144 TLC - TRAVEL LEARNING CURVE

Back when the idea of travel was starting to percolate in my brain, a couple of months after Toby died, and even before I applied for my Nexus card, I started researching.  I didn’t have any luggage.  Well, I didn’t have any luggage that was viable anymore.  So, I started researching.  I liked the look of the hard side, 4-wheel suitcases and started to investigate those.  Unfortunately, almost every travel site I looked on recommended against the so called “spinner” cases.  The reasoning they gave is that the cases tended to roll all over the place in the shuttles.

So, I looked around and found a good deal on a soft sided 2-wheel case at Wal-Mart.  It was regular priced at $75 but was on sale for $45, so I bought it.  It was a really good size and even had an expansion zipper so it could hold even more.  It came in handy on the way home from Florida.

I also had a carry-on camera case that was also a two-wheel rolling type.  It was well made by Lowepro and darned expensive, but when you are transporting thousands of dollars worth of camera gear, you want top quality.  I also had a camera backpack that I had for years and I used it to carry my laptop, iPad, noise cancelling headphones, various cables, medications and other things.

When I parked at Jet Set Parking and unloaded my luggage and had to walk to the bus stop where the shuttle picks you up, I began to see the folly in this.  Trying to drag suitcases behind you with a backpack on your back was an adventure, especially when you already have trouble walking.  Once on the shuttle, there are big steel racks that hold your luggage, so there was no danger of rolling around.  Plus, the luggage lies on its side.

I had packed the suitcase full of clothes and stuff that I though I might need for my three weeks away.  The same could be said for my camera gear.  Two cameras, one as a backup, 6 lenses, a large flash, a flash for macro photos, battery packs for cell phone, extra batteries for both cameras, batteries for the flashes and various charger units and other things.  Even with all that the suitcase weighed 48 pounds and I was allowed 2 cases of 70 pounds.  The carryon bag weighed 50 pounds.  Not sure what the backpack weighed, but it was heavy too.

I also knew that the weather in Florida can get unexplainably cold on occasion, so I took jeans and wore my heavy leather jacket.  Partly because I was sick, heading into the airport, the leather jacket lasted all of 5 minutes before I was sweating so bad, I had to take it off and carry it.  I immediately checked in the suitcase, so one less thing to carry.  I had my camera out as well, to photograph things in the airport.

I finally found an airport luggage cart to put my stuff on, which was easier, but as soon as I got to the security gate, that’s it.  They go no further.  I was bypassing lines with Nexus card and Business Class boarding pass, but my stuff still had to go through screening, as did I.

I had done a lot of travelling in the past for hockey and baseball tournaments and the last time I travelled was to Hawaii in 2006.  The intense security measures had not kicked up to the level they are now, so this was literally a new experience.  I even introduced myself as a “novice” traveller to anyone who would listen.

NEW SUITCASE AND
BACKPACK

BACKPACK

Anyway, I found myself jealously watching people with “spinner” bags effortlessly pushing suitcases along and even stacking things like backpacks on top.  When I got home, my backpack had one of the main straps break, so I needed a new one.  I searched high and low for a good camera backpack and finally found one again by Lowepro and again quite expensive.  At the same time, I ordered a “spinner” hard side suitcase from Amazon.  It also has an expansion zipper.

For my trip to San Diego, I will be using the “spinner” and the new backpack, and it is big enough that I may not have to take the big Lowepro rolling bag.  I have a much better idea of what gear I used in Florida and what I won’t need to bring to San Diego.  So, I might be able to cut down to just the suitcase and backpack.

SPINNER SUITCASE

As for the suitcase I brought along a lot of stuff that I never used and things I can reduce in size.  I take a lot of vitamins and I brought the whole bottles with me.  This time I have a two-week pill carrier and will sort them ahead of time.  I brought 8 rolls of tape for my foot and 2 pro-wrap.  I ended up only having to tape my foot twice in three, weeks.

So, I learned some valuable lessons on the first trip and will be applying what I learned to the next and future trips.  I may still end up having to take the rolling camera bag and I may need it for future trips.  I won’t be wearing the leather jacket this time, it was darn heavy to carry and hard to get in my suitcase to come home.  My camera will stay in the case and I will use either my iPhone or the point and shoot I now have.

