Well we made it.
We've gone Around The World In 70 Days.
We have had a great time and have lived a lifetime dream.
We had no mechanical problems with our TBM700 and
thank Rice Lake Air for their good service over the years
we have owned our plane.

Butch has one view of our trip as he was setting in the pilots seat
and looking at where we were going.
While Diane has another view, as she sat in an aft facing seat and saw
where we had been.

We both look foward to seeing all of our family and friends
and telling of our experiences.

Thank you for traveling with us on this web site.

Our flight today
July 18, 2008
is the last leg of our
Around the World Adventure.
What an experience.

Our flight to Juneau, Alaska had us shooting the
approach as it was cloudy with light rain.
Plus it took some thought to remember it was
July 16th again today after crossing the
international date line on our flight from Russia.
We have been to Alaska a number of times before
but we still think its one of the prettiest places on earth.

After our fuel stop in Dutch Harbour, Alaska on
July 16, 2008 we continued on to
Anchorage, Alaska to clear customs and
get a goods nights sleep.
It really feels good to be back in the US.

On July 16, 2008 we left Petropavovsk, Russia
via the southern route from Russia.
Out of 4 of the planes on our group we were the only
plane that did not get permission to fly to Anadyr, Russia to exit
to Nome, Alaska.  Our permission was to leave Petropavlovsk and
exit for Dutch Harbour.
We arrived at Dutch Harbour for fuel and then
went on to Anchorage to clear customs.
We can't tell you how happy we were to be
back in US airspace.

A Reasuring Picture With No Radar At The Airport

We arrived in Petropavlovsk, Russia on July 14, 2008
after a stop in Sakhalinsk, Russa for fuel.
We arrived to low clouds and rain again.
We had to stay two nights in Petropavlovsk
due to weather and we had to wait for permission to
take off for our next leg.
After two days of rain and being so close to home
I think everyone was ready to go.

On July 13, 2008 we left Seoul
for Vladivostok, Russia.
Our flight took us over North Korean airspace.
We have been told that we are the first non-commercial
aircraft to ever be given permission to over fly
North Korea.
We arrived to low clouds and rain and the runway
in Vladivostok did not have any lights.
 We only spent one night and did not do any sightseeing.

Our arrival to Seoul, South Korea on July 11, 2008
found lots of green country side.
The city of Seoul is set in the middle of mountains
and tunnels would take us from one part to another.
The Korean War Memorial was a surprise
as the wall of fallen soldiers contained
the names of all soldiers that fell
no matter what country they were from.

We arrived In Taipei, Taiwan on July 9, 2008
Taipei is an old city and the airport is about
45 minutes from the city.
We did not do any tours in Taipei
and spent our time relaxing.

On July 7, 2008 we took
a ferry to visit Macau
The New Las Vegas.
Macau is just an hour from Hong Kong via the ferry.
Since we had 5 extra days in Hong Kong after
not being able to go to China we thought
that this side trip would be fun.
Casino's are sprouting up everywhere with large
shopping halls attached.
A nice get away for the day.

After months of trying we were unable to get
premission to fly into China's airspace.

So as a group we decided to go to Beijing and Xi'an
via commercial airlines.
On July 4, 2008 we arrived at the terminal and received
our airline tickets and seats.
However we were stopped at the gate and not allowed to board
They told us that we had crew visa's and we need
tourist visa's to enter China.
The crew visa was only good if we could fly our planes into China.

Then we had to wait about 2 hours to get permission to
re-enter Hong Kong as we had cleared immigrations.

The government of China has really made it impossible to
travel to China.  We have heard stories of businessmen
that travel to China on a regular basis only being able to get
3 day visa's where they had been getting 30 day visa's.

We were all looking forward to our visit to China
but at this point we know we will not see China and doubt
that we will get any of the money that we had paid
for airline tickets, hotel reservations refunded.

If you are thinking of going to China or the Olympics, be very
sure of your paperwork and do not pre pay for anything.

The Beijing Olympic slogan  is
One World One Dream
This does not appear to be the case with
Communist China controlling total access to the county as
China is trying to make it look as they have an
 open door policy to tourism which is totally not the case.

On July 2, 2008 we arrived in Hong Kong
to clear skies.  The previous week the city had
seen monsoons from a tropical storm.
Hong Kong is a very busy city with lots of
people and shops.

On June 30, 2008
we took a ride 180 miles from Hanoi
for an overnight stay at Halong Bay, Vietnam
Our stay on the Bhaya Cruise Junk
was a very relaxing evening.

