Our nearly 16 hr flight to Dubai took off well, departing at about 5 pm. It seemed odd that we could travel against time: going through the night as the Friday daylight came and went almost without notice. Curiously our flight path headed straight north across Oregon and Washington then veering to the northeast across the Canadian provinces, over the Baffin Sea to Greenland, dodging to the right of the North Pole, then coming in above the Scandinavian countries across Russia, flying direc
tly over Tehran, and then down to Dubai.
tly over Tehran, and then down to Dubai. The Dubai Airport was spectacular.
We landed around 7: 30 pm, Friday evening, and were in our rooms at the Millennium Hotel by 8 pm. Erin and I settled in and then decided to get a nightcap at Cactus Jack's Lounge. We had to sit outside because, even though the inside was quite nice, it was crowded with cigarette-smoking-loud-mouthed Westerners. The terra
ce was nice but it was like sitting in a sauna until a light breeze came in and things were more pleasant. We were just beginning to relax when I noticed the silhouette of a man's figure approaching us. Then I heard, “Is that Jack Ridges?” I was pleasantly surprised to see that Kyle St. George somehow was able to track us down.
ce was nice but it was like sitting in a sauna until a light breeze came in and things were more pleasant. We were just beginning to relax when I noticed the silhouette of a man's figure approaching us. Then I heard, “Is that Jack Ridges?” I was pleasantly surprised to see that Kyle St. George somehow was able to track us down.Kyle is the brother of our daughter-in-law Karen. He is an airplane pilot for FlyDubai and now lives in Dubai. I had tried to contact Kyle when we arrived but received busy signals on his cell phone. Kyle said his cell phone had four missed messages and he assumed they came from me. He contacted the hotel and learned my room number but couldn't connect with me. So he took a cab down to the hotel and, low and behold, found me sitting in a bar. We had a nice time together, the three of us. Kyle is an Air Force Academy graduate who, after retiring from the Air Force, spent many years as a commercial pilot with ATA and, just this past year, he has begun work with FlyDubai which is an economical alternative to Emerites airlines. He is looking forward to having his wife, Loretta, join him for a six month stay now that their two sons are away at college. We had drinks together and shared a most delightful evening.
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