143 THE TRAVEL BUG

So, here I sit.  I’ve been home now about 10 days and I’m just getting over the cold I picked up in Florida.  I had such a great time in Florida and made so many new acquaintances.  I even picked up several followers on Instagram.  I enjoyed taking the camera and going out to a new adventure every day for three weeks, and I find myself missing it.

So, I started thinking.  Of all the places I visited in Florida, the ones I had the most fun and enjoyment at were Disney Animal Kingdom and Gatorland, which I went to twice.  I loved the Kennedy Space Center, but in a different way.  The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do it again.  Not go back to Florida but go somewhere I could photograph a wide and varied assortment of animal species.

Where better to do that than the world-famous San Diego Zoo.  It’s rated as one of the top zoos in the world.  In order to photograph that many species in the wild, would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, not to mention the physical toll on my body.  The best compromise I can think of is San Diego.  So, the planning has started.

I narrowed the choice down to there and started to research online.  From there I progressed to using various travel apps and narrowed that further to Expedia.  I came up with a great deal on a return flight and hotel accommodations.  Even booking the flights flying Business Class, it came out to a total that I can afford and live with.  Even so, because my travel agent did such a great job on this past trip to Florida, I thought I’d give her a chance to equal or beat the deal I found.

Unfortunately, her deal, using the same flights and hotel that I found, came out to just over double what I found.  I think the difference is that I have been a member of Expedia for over a year and even used it in Florida to book my shuttle up to Kennedy Space Center.  As a result, I keep getting emails offering 50% off flights and/or hotels and I don’t think my agent can get those deals.

I’ve checked with a bunch of different people who have used Expedia and they find it great and more importantly legitimate.  It just seemed too good to be true, and you know what they say about that.  I’m still in the seriously considering stage, but I’m about 90% certain that I will go.  I just haven’t “pulled the trigger” on the trip yet.

As much as I loved Florida, I found that three weeks was just a little bit long.  By the final week, especially with the weather having gone bad, I was less than enthusiastic of going out.  I even took a couple of rest days and just hung around the hotel.  So, the point of this is that I will reduce my time in San Diego to ten days or maximum two weeks.  Ten days would reduce the overall cost considerably as well.  Having said that though, for that long a flight, almost 9 hours, it’s not practical to do a shorter trip.

San Diego is only 2.5 to 3 hours away, so a much easier jaunt.  I, however, am hooked on business class.  I don’t have enough points left to cover it this time, but with the shorter distance is within my budget.  I really like the perks that come with it as well.  Not the least of which are avoiding lines when getting to the airport and my Nexus cards allowing me to avoid the long lines for security as well.

Being able to board the aircraft first plays into it as well as the awesome meals on the aircraft.  Having access to the Maple Leaf Lounge at Vancouver airport makes the lengthy wait before the flight far more pleasant as well.  Last time, I was sick and could not enjoy the food in the lounge.  This time I intend to be healthy.

Just for a laugh, I also investigated a flight to England.  On a flight of that duration, I would absolutely have to fly business class, because I know my poor body would never stand up to that long a time cramped in economy.  The extra leg room, even on the two flights without the pods, was a godsend.  Unfortunately, the cost was way out of what I could afford.  I’ll have to build up more credit card points, or frequent flyer miles to consider it.  So, this is where I sit.

The travel bug has hit me hard, and I really want to get going.  I have my dates picked, April 2 to April 16 or 12^th if I go with the 10-day option.  Yet, for some reason, I sit here, hesitating to pull the trigger and make the trip a reality.  I’m sure I will, and it’s probably good that I am hesitating and really thinking it through.  Stay tuned, I’ll keep you posted.

142 HOME AND CHILLED OUT

I finally got home at 11:30 PM PST, or by my body clock 2:30 AM EST.  I dropped all my luggage in the front entrance and went to park the truck.  I grabbed my jacket at the last second and am I ever glad I did.  I had no idea how cold it was, but I was shivering big time by the time I did the one block walk back to the house.  When I got in and looked at the thermometer, it was reading -8 C.  The temperature inside the house was only +1 C.  I’ve never seen it that low inside before.  But of course, it’s been empty for three weeks with no heat on.

I lugged my suitcase and camera bag up the first flight of stairs, one painful step at a time.  I did each individually because I couldn’t handle both.  I went around the main floor and turned on all the taps, just to make sure the pipes didn’t freeze.  If I had realized just how cold it was, I could have turned on the heaters from Florida, just to be sure.

