The early morning straight after returning from Chengdu, China, I had to get on an even longer flight again, all the way to Los Angeles and then onward to Denver. Because my Dutch friend Andrea and her American fiancé were going to get married. And they found the perfect location for it. A little town called 'Nederland' (The Dutch name of 'the Netherlands') in the United States. Coincidentally that happened to be only an hour's drive from their home.
Everything went wrong in the morning. I overslept and missed my taxi pickup. When I got them to send a new one, I almost missed that one too. In the hurry I forgot to take my shaver and iPad, and forgot to close the gate to the house. Luckily my awesome neighbour noticed it and chained up my bicycles just in case. However there was nothing he could do about me not being able to shave or read and play games on the iPad.
Regardless, I survived the 15 hour flight to Los Angeles. Transferred through the airport fairly quickly, bought some minty M&Ms and a book to read, and was soon on my flight to Denver from which I saw the first canyon landscapes (The San Juan River and Mexican Hat I think) and some Rocky Mountains. Quite different form the Alps I had become used to!
In Denver I got picked up from the airport by Andrea and her stepdad, and soon we were cruising along the motorway. I paid a couple-hour visit to the lodge in Nederland where the wedding was going to be, where a lot of guests had gathered already, and took the mandatory selfie at the 'Nederland' city limit sign. Once back at Andrea & Jon's flat, where I would be sleeping while they stayed in the lodge, Ilja arrived in a nice Ford Mustang.
Everything went wrong in the morning. I overslept and missed my taxi pickup. When I got them to send a new one, I almost missed that one too. In the hurry I forgot to take my shaver and iPad, and forgot to close the gate to the house. Luckily my awesome neighbour noticed it and chained up my bicycles just in case. However there was nothing he could do about me not being able to shave or read and play games on the iPad.
Regardless, I survived the 15 hour flight to Los Angeles. Transferred through the airport fairly quickly, bought some minty M&Ms and a book to read, and was soon on my flight to Denver from which I saw the first canyon landscapes (The San Juan River and Mexican Hat I think) and some Rocky Mountains. Quite different form the Alps I had become used to!
In Denver I got picked up from the airport by Andrea and her stepdad, and soon we were cruising along the motorway. I paid a couple-hour visit to the lodge in Nederland where the wedding was going to be, where a lot of guests had gathered already, and took the mandatory selfie at the 'Nederland' city limit sign. Once back at Andrea & Jon's flat, where I would be sleeping while they stayed in the lodge, Ilja arrived in a nice Ford Mustang.
