Flight's actually tomorrow, but I'm packed and already over at my parents so I figure "why not start the blog travelogue?" As before, I don't know if I will be able to keep it up but let's see! If not, I'll switch to note-taking and update post-fact.

The trip is to Latvia (and a little of France.) The flight over is in three parts: one small 'n short one first, then a 4-hour layover in Detroit (*snap* KEVLAR! I knew I forgot to pack something!), and then it's off to Amsterdam on an 8 hour flight, finally ending with a 2 hour flight to Riga. I'm lucky to have a window seat on the first flight. I might be even luckier on the International flight because the seat next to my aisle seat is currently empty! With wifi, power sockets, and an upgrade for legroom, I stand to have comfortable flight with plenty of time to watch LPs, play Stellaris, and just maybe the privacy to do some posting in peace!

Tune in tomorrow for more updates! (should be plenty of time for it in Detroit XP )

8:00 am Up and at them!  grab a quick shower, get dressed and get going.

8:10 We are immediately side tracked when my younger sib's glasses break and we can't find his backup pair.

8:21 I just realized we forgot to budget time for at least 15 minutes of older sib criticizing our dress!

8:33 We finally found the glasses case. They were in the napkin holder, underneath the napkins... We finish moving luggage into the van.

8:50 The garage door won't close via keypad. We hide a door opener for tge lady who will be taking care of things.

9:00 We head off to pick up mom, get out and help finish up.

9:45 Time to head off to older sib before driving to the airport.

11:00 Arrival at the airport. My checked bag is 47 lbs and I land a sweet TSA precheck!

11:15 new title

11:45 Dad realized he forgot his laptop. He was planning on doing some work on the plane. I guess I know where I get it from. We have no wifi and the network sucks out here. Still, we're all in high spirits.

1:10 pm boarding. My window seat has a lovely view... of the wing We take off at 1:35. I will never get tired of seeing clouds from the other side. I settle into my Otter book for the short flight.

2:00 We start our descent. So much farm land to see!

2:30 We get off and there's no wifi. Detroit has a pretty terminal, all steel and concrete and grey. Then there was an uderground tunnel and it turns psychedelic. Shame I didn't pack my glowsticks. On the other end of the tunnel we reach the main terminal  even more massive and has a big red elevated team running indoors. It's no O'Hare, but its very impressive in its own right. I settle in for a bit of Stellaris.

3:50 A Void Cloud nearly wiped out my first and only fleet. I probably shouldn't have chosen the 'weak' trait.

4:00 We wander off to our now-moved gate and stop off at a PF Chang's for a small snack. Plenty of time left in delightful Detroit. I broke down and use some data.

5:21 Time to leave work and head home for the day! Wait...

Still plenty of time to twiddle my thumbs. 4 books, a laptop with tons of vids and games and I spend most my time on my phone with the forum and Discord. Go figure.

5:30 They announced a delay due to cleaning and prep but simultaneously announce they expect we will land 16 minutes ahead of time Airplanes seem to practice flex time very much like the company I work for. :V

6:06 pm cleaners still is haven't gotten on the plane. Now planning for 6:45 departure. AirFrance... guess they must have been on strike XP

6:17 Cleaning crew's here!

6:47pm Stiiiiill cleaning. Still in Detroit. We have a 2 hour layover in Amsterdam but we have customs and security we have to go through, not to mention picking up our bags, beforw we nab to Riga flight.

7:07 Finally boarding

7:15 Got my seat! Such legroom! Little screens, power plug claimed. 2 sockets between 4 seats, so I plugged in early. It is now mine and people shall ask permission >:V

7:27 pm They mentioned we will fly over Scotland/Ireland/England. I'll be sure to wave to all the UK furs! This will probably be the last update for a while. Take off will be soon. Once Laptops are allowed again, I have a Void Cloud to deal with...

12:00 Void clouds suck! Stupid non-sentient clouds smashed my fleets again. I should try to get a bit of sleep, it's going to be a long day today. But, I've given in to my stomach pressure and checked out the restroom. I have also discovered that my phone carrier nets me a free hour of wifi on the plane! So, I figured a little update. It is sonewhere around 4/5 am in Amsterdam if I'm right. We are to arrive in at 9am. Even after our 2 hour 3rd flight we only have a few hours to get checked in before we meet with a priest relative, so we'll mostly spend it getting cleaned up. I figure that means I have 6-8 hours before I'll have a chance to sleep again once we start down. Better grab what I can now. I'll fill in some trip details (didn't just play Stellaris XP) later.

1:00 am Sleep did not happen. It was inevitable; I've never been able to sleep on a plane. Instead I chat a bit on Discord using the last on my WiFi freebe.

1:30 I give in to my inner furry and start watching Zootopia again.

1:40 I give up on Zootopia, I can't seem to enjoy something I've seen this many times when I'm this tired. Doesn't matter, as the cabin lights just came on.

2am / 8am They serve a breakfast snack : Frozen Orange juice, biscoff bar, roll with jam, slice of cheese, and yogurt. I skip the cheese and yogurt as I still have stomach pains. I do nab some black tea to wake me a bit.

8:05 We're over about the center point of the UK. I wave like a dork

8:35 am We begin our descent.

3:03 Two for two! It was a bit bumpier than the other and the weather is cloudy but cool in Amsterdam.

3:20 Apparently the plane had to drive around a but to find a parking spot :V Taxiing finally ends and he disembark.

We're late. Some people have already missed their connections, but we might still make ours if we really leg it! The gate is on the literal opposite end of the terminal. The airport layout is chaotic; there's no sense of flow like the others. But, we also have customs to get through...

3:45 / 9:45 we made it to the other side just in time for the plane to start boarding. Customs was a single question and a passport stamp. They had our boarding passes at the gate.

10:05  We're on board. The tiny plane stands in stark contrast to the massive international plane we got off. It's very hot inside. People look eerily familiar.There's a lot of cute girls on board, too.

10:33 They announce the luggage was late and being brought on board now. Announcements are made in Latvian, English, and Russian.

10:45 The plane finally starts moving.

11:04 Finally take off after another long taxiing session. My window seat affords me a view as the plane drives along a highway overpass.

1:45 We land in Latvia! The flight we largely uneventful. It's rainy but not raining. Forests abound below as we made our surprisingly smooth landing.

2:00 / 1:00 I don't know what timezone it is. We lost another hour, the flight was 1hour 45 minutes.  We're at the baggage carousel after disembarking via stairs and taking a 2 minute bus ride. The airport is smaller than Dayton.

1:23 They've lost our luggage. -_-;

Well that's about it for the flying! It would be quiet a few hours before I get to bed, but that is a story for another blog post. Hope you all enjoyed hearing about the trip so far!