I’m absolutely exhausted from getting up so early to now being up so late.  Then all the physical labour with all the airport walking and lugging part of my luggage with me.  It’s odd that you cannot use a luggage cart inside the secure zone.  Anyway, I left the camera bag on the main floor and repeated the process and got my suitcase upstairs, one step at a time.

For some reason, I couldn’t leave well enough alone.  I guess I had a bit of a second wind.  I had to make the bed and put the quilt cover on, as I had washed them all, the day I left.  That done and I decided to unpack.  Why, I don’t know.  90% of it was dirty clothes that just needed to be washed, but even though I was unpacking, I wasn’t going to do the wash until morning.  But I got it all unpacked.

I finally crawled into bed at 1:30 AM PST and that was it, I was out cold.  I woke up the next morning at 7:30 AM PST, which was 10:30 AM by my body clock.  That was a full 6 hours of sleep and I figured I’d be good with that.  Not, so.  For the rest of the day, I would fall asleep at the drop of a hat.  Now I know what jet lag is.  To complicate matters, I’m feeling rough now.  Apparently, that sore throat I had in Orlando was the start of a cold and not just from the A/C.

But I needed to go look in on Blitz at Caitlin and Trevor’s place.  She herself was not feeling well as she was undergoing a deworming treatment.  Once that was done, I went and grabbed a burger at A&W, since there isn’t any food in the house.  I also discovered I had left 2 packages of chicken in the meat drawer in the fridge.  Let’s just say that consuming them would be dangerous.  The fridge didn’t smell so good either, but a quick clean of the drawer and some baking soda, and it’s ok.

I had to take care of a few things around here, like arranging purchase and installation of a new garburator which had self destructed right after Christmas.  I also had to arrange for repair or replacement of my water cooler which had leaked the day before departure.

Luckily when I contacted the company, the told me that it’s very rare for the cooler itself to leak that way.  She said it’s usually a result of a compromised bottle.  She recommended changing it and monitoring the situation.  I did so, and 30 hours later, there’s no repeat of the leak.

One other chore I had to do was take my Maui Jim sunglasses in to be straightened, as I sat on them 3 times during the trip.  Unfortunately, they were broken beyond repair and I had to get a new pair.  One nose pad was gone and the metal piece holding it had snapped off.  The bar between the two lenses holding them steady was snapped and the general frame was badly bent.

Anyway, I think I am all caught up with chores and errands, which included 4 loads of wash.  This travelling is hard work.  But it was well worth it.  I had a great time and took a ton of photos.  One big advantage of travelling alone was that I could do what I wanted, when I wanted.  I was on my own schedule.  I could also see and do stuff that someone else may not have wanted to do.

I never had time to feel lonely as I was so busy wandering around various attractions and then coming back to the hotel and being busy all evening, editing the shots I took.  I also had plenty of people to talk to between hotel staff, cafeteria staff, Starbucks people and then the number of conversations that got started by carrying “the big camera” as everyone referred to it.

141 AND ANOTHER

After the lengthy, and I mean lengthy walk to get to customs and then downstairs to find myself outside, there was the long 5 or 10 minute bus ride.  This got me to a spot where I embarked on another lengthy walk.  I finally got to the gate just about 5 minutes before they started boarding.  I knew my bags had been checked through to Vancouver, but I had to make sure that they would be on my new flight.  They assured me that they were, and so I’ll have to trust them.

My seat was listed as 10G.  I was originally booked on 1A, but I suppose beggars can’t be choosers since I was joining an already existing flight.  As I walked through the doorway, I got a big surprise in that the aircraft I was boarding was a 787 instead of an A320.  Which meant that I was now flying back in the pods again.  What an awesome surprise.  Even more so, because the flight was stopping in Vancouver and going on to Australia, so our meals were being prepared by an onboard chef.

The flight left 10 minutes early and shortly after takeoff, the crew was coming around with snacks and drinks.  The cool part is that there’s no limit on how much and pretty much anything you want.  It almost made me wish I was a drinker.  Shortly after, they came around again with menus for dinner.  The appetiser was shrimp and was it ever good.

I had a choice between two dinner entrees, so I chose the lamb.  It was amazing.  Afterwards, desert was a choice between ice-cream and a fresh baked chocolate chip cookie and fresh fruit.  I didn’t want to risk the ice cream, so I opted for the fruit and asked if I could have the cookie too.  She said of course I could.  So that’s what I had.  Again, it was amazing.

