Hi, whoever you are reading this.  Thank you!

This will be part 1 of my tour diary.  It is always interesting going on tour.  The trip unfolds in phases.  Usually, the first of these phases is the trip to the airport of origin (that is of course if you are flying).  This tour, however, has a back story I will share in parallel blog entries ("Captain's log supplemental").  If you care to read that stuff, just scan through the various blogs on this space.  Anyway, on with phase 1.

This year, I am travelling alone which has made the trip a little sad, and a little intriguing at the same time.  Brian Ogawa, a co-founder of the group, could not make the journey for personal reasons.  While this was necessary, we are saddened because we will miss the sort of critical mass we achieve when Brian, Henrik and I get together.  However, the break is positive, and who know what the future will bring?  I missed meeting him at the airport to begin our journey, catching up with each other (Brian lives in Mammoth Lakes, Cali near Yosemite and I live in Los Angeles), and generally hanging with my buddy.  In what other ways will this magical trip be different?

Yesterday, I took off from Las Vegas where I have been spending a lot of time lately.  As silly as this may sound, I found myself missing LAX!  First, I flew to Chi-Town to change planes for Copenhagen (or København as it really is).  Ooops, Henrik is here!!  Gotta go!  C ya in a flash!