The trip there

Willmar to St Cloud in a van with 650k miles on it and a nice-enough driver.

Hung out at Holiday Inn for ~30.

St Cloud to MSP driver was Dan who told us about his 51 ??? and 57 Chevy Impala and how they were both traded in for a ?? station wagon with an automatic transmission with four(!) forward and two(!!!) reverse gears that their dad put two roof rack on and hauled them all over the country. His wife of 24? years died two months ago. His anniversary was the next day. He married her twice, once by the mayor of their town in Indiana? and once in a Catholic church. He was a talker.

Didn't know to take my laptop out of my bag so the TSA guy helped me. He kept calling me Captain. I told Jesse I could get used to that. Hung out at the gate for two hours. I tried to find a travel towel but none of the airport stores knew what I was talking about. (Luckily, the new apartment comes furnished with a set of towels.)

MSP to AMS I sat by a young German woman, Teresa, that was returning home after 13 months in Phoenix as an au pair. Raised a boy that was born early from 3 mos to 16 mos. She wanted a window seat so she could sleep better so she moved and Jesse took her place. I chatted with a woman from New York but that just graduated with a B in Zoology from South Utah? Before going home she was going to visit her family in Lyon for a couple of weeks. Maybe I'll run into her in Paris. Didn't sleep well or much on the plane. Listened to some french lessons. Decent meal of southwest chicken salad with two Coronas. Breakfast was less good - an egg and biscuit sandwich with some funky cheese and spices.

Hung out at AMS for ~30 minutes after going through security again and finding the gate. Posted two pics to FB on the world's worst wifi.

Took a bus to the plane on the tarmac, a little 1x2 plane but with jet engines. Short but smooth flight to NTE. Listened to more French lessons. Couldn't really sleep.

AJ and Bob picked us up then took the scenic route to the new apartment. Then we went to the supermarket (which had an impressive selection of bourbons available!), came home, and ate frozen pizza for dinner. C'est la vie. I did get to have a P??? Brune with it, at least!

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That previous text was written at about 9pm here and it's now midnight, which is 5pm back home and which explains why I was just able to eat a very hearty midnight snack! Fresh bread, generously drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with Mediterranean sea salt and pepper. We also had some cheese, they type of which I'm not too sure - kinda between a cheddar and a Parmesan. And, all washed down with a ??? Amber. Prior to the snack I was sipping Courvoisier and just chatting with the other people here. The type of exchange we had just does not happen in any other setting than this - thrown together in a foreign place with free time and a bit of a budget; it's invaluable.

Now, however, it truly is time for bed!