Wal-Mart and the $9,000 Footrest

Day One and Two: 2/12 & 2/13 – Travel from EUG – BKK
Title: Wal-Mart and the $9,000 Footrest

Well hello everybody! Welcome to the travel blog 2008 style. Many of you were included on the listserve from my last trip to Asia… some of you were not and complained bitterly about it (Jane!)… and others of you are just getting it because I thought you might like it. As many of you know (at least those who read it last time) I can get verbose. So if you want me to remove you, please let me know. Also please write with comments or questions… it’s fun to talk to people from home while on the road. Let the blogging begin!

Okay… I’ll start off by saying I get a pass on any typos in this “installment” because I just got off an 11-hour flight and the sad part is that I am not even there yet! Dad and I are currently in Narita (for those of you… like me… who are geographically challenged… that’s basically Tokyo… and if you don’t know that that’s in Japan… well then I just can’t help you). We still have a 7-hour “jaunt” to Bangkok.

This “morning”, which is technically yesterday’s morning since we lost a day when crossing the international dateline, was classic dad. I have a feeling this might be a LONG 23 days ;~> Everyone knows dad works a lot… he doesn’t get out much… stores like Costco are exciting, yet overwhelming…. Okay you get the point. Bottom line is we had to stop at Wal-Mart on our way to the airport because someone (Jason!) has misplaced the family’s electrical converter (it’s amazing how Jason can make us late to the airport even when he’s 2,500 miles away ;~)

Driving into the Wal-Mart parking lot dad is very concerned that it is in fact open 24 hours. The large print sign right in front of the doors that says “OPEN 24 HOURS” doesn’t seem to reassure him. As we walk through the entrance a super old and super friendly woman greets us with a “welcome to Waaaaaaaaaaaalll-Mart”. My dad doesn’t seem to hear her. I’m not sure if this is because he is really tired, partially deaf or just because he is in his “I am not going to be late to the airport” zone. As we round the corner toward the candy isle dad looks at me with worry and says, “you do in fact know where the electronics are, right?” I find this funny since we all know I love Wal-Mart (sorry Luke) and I love electronics. I reassure him as we quickly walk towards the back of the store. His pace begins to quicken a bit and I ask in all seriousness, “You aren’t going to start running now are you?” He looks at me like this is a crazy question and says “NO”.

As we enter the electronics section I show him the two rows where the converter may be and proceed to look for an accessory to my iPod. On the way to my row I pass a stocking guy who asks if I need any help. I tell him I don’t but that he may want to assist the confused looking guy two rows down in finding an electronic current converter. He finds my dad and efficiently helps him locate the converter. At this point he suggests my dad may also want a “grounder” located on the second row, on the right hand side, in the hardware department. At this point dad has a minor freak out… “I don’t know where the hardware section is and I have to catch a plane to Bangkok! Can you please just take me there?” The stocker looks at me, smirks and walks off with dad to the hardware section. I finish my browsing and then walk toward the guys, at which point I see my dad running down the fabric isle toward me holding up his two finds, grinning. The stocker in the background was watching him and laughing. I knew it was IMPOSSIBLE for us to make it out of the Wal-Mart without him running.

At the Eugene airport dad had lots of fun chatting with his two TSA friends. One of them is an older lady who has been a patient forever. I think she has a crush on dad and anyone else who has ever traveled with him through the Eugene airport knows what I am talking about. His other friend’s name is Tam and he is from Vietnam. Needless to say dad was extra excited to see Tam today. Our flight from EUG to SFO was uneventful (I actually slept through both take-off and landing… so for all I know it could have been eventful). We had a three-hour layover in SFO, so we decided to get some breakfast.

One of my favorite things about traveling with dad is learning stuff about him that I don’t know. For instance, dad told me today about the first time he saw mom. He still remembers exactly where he was and every detail of what mom was wearing. (I’m still awaiting confirmation on these details but he was certainly adamant about them ;~) I look forward to sharing more historical tidbits from the Doctor as they become available.

Our flight from SFO to NRT was long and fairly uneventful… except of course for the footrests. Dad was uber pleased with his $9,000 footrest. You may be wondering what a $9,000 footrest is… well let me explain.

The seats we sit in to Asia have footrest but they don’t come up all that high (maybe 35 degrees) and certainly nowhere near flat (90 degrees).You can, however, put something on the footrest and then place your legs on top of that something to make the chair closer to a flat bed. Dad first began messing with his footrest theory a few years ago after a transatlantic trip. He determined that an inflatable “something” would be the best item because it would be soft to put your legs on and light weight/easy to carry around. The first generation of this idea was an oblong yoga ball. It served its purpose well but it was pretty big and the material was tougher than necessary and therefore heavy to carry. In anticipation of this trip dad began collecting bags and inflatable toys this past September. His final prototype was a very lightweight Brookstone bag filled with a blown up beach ball. I can’t tell you how many evenings my mom and I had to endure demonstrations on how the footrest could/would work. At times I thought the demos would never end and that the whole thing was fairly pointless. Well let me tell you… I thoroughly enjoyed resting my legs on my second generation $30 Wal-Mart concoction. My bag (purchased at Wal-Mart), which was filled with super bobbers (also from Wal-Mart) and a child’s pool toy (yup…Wal-Mart) was flat out COMFORTABLE. Typically to achieve that kind of comfort one would have to buy a first class ticket, which would set you back at least $10,000. Kudos to dad for getting this one right and saving us $9,000… apiece.

(A quick follow up… as I write this we are halfway through our flight to Bangkok. Dad has just informed me that he is unhappy with his beach ball. He thinks it is too hard to blow up… I have been told that we are going to shop for a better beach ball tomorrow… just what everyone wants to do on their first day in Thailand ;~)

We have safely arrived at our hotel in Bangkok and it is officially bedtime. I am beat from a long day+ of travel (It took roughly 30 hours from when we left our house until we arrived at the hotel.) I’ll write about my initial impression and the accommodations later. We have an action packed itinerary tomorrow (including Thai Kick Boxing!!!) and I look forward to sharing the highlights with you soon.

Be Blessed,

Katy