. (Edited 4-18-11: Now known, sadly all 3 of these deaths were young children). It ravaged so many small towns along its way, whole strips of shops and businesses, farming communities and neighborhoods.

Spring is not always gentle, it can be a cruel season.

This beautiful Sunday morning arrived with bright sunshine, hardly a breeze, temperatures climbing.  We have just cleaned up our debris, mostly small branches, twigs and leaves.......fortunate our work is minimal compared to many others.  Our hearts go out to those who have lost loved ones, are perhaps injured, or have lost their homes and possessions.  Please remember them in your thoughts and prayers, thank you.