We had left our van parked in the townhouse visitors’ parking area at Shannon and Davey’s, where it sat, waiting for our return. Some of the neighbors were concerned, believing someone had abandoned the van. I fixed a tail light, and Davey and I changed the oil. Davey is a big believer in exceedingly regular oil changes. Donna and I took an inventory of our Guatemalan stock and made sales calls in the surrounding cities. We were determined to bolster our finances before taking off again. The evenings were smoke-filled while listening to tapes of Grateful Dead concerts and eating Davey’s barbecued chicken, also known as “chi.” Shannon doesn’t smoke and doesn’t like the smell. Consequently, several of us would adjourn to the basement to spare her. We would then return glassy-eyed to the back deck to be with her.
Making Plans
At the previous Rainbow Gathering in Slovenia, we met the Israeli Family. They invited us to attend the upcoming Gathering in Israel in October. That was only a couple of months away! We knew many people would go to India after their time in Israel. As a result, we also decided to make visa arrangements for a trip to India. A traveler can only arrange a visa for India from within their home country. The six-month visas for India would begin the day we received the visas. A brief stopover to the gathering in Israel would leave us plenty of time to explore India afterward. We arranged another set of standby tickets to Luxembourg with Airhitch. The plan would be to hitchhike through France, and Italy, take a ferry to Greece, and catch another ferry to Israel.
October arrived, and we received our visas for India. Excitedly, we piled into Shannon’s car, and she drove us to Dulles Airport in Washington, DC. She dropped us off at the terminal and waited in the parking to ensure we could get a standby flight. There was a cue that snaked around the barriers; accordingly, we stood in the line shuffling forward, pushing our heavy backpacks along as we moved. Soon, we stood in front of the counter, offering our Airhitch standby vouchers and passports. Luckily, we were assigned seats on the plane, and after checking our bags with tickets in hand, we went out to show Shannon that we, indeed, were to be on the flight to Luxembourg.
The Terminal
It’s nice to relax before a flight, so we wandered away from the terminal and smoked one last joint before going through customs. Back in the terminal, we made our way through the maze of boarding an International flight. Dulles is not an enormous airport, so the walk to the gate was not far. We sat waiting and watching the various planes coming and going. People are always interesting to watch. Some of them are as excited as we are to be beginning a new adventure, while others are just trying to make that last leg of a long journey. That will be us in a few days. We could hear the distorted announcements of the various flights over the mixed rumble of passengers and TV news. A couple of ladies in Iceland Air uniforms approached the gate counter and began arranging cardboard signs and paperwork.
A ding dong tone of an upcoming announcement followed by an incredibly muffled and distorted, “Mumf grungsf bor Lushbagoug gow pordik at gake dee ventitree.”
Boarding
Donna says, “Hey! I think that’s us!” I agree that it must be, as most of the people waiting at our gate begin to stand up and gather their belongings. We do the same and go to stand in the cue for boarding the plane. Slowly and methodically, the flight attendants check tickets and passports, and we walk down the hallway to the plane.
As we step into the plane, the flight attendant says, “Welcome. Tickets, please. Your seats are just up on the right.” She motions us down to the right.
“Wow! These are actually some pretty good seats,” I say as I put our small carry-on bags and Miss Guitara into the overhead.
“Lucky Lance!” Donna says as we settle in for the long flight to Luxembourg via our now favorite stopover in Reykjavík.
After everybody is in, the hatches are closed. As the aircraft taxis to the runway, the flight attendants instruct the passengers to fasten their seatbelts and demonstrate what will happen in case of an emergency. As we wait for take-off, I hold onto Donna’s hand and assure her there will be no problems. They’ve done this before. There is a muffled roar of the jet engines as the aircraft begins to move forward ever faster. I can feel the roughness of the tires against the runway as we accelerate. Then as we reach the proper speed, the airplane lifts away from the ground, and the roughness disappears. As we climb higher into the sky, I hear the wheelset retracting with a mechanical buzz. Donna relaxes her grip on my hand. All is well.
Toujours aussi passionnant, en même temps que je parcours vos récits, je suis Avec vous dans le voyage ! Vivement la suite ! Je vous embrasse très fort. Bisous bisous à vous deux.