I flipped on the entertainment center and discovered that Bohemian Rhapsody was on the menu.  So that’s what I watched.  Even though I have seen it before, it was better the second time around.  I have never not sat in a window seat and was worried about the potential for, motion sickness.  I’ve also never been able to read in a moving vehicle, so I wondered about watching a movie for the first time.  It went fine.

With all the drinks, between tomato juice and Perrier, I ended up having to hit the bathroom a couple of times.  Boy, even in a big airplane like a 787, those bathrooms are just not built for a guy my size.  But I got through it unscathed.

Before I knew it, we were landing in Vancouver. We arrived almost 40 minutes early.  Partly because of the 10-minute early departure and then they made up time in the air.  Again, it was a long walk, but nowhere near the lengthy walks in Orlando and Toronto.  By this point though, my foot was killing me, and I was limping badly.  I was also soaked because I was sweating so badly from lugging all my luggage and gear around as well as my badly hurting body.

I finally got to the shuttle bus for Jet Set parking after a couple of wrong turns.  But when I got on board, I could not remember where I had parked.  I sort of remembered that I was parked in Row C.  I took a chance, and sure enough, there it was, frozen over.  I had no idea how cold it was because I was still sweating.

The truck almost didn’t start but I lucked out and got it going.  After 10 minutes, it had thawed enough that I went to exit.  I had prepaid over $200 for parking for the 3 weeks and the machine was telling me I owed $391.  Thankfully there was someone in the kiosk who apologized and fixed it for me.  I wonder how many people end up paying twice.

The GPS started giving me directions o the old house, but I was able to circumvent that, once I got to somewhere that I knew I was going.  It was a long drive, because I was already tired and for some reason never managed to sleep on either plane.  I had been up since 6:00 AM EST, it was 1:30 AM PST by the time I got into bed, or the equivalent of 4:30 AM EST.  22 hours I had been up.  My head hit the pillow and I was gone.  I slept until 7:30 AM PST, but I’m still bagged.  I guess that’s what jet lag is all about.

140 JUST ONE MORE ADVENTURE

So, here I am, on the way home.  My flight departs at 12:20 PM EST but, my pre-booked and pre-paid shuttle insists on picking me up at 7:45AM EST.  I arrive at the airport just after 8:00 AM, breeze through baggage check-in and through security.  Again, flying business class and having a Nexus card makes things so much easier.  Unfortunately, I’m sitting at my gate at 9:00 AM EST.  The kicker to all this was that I intended to hang out in the Maple Leaf Lounge and have a free breakfast.

Imagine my consternation when I discover that there is no Maple Leaf Lounges in Orlando.  Oh well, I can live with killing three hours sitting at the gate.  While I’m sitting there, I get an update on my flight, saying that departure has been delayed until 1:00 PM EST.  Ten minutes later it’s updated again, and the new departure time is 3:10 PM, arriving in Toronto at 6:00 PM.  Not a problem, I have time.  Except, my connecting flight departs Toronto for Vancouver at 5:00 PM EST.

Now what?  Being a relatively novice flyer, I have no clue what comes next.  Finally, an Air Canada employee shows up and advises me that they are aware of my connection and once we are in the air on the way to Toronto, they will update my connecting flight and give me a new boarding pass when I get to Toronto.

Apparently, our aircraft was delayed in Toronto by mechanical problems.  I sure hope they fix it, really, really well, or send us a new airplane.  Because the mechanical problems are Air Canada’s fault for the delay, they handed out food vouchers for $15, good for any place in Orlando Airport.  So, because it is now noon and I haven’t eaten yet, I grab the voucher and head to the “lobby area”.

There I have a choice between Burger King, which I don’t like at the best of times, or Outback Steak House.  So, I opted for good food over fast food.  I’ve never eaten at Outback before.  I ended up with a steak dinner and Caesar salad and for desert cheesecake.  My part of the bill came to less than $20, but I tipped the waitress 20% of the whole bill, as she took such good care of me.

I’m still waiting for my aircraft to arrive, and wondering when I will actually get to YVR, or if I will be spending the night in Toronto.  That will be at the expense of Air Canada as well, since they will put me up at a hotel.  If I take a night flight home, I don’t think going East-West qualifies as a red eye flight.  We shall see.  Bear in mind, I have at least an hour and 15-minute drive home after.  Who knows though, with the snow and ice waiting for me.  I can’t write any further at this point and will finish this off when I know more.

