My wife and İ express our kind appreciation to Turkish Air for rescheduling our flights after experiencing major problems (no fun at all) in NYC. (more…)

If you have never been to Utah, you must experience it.

As my wife and I travelled last night to Salt Lake City, we chatted and listened to folks on the 15 passenger van express.  The seats were comfortable (surprising), and the passengers were friendly.  After asking about my profession and the name of the church where I ministered, the older lady across from us remarked, “The Southern Baptist scare the holy heck out of me.”

So I asked why.  She quickly answered, “One preacher cried, ‘We are bad and going to hell.'”

Switching topics, she carried on with a wide variety of subjects with my wife.  And in the course of the trip, my wife joyfully shared a lot of things about our church family, Berean Baptist Church, in Idaho Falls.

Another nice young gal in the van was catching up with her husband this weekend.  He is working on his Masters in history at BYU in Provo.  I guess he plans on working on through to a Ph.D.

Last night, we stopped briefly in Blackfoot, Pocatello, and then Brigham City.  Somewhere in the van conversations, I had fallen asleep.  The two college girls behind us were talking on cellphones, and venting their frustration over roommates breaking honor code over curfews and boyfriend stuff.  I learned the proper techniques for showing physical affection but not break the rules.

At the end of the trip, I woke up to a beautiful sunset.  It lit the Western sky on fire!  The snow capped Wasatch mountains were majestic.

My wife and I took the Salt Lake Express down the I-15 corridor to SLC.

We just found out our flight to NYC-Kennedy had been cancelled.  We can catch a flight tomorrow at 4:50 to NYC, but our international flights will all have to be changed.

I told my wife if Turkish Air can get us sometime to Istanbul, I will rent a car for our own Turkish adventure.  She didn’t laugh.

 I suppose for now, Salt Lake City is a nice place to be stuck. 🙂

Late last night, I watched Mitt on Larry King Live from one of the eating tables at McDonald’s.  The guy certainly articulated level answers to King’s questions on the Middle East quagmire.

Today, my wife and I are headed to the country of Turkey.  So I have been mentally preparing myself for leaving Mormon country to experience the exotic lands of Muslim country.  Where I am able to have Internet access, I will keep you posted over the next week and a half.