The 1998 Flight

I lied… I did it with a straight face, no smirk, no twinkle of the eye and no shame. I lied to Nikki before the flight, knowing what I was saying was not going to happen. I told Nikki that the whole flight would be done is good weather. Sunshine, blue skies, white puffy clouds and maybe a rainbow or two. No IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) weather would be touched.We would stay on the ground if it looked “iffy.” In my heart, I knew I was lying.

The commemorative flight was from Moscow to P.Osipenko in the Far East of Siberia. To get there, we had to fly from Lebanon, Tennessee to Moscow to P.Osipenko back to Lebanon. There were stories in each and every stop that were scary, funny, boring, frustrating or embarrassing. But, they were all stories that made up the adventure. Stories that we spent many hours remembering together while we drank a bottle of wine. Sometimes we recalled and laughed until we cried and some we just cried about.

There were so many people and places along the way that made this flight happen. Some of these stories are on the journal page and I recommend that you spend a little time exploring it. Some of the stories are kept “in the box” to be let loose at a later date for a book or maybe a movie. Stay tuned…

Read The Flight Journals