Finally, we got the notice that the plane would be arriving, and we would be departing at 3:30 PM EST.  The arrival in Toronto of 6:00 PM EST is one hour after my connecting flight to Vancouver.  So now what?  Well, I discovered what.  Within 30 minutes I got a notice on my phone that I had been booked on a new flight out of Toronto, leaving at 8:00 PM EST and arriving in Vancouver at 10:00 PM PST.  I’m still in business class and was scheduled to be on an Airbus A320, just like the one I’m waiting for now.  Which means no pod.

Our aircraft arrived and we got boarded, I’m sitting directly behind the bulkhead with plenty of leg room.  Business Class in this situation means you only have one seat mate and I lucked out and got one of the most unfriendly guys I could get.  No biggie, I’ll just look out the window.  It turned out our plane had been delayed on landing in Toronto and a bolt broke and destroyed one set of brakes, so it took three hours to repair and replace those.

The flight was smooth and quick, we arrived 15 minutes ahead of schedule.  Lunch was a dish of a very tasty pasta, ravioli, I think.  We got nuts to snack on and unlimited drinks.  I settled for 7-up.  Once we arrived in Toronto, there was no opportunity to hit the lounge.  I had to make a beeline for my departure gate and go through customs.  I also had to find out which gate to go to.

On the plane, the staff made the announcement that if you had a Nexus card, you didn’t need to fill out a customs form.  However, when I got to the customs CBSA agent, he told me “we don’t recognize Nexus cards here” and I would have to fill out a declaration.  Thankfully there was no lineup.  It didn’t take long to fill out the form, and I was through and racing to my gate.

It was a long-convoluted path and I ended up outside and thought I had made a wrong turn or something.  But, no, we just had to board a bus and take a five-minute ride to where we needed to resume our race.  I’m quite exhausted by now and limping badly and sweating like crazy.  The -3C temperature actually felt good.

139 THE FINAL DAY

Well today is it, my last full day here.  I didn’t do anything today, well that’s not quite true, I just didn’t go anywhere to do it.  I had to pack and figured it would be an easy thing with all the room I had left on the way down here.  All I added was a couple of t-shirts, a sweatshirt, hat and jacket and then the Harry Potter wand and stand.  I think the big difference is that I decided to put my heavy leather jacket in the suitcase instead of carrying it and kept the light one out.

I packed and repacked it 3 times and finally managed to get it zipped shut.  I guess that’s the advantage of a soft side suitcase rather than a hard-shell.  There’s a bit of stretch room.  Unfortunately, after doing that, I discovered a few things left out.  My sweatshirt and sweatpants that I’m wearing and my toiletries and case.  I’m hoping I can squeeze them into my camera case or backpack.  Otherwise, I’m pulling the leather jacket out.

I’d rather not as it’s big and bulky to carry and on the way down here I was sweating like crazy trying to wear it in the airports.  It would be nice when I get home as I’ve been told it’s below 0 in temperature and has snowed slightly.  I’ll do what I can to avoid it, but, oh well.

I also went down to the front desk to confirm my transport to the airport tomorrow.  I’m told I will be picked up at 7:45 AM, which is a bit of a pain as my flight doesn’t leave until 12:20 PM and Air Canada says to check in by 10:20 AM.  Oh well, like on the way down, I’ll hang out in the Maple Leaf Lounge until boarding.

I’m in a quandary.  Do I eat my usual breakfast at the hotel, or do I wait until I get to the lounge and eat there for free?  That will be the likely option I take.  I think I’ve spent enough on meals.  The other thing that has me wondering, is the trepidation over the miserable flights down.  Should I take a Gravol, prophylactically after boarding the first flight, or wait to see if I start feeling bad.

The advantage to doing it right away is that it will prevent me getting sick and the drowsiness should be out of my system by Toronto.  I’d rather not take it before landing in Vancouver as I have a long drive home after, especially if it snows again before I get there.

The biggest difference between now and the first flight is that I was sick before starting and so far, I’m not here.  I do have butterflies a bit, which is really early.  I usually don’t get those until the morning of departure and that’s even when I’m just driving up to the lake.  I’ll figure it out tomorrow.

