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Two weeks ago, I experienced my first ever emergency landing. And I didn't even know until we landed.

The flight was proceeding normally, despite the snowstorm that had just started in Denver. The captain announced that we would be landing in Denver fifteen minutes. Denver has six runways, so there is hardly ever any delay in landing. However, five minutes later, the captain turned off Channel 9, so we could no longer hear the air traffic control communications. Ten minutes later, some of us realized that we were circling the airport. About fifteen minutes later, we did indeed land. However, after landing, the plane stopped, and we were greeted by emergency vehicles. Finally, the captain got on the intercom to let us know that we had just had an emergency landing. Apparently the front steering was out, and they had to land the plane using the rear breaks to steer. How nice of them to tell us! The captain then told us that since we had no steering, we couldn't drive to the gate. Instead, we had to wait for a "super tug" to come and tow us in. Forty five minutes later, we finally made it to the gate. While we were waiting for them to pull the jet bridge to the plane, I was talking to the purser who told me this was her first emergency landing in twenty two years. Meanwhile, a rather rude guy who was sitting next to me interjects, asking why United can't be on-time like Southwest. It was all I could do not to laugh at the guy; Southwest is fairly notorious for having late flights, especially when the flight is later in the day. However, given the snowstorm, I decided to let the guy know that I had checked flights on my phone just a few minutes prior, and guess what! Most of the canceled flights were Southwest flights. That shut him up in a hurry!

When it's twenty degrees at home, it's great to be able to escape the cold. At the end of January, Nhu and I went to the small island of Curaçao for five days. The weather was beautiful: just a few puffy clouds, and a relatively balmy 85 degrees. I picked the destination out of a desire to see somewhere new, and also to burn four nights' worth of free Hilton certificates. Unfortunately, the destination of Curaçao is now served only by American Airlines, after Continental abandoned it just a month prior. So, without my top status to get us into first class, we were prepared to suffer in the back on a redeye to Miami followed by another few hours to the island. Fortunately, one of my friends from work, who lives in Chicago and flies American Airlines as much as I fly United, decided to give us two upgrade certificates for the redeye to Miami. We were very thankful, because we were at least able to get some sleep!

After arrival in Curaçao, we were greeted by an immigration line that contained not only our plane, but a 747 that had just arrived from Amsterdam as well. Forty five minutes later, we finally made it out of the airport and made our way to the hotel in the rental car. The hotel was very nice, though not the nicest Hilton I have visited. It was located on the beach, but the beach was rather small. Overall, I liked the Hilton in Cabo much better, but this one was still nice. Perhaps the best part was the executive lounge, which one night even had chicken wings! That night, Nhu and I didn't even bother getting dinner afterward.

Most of our trip consisted of relaxing, exploring the island, and swimming. I personally don't care for swimming all that much, but if you put a snorkel on me, I'll be more than happy to get in the water and look at fish. And Curaçao had some beautiful fish! We took a day trip to the small uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao, just a few miles away. As part of the trip, we had a great barbecue lunch. The beach was beautiful, and the water was a gorgeous blue-green. The island also sported a fantastic abandoned lighthouse, which I of course had to explore and photograph extensively. Unfortunately, the area just around the lighthouse had bunches of lizards, of which Nhu has a bit of a phobia. So, we didn't stay toolong. Afterward, we went back to the boat to enjoy some snorkeling, and some free booze that came with the day trip. I would highly recommend!

After five days of getting thoroughly cooked (despite my sunscreen), we made our way reluctantly back to the airport. Fortunately, the line to leave the country wasn't nearly as long. Unfortunately, the line to get back into the US at the Miami airport was even longer. We waited in line for nearly an hour before getting our passports checked, then rushed to the security line to make our connection. That took forever as well. All I can say is that the Miami airport is a nightmare. We did make it to our flight though, and even had time to grab a bite to eat before we boarded. We were definitely very happy when we finally made it back to Denver.

Another long hiatus between posts! Much has been happening in my life, and I have not had the time to post. In September, my girlfriend Nhu and I ventured into the mountains to see the fall leaves. We spent the night in Glenwood Springs, and then woke up before the sun to see sunrise at the Maroon Bells. It was my first time there, and I must say it is truly a sight to behold! Despite arriving before sunrise, the parking lot was nearly full when we arrived. There were dozens of photographers lining Maroon Lake, waiting for the sun to come up. When it did, we were greeted with a beautiful, though fleeting, reflection of the mountains on the lake, complete with beautiful golden aspen trees.

After spending some more time in the area, we ate breakfast in Aspen, in one of only two restaurants open on Sunday morning. We then took the beautiful Independence Pass, which was also lined with golden aspens. After passing Twin Lakes, we then went north through Leadville, making our way through another beautiful golden mountain pass, eventually ending up in Vail. We made our way home from there, but not before hitting some pretty ugly Sunday evening traffic in the mountains.

In October, I stayed the weekend on the east coast to see the leaves here. I went with Abhijit, a coworker, to see the Blue Ridge Parkway and Shanendoah National Park in peak color. The drive was not a short one; we drove 550 miles in one evening to get to the southern end, and then took three days to drive back up on Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive. Of course, the elevation along the route was far from constant, and trees at different elevations were in varying conditions. The higher elevations were almost invariably dead, but much of the medium and lower elevations were in their prime, and some areas were truly spectacular. Of course, I did my best to capture the best areas with my camera, and Abhijit did the same. We had a great time; I introduced Abhijit to Waffle House and Texas Road House, both of which he enjoyed. He re-introduced me to his incredible snoring. To sleep, I had to put headphones on and play white noise music, fairly loudly. I was able to sleep though, thankfully!