The first time I read the story of the origion of the Koi Carp, and the Japanese rice farmers that produced them, I wondered what it would be like to visit the place where it all happend. On October 14, 2004 I got the chance to go. My daughter was 2 at the time, so my wife stayed home to take care of her. I took my best friend Shane along. Shane has enjoyed the koi hobby with me, and been my best friend for over 13 years. I was so excited, that I didn't sleep for 2 nights before the trip (insomnia is nothing new to me). Our journey started on a Thursday morning from the Cedar Rapids Airport. We flew from there to Detroit Michigan to meet up with some other koi friends. While waiting for our flight, our names came over the loud speaker. As luck would have it we got bumped to buisness class. It was to be a 13½ hour flight, but because of some repairs to the airplane we ended up being inside the aircraft for 15 hours. If you can afford it, buisness class is definetly the way to travel... Oh stuartess, another hot towel please. We got to watch movies on demand, and play video games the whole way there.

To avoid the crosswinds (and Russian airspace) the flight took us pretty far north. The view over the north pole was amazing.

<BGSOUND SRC="slowjet.wav" LOOP="1">

Page 1 of 20

<

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

>

koi,japanese koi,butter fly koi,butterfly koi,long fin koi,longfin koi,domestic koi,nishikigoi,shiro utsuri,sanke,kumonryu,chagoi,sanke,showa,kohaku,Tancho,tancho kohaku,tancho showa,tancho goshiki, pumps,pond pumps,koi pond pumps,filters,pond filters,koi pond filters,prazi pond,koizyme,performance pro pumps,koi kichi,fluidart filters,japanese mat,koi pond feeder,pond feeder,koi feeder,koi food,haifeng,hikari,debride food,debride,ointment,bead filter,bubbble bead filter,kokugyo,patio ponds filters,proform C,proform LA,refresh powder,pond,salt,koi pond salt,savio,savio pond auto fill,savio skimmer,savio compact skimmer,koi sock net,sock net,uv lights,aqua ultra violet,aqua ultravioliet,electra pro uv lights,matala,matala sheets,matala rolls,melafix,air pumps,medo air pumps,alita air pumps,koi tubs,koi bowls,medicated koi food