By Bob Van Leer

(GOLD BEACH, April 23, 2000) - It was not to be that easy. We arrived home a day late after weather problems closed JFK Airport in New York for a few hours. Our flight back to the U.S.A. On Olympic Airlines started off well and continues so across the Atlantic Ocean, The route went south of Iceland and Greenland into Canada. As we approached Maine from the north, our plane was diverted to Boston because of "very bad weather" in New York.

   Our plane sat on the ground in Boston for 2.5 hours and then went on to New York. There was considerable turbulence in the New York area and our pilot approached from three different sides before finally managing a landing. The passengers clapped and cheered when the plane was finally on the ground.

   But now there are 300 passengers on our plane who have missed connections. Olympic Airlines put us up in New York overnight and Saturday, April 22, we arrived in San Fransisco. But it was too late to catch the last flight to Medford so we had to stay in San Fransisco overnight and finally flew to Medford Sunday. My pickup was still waiting and we drove the Smith River Canyon to home, arriving Sunday afternoon.