Sao Paulo - Houston - Charlotte

Today we woke up to the first real cloudy day in our journey. Amazing that we have been gone over a month and it been sunny everyday! So what to do today? I believe the plan calls for a walk to Starbucks, the mall and just hang out. We plan on watching Rio and comparing notes about all the scenic views and attractions.

Today is a holiday in the State of Sao Paulo and to our surprise nothing opened until 2 pm. We went to the lounge for breakfast, watched the news on TV and then headed out for a Starbucks fix...However even Starbucks didn't open until 1:30 pm.

We walked around the mall, visited many stores but really didn't buy anything since our suitcases are already full! The big issue today is that we are almost out of underwear again...

After a work out in the gym and some stretching, we settled in to watch Rio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_(film)). It's amazing how many things in the movie we were able to see, it gave them a whole new prospective on the movie.

An early night... as tomorrow is a long day as we head home. Our flight tomorrow is at 9:00 pm on United Airlines. Some folks call it the "Red Eye" but as we continue west we will gain only 1 hr.  We land in Charlotte around noon tomorrow and will be home by 4 pm.

Here is a link for  flight aware: United Flight 978

Ciao from Brazil...it been a great vacation...but everyone is looking forward to sleeping in their own beds. Next and last blog will be a travel survey...completed by the kids!

Travel Stats....

Miles Travelled to date: 46,650 (Total Hours of Travel - 106 hrs in the air or an average 440 mph)

01. US Airways - Flight 2508 - Charleston (CHS) to Charlotte (CLT) - 168 miles - CRJ700

02. US Airways - Flight 721 - Charlotte (CLT) to Los Angeles (LAX) - 2,120 miles - A321
03. United - Flight 839 - Los Angeles (LAX) to Sydney (SYD) - 7,516 miles - 747-400

04. Qantas - Flight 922 - Sydney (SYD) to Cairns (CNS) - 1,275 miles - 737-800

05. Qantas - Flight 925 - Cairns (CNS) to Sydney (SYD) - 1,275 miles - 767-300 

06. Thai - Flight 476 - Sydney (SYD) to Bangkok (BKK) - 4662 miles - 747-400
07. Thai - Flight 602 - Bangkok (BKK) to Hong Kong (HKG) - 1048 miles - A330-300

08. China Southern - Flight 309 - Hong Kong (HKG) to Beijing (PEK) - 1225 miles - A321
09. China Eastern - Flight  5112 - Beijing (PEK) to Shanghai (SHA) - 674 miles - A330-300
10. China Eastern - Flight 503 - Shanghai (PVG) to Honk Kong (HKG) - 765 miles - A321

11. Lufthansa - Flight 798 - Hong Kong (HKG) to Frankfurt (FRA) - 7366 miles - 747-800

12. Lufthansa - Flight 1278 - Frankfurt (FRA) to Athens (ATH) - 1130 miles - A321-200
13. Egypt Air - Flight 748 - Athens (ATH) to Cairo (CAI) -     -  670 miles  - A321
14. Egypt Air - Flight 839 - Cairo (ATH) to Johannesburg (JNB) -  4205 miles  - A330
15. South African - Flight 333 - Johannesburg (JNB) to Cape Town (CPT) -  809 miles - A340-600

16. South African - Flight 326 - Cape Town (CPT) to Johannesburg (JNB) - 809 miles - 737-800

17. South African - Flight 224 - Johannesburg (JNB) to Sao Paulo (GRU) - 4630 miles - A340-300

18. TAM - Flight 3641 - Sao Paulo (VCP) to Rio De Janeiro (GIG) - 250 miles - A320-200
19. TAM - Flight 3640 - Rio De Janeiro (GIG) to Sao Paulo (VCP) - 250 miles - A320-200
20. UAL - Flight 978 - Sao Paulo (GRU) to Houston (IAH) - 4887 miles - 767-300
21. US Airways 1204 - Houston (IAH) to Charlotte (CLT) - 916 miles - A320

Time Delayed in Airport - 6.5 hrs (LAX, GIG)