Day 1 – April 21 – WHEN FLYING, GETTING THERE IS NEVER HALF THE FUN

I hate flying but I almost hate the waiting more. We were picked up at 4:30AM for our 8AM flight to Edmonton. That's lots of time making the waiting almost as long as the flying. Karen even laid down in the boarding lounge. I don't believe she's ever done that before.

Given the amount of time we had, of course we arrived at the airport in 45 minutes. Normally that would take an hour to an hour and a half dependent on traffic and/or weather. We were pretty much first in line for everything we had to do; baggage check in (which we had done on line but still needed to weigh in) and security, so that didn't waste much time. Our gate was even close to security, almost unheard of when we're involved. Bottom line, sitting in the boarding lounge with 2 hours and 15 minutes to wait!

We took off right on time, exactly 8AM. This is the part that stresses me the most so a window seat is imperative – a welcome distraction indeed.  It was a good flight but 4 hours is longer than I can appreciate. A lengthy game of Scrabble (about 2 hours) certainly helped and the landscape outside was the icing on the cake...like a ski resort in northern Wisconsin.

Landing, the second most stressful part of flying, was quite lovely. It's a nice spring day in Edmonton at about 17 degrees with intermittent sunshine.

Safely on the ground, we entered the airport and made our way to baggage claim, always an exercise in futility as you stand like cattle at a trough searching for a bag amongst hundreds of identical black suitcases. Nice welcome though.

Finding the hotel shuttle was the next challenge. Fortunately Karen had called yesterday to learn where to wait and who to call for assistance. The bus showed up in orderly fashion and there was only us and one other passenger on board.

We were very early, it was still not noon, so it was no surprise our room was not ready. The Hampton Inn offered us an alternate but we said no we would wait until check in at 3PM. I guess the young lady felt sorry for us because she stepped into an office and shortly emerged with the news that she had taken a room reserved for someone else who was not yet here and gave it to us. Love it, a woman after my own heart.

I swear I've seen this room before, May 2024 to be exact. It hasn't changed at all; hopefully the sheets have been.

Hampton Inn identifies their rooms with a number, that number in Braille and a graphic that anyone could find in a hallway of identical doors. This one's for Trump; they're not a scourge on all of mankind.

The next couple of days are forecast to be wet but we pick up our vehicle tomorrow so there's a glimmer of hope.   😎