I checked in with Air Canada and got that out of the way, then I went around and said goodbye to various staff members I got to know.  I acquired quite a few of them as Instagram followers.  They all treated me well while I’ve been here, and it has been a great time.

Three weeks is a long time for a trip, but I got a lot done and took a ton of photos.  I have them all edited, except last night’s night shots at Hogwarts.  I’ll have to do those when I get home.  I’m taking precautions to avoid potential disaster.  I’m in the process of uploading every shot to my Dropbox account, just in case.  I’ll also carry the drive in a separate bag from the laptop.  That way, if disaster strike in the form of a theft, I’ll still have the pics.

I’ve been so busy, that I haven’t had a chance to feel remotely lonely.  Staying in touch with Tamara, Caitlin, Karl and Trevor by text helps, but also the friendships I have built with a lot of the staff members here.  I know it’s their jobs and all, but they all seem to relate more to me than other patrons I’ve seen them with.  I’m done and ready to get home, but I’m also sad to be leaving in a fashion.

The only things I didn’t get done, the primary one that I ad planned for was to witness a launch that was scheduled for when I was here, to suddenly getting moved to February 9, 4 days after I get home.  I suspect it was due to the government shutdown.  I wanted to eat at Mel’s Drive In, but I didn’t even know it existed until I stumbled across it one night, so not a big deal.  I didn’t go to any water parks like Volcano Bay or the hotel pools.  But even though, I brought my swimsuit, I’m not a public pool swimmer, and my body is too banged up for water slides.

The last thing I didn’t do and didn’t really plan to was go to Epcot Center.  The sad part about that is that I bought a 4 park Disney pass for just under $500 CAN and only used three of them.  I would have gone back to Animal Kingdom, but you aren’t allowed to go to the same park twice.  By contrast, I paid just under $250 CAN for a Universal all park passes and when I got here the told me I could upgrade to an all park year pass that gave me unlimited access to them all.  I went to Universal, roughly 7 times.

138 BAD PIZZA AND EARLY MORNINGS

After getting back to the hotel last night, I had to wait in line for 3 buses to get here. when I arrived, I was really hungry, so I headed for the cafeteria for my usual dinner.  Holy cow, I have not seen the cafeteria this busy since I got here.  There was not a seat to be found and the lineups for all 4 of the food places, rivaled lineups at Universal, so I skipped that idea.  The TV screens were all playing the Super Bowl and it was 3-3 late in the game.  The Canucks game the night before had more scoring.

Anyway, I was too tired, hot and sweaty to stand in another line, so I went up to the room figuring to make use of the in-house pizza delivery.  I called and ordered.  There were only 5 different types available and none of my favourites, so I was stuck with pepperoni.  I added mushrooms.  Delivery took over an hour and I was starved by the time it got here after 9:00 PM.

I sat down and finished the editing of the shots from the second trip to Gatorland.  It took two full evenings.  I got 1400 plus shots and of those there were at least 400 that were good to great (my assessment).  Of those 400, I had to weed them down for repetitions sake and got it down to under 200.  The door slamming and talking were at an all time high.  I don’t understand how many times someone needs to go in and out of their hotel room.

The pizza arrived and let me just say this.  The food at the hotel has been at the very least good but mostly great.  The pizza, not so much.  I have had some poor-quality pizza in my life, but this is truly the worst I have had, but at this point, I was so hungry, I didn’t care and ate it.

I turned off the TV at 11:00 PM.  I was “watching” Titanic again, but mostly just listening while doing the editing.  I finally got the editing done for Gatorland Part 2, but by now it was almost 2:00 AM.  I concluded putting the logos on the pics and sending them to my iPad for later upload to Instagram.

I settled down and quickly fell asleep, despite the ongoing door slams and talking.  I was in a deep sleep and was jolted awake at 6:00 AM by the phone ringing in the room.  I’ve been here three weeks and that’s the first time my phone has rung.  It scared me, it may be 6:00 AM here, but it’s only 3:00 AM at home and late-night phone calls are never good news.

I picked up the phone and bleary eyed tried to figure out how to actually answer it.  I finally got a voice and it was some guy asking me if I was ready to go.  His voice sounded vaguely like Karl, my son.  I said to him, it’s 6:00 in the morning here.  He said, that’s when you told me we were leaving last night.  It finally dawned on me, it’s a wrong number.

