US Visit -Continued...

It is the long pending wish  of my children Pavan who is in Houston, Texas and my daughter Neeima in New York. Soon after getting Visit Visa for me and my wife Nagamani,my son has booked tickets in Feb 2010 for Apr 28. After preparations like various purchases, medical checkups and packing, checking the weights etc, on 27th Apr we were very busy through out the day with the visits of friends and relatives,phone calls and emails In the evening my brother-in-law Mr. Harakrihna visited us and at 2.00 AM we have proceeded to Airport along with my son Meghasyam,daughter-in-law Vijayalakshmi and grand son Sai Aditya along with sisters of my wife, Smt Kusuma kumari from Hyderabad and Kum Anjanadevi who is a teacher at Sircilla in Karimnagar district.A t4.00AM our checkin baggage  was accepted without any problem as the weights were within the limit of 23 Kgs.There was a problem at Security check for cabin baggage as the x-ray found Silvar Saibaba mandap and idol which we are carryig as gift to my son.However, after seeing it , they have cleared the security check.After seen off by my family and relatives, we have walked with out cabin baggage to gate no.34B to get into the flight. At about 6.20 we have embarked on board BA 276 and we were alloted 18K and 18J seats and I sat near the window.During take off I did not feel much but my wife had lot of ear ache though she kept some earbuds in her ears, I gave her some chewing gum to chew so that ear pain would reduce for some extent. There was bright Sun and few strato cumulus clouds, weather was scantly cloudy. When we were above white clouds lit by bright Sun light, it was a pleasent scene. I tried to take the photogrph but unfortunately the wing of the aircraft were obstructing my view. We were served a continental breakfast followed by some snacks after three hours. After two hours,few soft and hot drinks were sereved followed by an Indian lunch containing vegitarian curry and rice.

We reached 12.45 local time at Heathrow Airport London. We were carried to  terminal 5 by a bus. There was a security check again and all our cabin baggage was cheked completely. Then we have to rush to another side of the terminal at Gate 34 to catch another flight BA 197 to Huston. After using few escaltors and one inter terminal train, we reached the correct gate to catch the flight. After travelling for 10 hrs we reached Houston at 6.30 PM local time.During the entire journey of 24 hours we have not seen night. It was long waiting for immegration check as three international fights have landed at George Bush International Airport,Houstan at that time. We completed our check by 8.15 PM. Our son Pavan was waiting for us and he picked up us and reached his home at 1029,Pin Oak Apartmenet. After wash we went out side and had some food at an Indian Restaurent.

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States and the largest city in the state of Texas. As of the 2009 U.S. Census estimate, the city had a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles (1,600 km2).Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area—the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. with a population of 5.9 million.
Houston was founded on August 30, 1836, by brothers Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen on land near the banks of Buffalo Bayou. The city was incorporated on June 5, 1837, and named after then-President of the Republic of Texas—former General Sam Houston—who had commanded at the Battle of San Jacinto, which took place 25 miles (40 km) east of where the city was established. The burgeoning port and railroad industry, combined with oil discovery in 1901, has induced continual surges in the city's population. In the mid-twentieth century, Houston became the home of the Texas Medical Center—the world's largest concentration of healthcare and research institutions—and NASA's Johnson Space Center, where the Mission Control Center is located.
Rated as a beta world city, Houston's economy has a broad industrial base in the energy, manufacturing, aeronautics, transportation, and health care sectors and is a leading center for building oilfield equipment; only New York City is home to more Fortune 500 headquarters in the city limits.The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled and second in total cargo tonnage handled. The city has a population from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and a large and growing international community. It is home to many cultural institutions and exhibits—attracting more than 7 million visitors a year to the Houston Museum District. Houston has an active visual and performing arts scene in the Theater District and is one of few U.S. cities that offer year-round resident companies in all major performing arts.

Next two days we have spent our time by  going to various shopping centers and other business centres.  We need to make some urgent purchases like house hold items, groceries etc., I have taken one pair of shoes and also two T shirts and a Jeans pant for my use in US.