Last year around this time,
Neal attempted to achieve one of the items on his "bucket list":
diving in the Pacific, particularly on the wrecks of WWII.
Unfortunately, this was NOT TO BE.
However, he was alerted to an opportunity to try again,
with the same group he traveled with to THE GALAPAGOS in November 2013;
needless to say, he jumped at the chance!
So we left Kenosha at 2:30 a.m. . . .
. . . arriving at Gen. Mitchell International Airport (Milwaukee)
around 3:00 a.m. for a 5:00 a.m. flight . . . .
Not many people there that time of day/night . . .
. . . so we were not rushed to unload the car . . .
. . . and could take a pic with trip organizer, Mike Haynes.
The itinerary was thus: Milwaukee to Houston; Houston to Honululu;
Honululu to Guam; Guam to Truk, FSM,
for a total of 24 hours and 38 minutes in the air.
Information on FSM:
The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) is an independent
sovereign island nation consisting of four states -
from west to east, Yap, Chuuk (Truk), Pohnpei and Kosrae -
that are spread across the Western Pacific Ocean.
Together, the states comprise around 607 islands
(a combined land area of approximately 271 square miles)
that cover a longitudinal distance of almost 1,678 miles
just north of the equator [and across from the dateline].
They lie northeast of New Guinea, south of Guam and the Marianas,
west of Nauru and the Marshall Islands, east of Palau and the Philippines,
about 1,802 miles north of eastern Australia and some 2,485 miles
southwest of the main islands of Hawaii.
While the FSM's total land area is quite small,
it occupies more than 1,000,000 square miles of the Pacific Ocean.
The capital is Palikir, located on Pohnpei Island,
while the largest city is Weno, located in the Chuuk Atoll.
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