When I told him, he said isn’t this Michael?  I said no and he just hung up.  No apology for waking me up, nothing.  So, I snuggled back down into bed to go back to sleep.  However, that was not happening.  Right about then, the door slamming, loud voices and little kids yelling started up.  So, getting back to sleep has eluded me.  I just decided to get up and write the Blog.

I guess on the bright side, this will help me get used to the time change going home tomorrow and maybe counteract the coming jet lag.  We shall see.  I’m feeling good today other than really tired, but then the day before I left home, I was feeling good too.  It was the travel day when I started feeling so sick.

I’m hoping for a better flight home, but I’m also having some trepidation.  Do I take some Gravol in advance, or just wait and see?  It knocks me out so much.  I don’t want to be hazy for arrival in Toronto.  But I certainly don’t want to be under the influence when I get home as I still have a long drive when I get there.  Especially since all the reports I have seen on Facebook, indicate it is sub zero temperatures and has snowed.  I have no problem driving in snow as I have good skills.  I also have 4-wheel drive and All-Terrain tires.  The problem is the other idiots on the road that can’t drive or are trying to with summer tires.

Bear in mind, I must go through Richmond, home to some of the worst drivers in Metro Vancouver.  We shall see what happens tomorrow evening.  Even without bad drivers, the drive will be slowed down by the weather and increase an hour and fifteen-minute drive to over two hours.  Time will tell.

137 THE SUPER BLOW

No, that’s not a typo.  It’s Superbowl Sunday and I for one could care less.  I don’t like the NFL.  Too much political bullshit from grossly overpaid prima donnas.  A league full of criminals.  But I digress.  The plan for today is to go back to Universal for the first time since being turned away by security.  I plan to go late in the day and be there for when it gets dark, so I can see the light show at Hogwarts Castle.

The weather seems to have other plans.  It’s cold and raining and I have no intention of walking around in the rain.  I’ve established a routine since I’ve been here.  I’m usually up by 8:00 AM.  Mostly because that’s when I wake up, but a lot of times it’s because of all the activity and noise in the hallway.

The turnover rate I the hotel is usually quick, less than a week for the most part and some of the people are very good and respectful, others not so much.  There’s a group on my floor right now, and I think they are all connected, but they seem to think nothing about slamming doors late at night and early morning.  They also don’t seem to have a problem with talking, very loudly in the halls at the same time.

The other night, I was wandering down the hall to get ice and there was a group of kids all under 10, playing of all things, soccer in the hallway.  There was not a parent or adult to be seen.  This went on to about 10:30 PM.  Now, I do go to bed, late, but my TV is off no later than 11:00 PM and if I am using my iPad, I have the Bluetooth headphones on.

Finally, at about 4:00 PM, the weather changed.  The clouds broke and the sun came out.  It was already 18 Celsius anyway, but it didn’t take long to warm up considerably.  I grabbed my gear with some important changes.  I left the 150-600 zoom in the hotel.  It also took me this long to clue in.  I completely emptied my pockets of everything and put it in the backpack or left it behind.  It made going through security so much easier, and less sitting exposed in the tray.  I even put the camera with the stubby 50mm lens in there.

My calculation was that being Super Bowl Sunday, maybe the park would be less busy, since so many people would be watching it elsewhere.  It appeared to be holding true as there was a mass exodus of people out of the park and I just went through the admission gates with no lines.  Lots of people were hitting bars like NBC, Margaritaville and The Hard Rock Café, to watch there, but that was on City Walk.

Sure enough, I breezed through security and by now it was hot and really muggy.  It was 26C and I was dripping sweat all through the visit tonight.  I didn’t realize that there is two separate parks and two separate entrances.  The sun was going down quickly.  The Universal Studios side holds Diagon Alley and the Islands of Adventure holds Hogwarts Castle.

I went through the Universal Studios gate and when asking the quickest way to Hogwarts, is when I found out about the distinction.  This involved making a beeline to Kings Cross Station to catch the train to Hogwarts.  The first time I did the train, I breezed right through.  Not tonight, it was a 40-minute wait for the train.  It was still quicker than walking and trying to find my way there.  By being cooped up inside the station, I had no idea how dark it was getting.

We arrived in Hogsmead and the area in front of the castle was absolutely jammed with people waiting for the show.  I found a place in front and got set.  I had arrived less than 5 minutes before the start.  It wasn’t fully dark but close.  It gave the sky a really nice dark blue hue.  Anyway, the show started and really was kind of disappointing.  It was just lights projected on the walls and voices from the Harry Potter movies.  But it was done.