Our arrival into Hanoi, Vietnam on June 28, 2008
was with rainy skies.
Our tours took us from the Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh
to the Vietnam war prison of the Hanoi Hilton.
Hanoi has become a very democratic city
with lots of small shops and businesses.

On June 26, 2008
We flew from Cambodia to Ho Chi Minh City,Vietnam.
The old city is still called Saigon.
The people of Vietnam still use the American Dollar
and they are all very friendly.
Our tour included a tour the
underground tunnels north of the city used in the war.
The tunnels were built back in the 1940's
and people were still living in them prior to the war.

We arrived at the Siem Reap, Cambodia airport
on June 24, 2008.
We visited the Angkor Archeological Park,
the largest temple complex in the world.
We also took a boat ride and saw how the river and lake
rise and fall with the rainey season.
The people that live on the river move the entire village as the
water level changes "including the school".

We arrived in Phuket, Thailand on June 21, 2008
with light rain showers.
Phuket is the Pearl of the Andaman Sea.
Our tour by boat took us to the islands where the
James Bond Movie
Man With The Golden Gun was filmed.
Phuket is a wonderful place to just relax.

Our arrival in Chiang Mai, Thailand on June 18, 2008
was our first night landing.
Due to bad weather we did not overnight in Calcutta, India.
Chiang Mai is a really nice place and we have enjoyed
our stay here very much.
The elephants at the Chiang Dao Work Camp
were quite a sight.

On June 18, 2008 our flight took us from
Agra, India to Calcutta, India for a fuel stop.
We were to spend the night but due to
tropical storm Bob we continued on to our
next stop of Chiang Mai, Thailand.

On June 15, 2008 we arrived in Agra, India.
Our landing in Agra was on a military base runway.
Our visit to the Taj Mahal was under grey skies,
but was still beautiful.
The Taj Mahal is the most visited place in India.

We arrived in Ahmedabad, India to low visibality
on June 13, 2008.
Ahmedabad was the home of Gandhiji and
the city was an eye opener as to how
things can be outside of the US.

We arrived in Muscat, Oman on June 11, 2008
This was a very pleasant surprise of a stop.
The City of Muscat is the 2nd cleanest city in the world.
It shows signs of lots of growth and is
courting tourism.

We arrived in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on June 8, 2008
This was the longest fight we have had so far of 1250 miles.
We flew over Bahrain and upon our arrival we few west of Iraq and Iran
as close as 25 miles from their coast.
We were picked up at the airport by our hotel the
Burj al Arab in a Rolls Royce Shadow for our transport to the hotel.
The town rivals Los Angeles in ammenties.

On June 5, 2008
We made our way on to Luxor, Egypt to see
The Valley of the Kings.
We saw may Temples and Tombs
There are 64 tombs in the valley
but we were unable to take pictures in the tombs.

On June 5, 2008
We made a quick stop in Abu Sumbel
to see the Temple of Ramses II.

On June 2, 2008
One engine took us to Sham el Sheikh
On June 3, 2008
One hump took us across the
South Sinai Desert of Egypt

We arrived in Istanbul on May 31, 2008
Istanbul is located on 2 continents
Asia and Europe.
The city is very large and modern with
many different cultures.

For Additional Pictures and Info
you can visit
www.airjourney.com/blog

Todays flight on May 29, 2008
brought us to Santorini, Greece.
A small Greek Island that is made up of
a submerged volcano that they tell us the center
has started to grow.
Santorini has it's cities built into the sides of the
mountains and our hotel was a very nice cave
dug into the mountain.

We arrived in Malta on May 27, 2008
with 35 mph winds down the runway.
Malta is a small island of 400,000 people who
speak english.  The city was  fought for during
World War II as it was in the center of the
Mediterrenean Sea.
Definitly a rich city in culture.

We stopped for fuel in Ibiza, Spain on
May 27, 2008 on our way to Malta.
A beautiful little island.

Our Hotel - Amanjena

We arrived in Merrakech, Morocco
on May 24, 2008
Marrakech is an ancient city of history
as we took a tour of old downtown
through the Suaks Market where you could
find anything and everything
including I-pods.
Along with the market our tour guide took us to
many mosques and to see the many
aspects of architecture.
The next day we took a 4 wheel drive tour
of many villages in the Atlas Mountains where there are
no roads just wagon paths needless to say a far contrast from
our hotel the Amanjena.

Line Up For Final

We stopped at the Rock of Gibraltar
for fuel and lunch on May 24, 2008.
What a sight.
Truely a very unique airport with water
on both ends with a road to town in the
center of the runway that they close when you
land or take off.