On to the next plan, or so I thought.  Boarding the train again, was far less busy, in fact I got on in less than 5 minutes, but was told along with everyone else, by the time I got to Universal the park would be closed.  It was now just a few minutes before 7:00 PM.  Sure enough, when I got out of the station, the grand finale was halfway down, but I was at a different angle, so got to see more fireworks.

I asked directions back to Mel’s Drive In, to have dinner there but was told that since it was after 7:00 PM, it was already closed.  I tried to follow the complex set of directions but was not able to find it again to confirm.  So, that’s one goal unfulfilled, unless I go back one more time, but that’s doubtful.

136 THE HOT AND THE COLD

Before leaving home, I debated what clothes I should take.  Florida is generally sub-tropical weather, but many years ago I was here, and the temperatures dropped into Arctic range.  It was the coldest winter in Florida’s history.  Oranges were freezing on trees and they ended up losing about 50% of the orange crop back then.  We were walking around Disney and Epcot with 4 T-shirts on because we had not cool weather gear.

So, this time when packing, I included, jeans, a sweatshirt, sweatpants, a light jacket and my heavy leather jacket.  It has certainly paid off.  Not that the temperature has approached those record lows yet, but yesterday it was only +10C at 10:30 AM.  When I went out, I was wearing jeans and my light jacket.

This morning I got up and discovered it was still cloudy and the clouds were looking threatening.  Checking the weather app, showed the temperature to be 18C at 10:00 AM.  It was also showing a severe thunderstorm warning.  I was talking to a staff member who is in his 70’s and has lived here all his life.  He said to be concerned as this is the type of weather that spawns’ tornadoes.

I was hurting big time today, and not from walking, as I didn’t do much yesterday.  This is another major indicator of a weather change for me.  So, we shall see what happens.  Because I was hurting so much and uncomfortable, I decided to stick around the hotel today.  But I also thought I should get some pics around here as well.

I walked outside and it was like getting punched in the face.  It was so muggy, and hot as it had warmed up to 24C in an hour.  Maybe there’s something to what the staff member said.  I was sweating like crazy with just a few steps outside and my Apple watch is giving a water warning.  I took photos of anything and everything I could think of.

I did the morning routine I have done every morning since getting here.  I get my breakfast at the Bayliner Diner in the hotel and eat it while reading Harry Potter on my iPad, then wander next door to the Starbucks in the hotel for my Grande Americano.  Then I go and sit in the lobby and people watch, while planning the plan of attack for the day.  I couldn’t find anything I wanted to do today and as mentioned, with the possible severe weather, I decided to stay here.

I don’t want to get caught out in a severe weather event just a few days before going home.  It seems though, that I may face one getting home.  Sunday the temperatures are expected to drop below freezing and snow for the first time this winter.  The only snow I have seen this winter was sitting on the tarmac in Toronto waiting for the plane to be de-iced.

It’s hard to believe the trip is almost at an end.  Tuesday morning, I check out and head for Orlando Airport to start the long journey home.  Hopefully it will be a better flight than coming here.  It was really cool flying business class, but because of the red-eye flight and the fact I was feeling so sick, I couldn’t enjoy my pod experience.

I won’t have the pod going home either, but we shall see what happens.  I wasn’t expecting to be on a 787 on the way down and you never know on the way back.  It’s showing as an Airbus A321 on both flights.  On the way down, it was a 787 to Toronto and a tiny Airbus A319 to Orlando.  I don’t know anything about the A321, I’ll have to look it up.  One difference at Orlando Airport, is that I will have some American change to get a luggage cart.  It wouldn’t accept a Canadian quarter when arriving. 

The people around here have been amazing and friendly.  They have been extremely helpful, and I have   acquired several as Instagram followers.  Most of the staff know me by name and know me as the photographer with the big camera.  They were kind of surprised today to see me with a wide-angle lens on.  Even at Starbucks they place my order and write my name on the cup before I can ask.

It’s been an amazing 3 weeks and I am kind of sad to be leaving, but I am really ready to get home as well.  I have pretty much done and photographed everything I came here to do.  I didn’t do Epcot, but really wasn’t hugely interested in it.  I’m glad I did it, but I won’t say that I am planning my next trip just yet.