Arrived at a small airport 30 miles outside of Paris on May 21, 2008.
Language from the controllers was difficult at times but persistence pays.
We had a day tour of the city and dinner on the Eiffel Tower in the
Jules Verne Restaurant for a 9 coarse meal that evening.
The following day we did a museum tour with a show that evening
called the Crazy Horse Show.

Reaching Scotland's Coast

We left Iceland, eastward and had to fly to
Inverness, Scotland as
the Air Traffic Controllers were on strike in
Norway, so we could not fly into Norway.
Aviation in the UK is nothing like the US as you
have to pay for all services.

Arrived in Iceland on May 17, 2008
in light rain and overcast ceilings.
Once clearing customs we went to the
Aircraft Radar Center for the North Atlantic
for a tour of the facility by the director.
They control between 450 to 600 aircraft movements
a day as they move from the East to West and then back
from West to East.
They keep 60 miles in-trail spacing between airplanes
which one of the controllers showed me how they measured
with the width of his thumb.

After our departure today May 17, 2008
from Nuuk, Greenland our flight took us east over
the mainland of Greenland and it's Ice Caps.
After reaching the east coast of Greenland
we crossed our second part of the North Atlantic
to Reykjavik, Iceland.

Our trip across the Atlantic brought us to
Nuuk, Greenland on May 16, 2008
due to weather in Narsarsuaq.
Nuuk's airport is 3100 feet long
Built on the side of a mountain.
Surrounded by mountains covered with snow and ice
with a snow fall last year of 17 feet.

We arrived at Goose Bay, Canada on May 15, 2008
Just a very small town in the middle of nowhere.
We had dinner at Trapper's Bar
and had to cook our own steaks
You should have seen the 11 of us at the grill.
Carabou burgers where the main course at lunch.

On our 2nd day in Quebec City
we took a city tour of the old city.
We saw many shops & restaurants on cobblestone streets
with lots of old military buildings as
Quebec City Celebrates it's 400th Anniversary in 2008.
One of the buildings was an old armory that burned in April.

Once upon a time there was a Castle, our Hotel
Stately poised atop its steep cliffs overlooking a majestic river
surrounded by old homes, shops, inns and taverns from another era.

We arrived at 12 noon with clear skies and 70 degrees.
Our hotel is the Fairmont LeChateau Fontenac.
The hotel if very old and unique in the heart of Old Quebec.
We are looking forward to our 2 days here in Quebec City.

We are almost ready to leave.
As you can see we look spiffy in our crew uniforms
that we hope will speed us thru customs
as we reach the European borders.

For an interesting view of where we will be going you can fly the route that we will on Google Earth.
If you have Google Earth just download
RTW_N700BS.kmz
then press the Play Button
If you don't have Google Earth you can download it for free here:
http://www.earth.google.com/

Our Itinenary Is
May 13 - 14 > Quebec City, Canada
May 15 > Goose Bay, Canada
May 16 > Narsarsuaq,Greenland
May 17 - 19 > Reykjavik, Iceland
May 19 - 21 > Bergen, Norway
May 21 - 24 > Paris, France
May 24 - 27 > Marrakech, Morocco
May 27 - 29 > Malta
May 29 - 31 > Santorini, Greece
May 31 - June 2 > Istanbul, Turkey
June 2 - 5 > Sharm el Sheikh
June 5 - 8 > Luxor, Egypt
June 8 - 11 > Dubai, United Arab Emirates
June 11 - 13 > Muscat, Oman
June 13 - 15 > Ahmedabad, India
June 15 - 17 > Agra, India
June 17 > Calcutta, India
June 18 - 21 > Chiang Mai, Thailand
June 21 - 24 > Phuket, Thailand
June 24 - 26 > Angkor Wat, Cambodia
June 26 - 28 > Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
June 28 - 30 > Hanoi, Vietnam
June 30 > Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
July 1 > Hanoi, Vietnam
July 2 - 4 > Hong Kong
July 4 - 6 > Shanghai, China
July 6 - 8 > Xi'an, China
July 8 - 11 > Beijing, China
July 11 - 13 > Seoul, South Korea
July 13 > Vladivostok, Russia
July 14 > Petropavlovsk, Russia
July 15 > Anadyr, Russia
Pass the International Date Line
July 15 > Nome, Alaska
July 16 - 18 > Juneau, Alaska
July 18 - 19 > Seattle, Washington
July 20 > Home to Daytona Beach, Florida

We invite you to follow us as we fly our TBM-N700BS on a
Journey Around The World.
We will leave Quebec City, Canada on May 14th on a trip of a lifetime
We hope to place pictures and comments on the places we stop as we go around the world in 70 days
So please keep checking our web-site and follow along with us as we go.

Butch & Diane Stevens
SN-11 TBM