148 SAN DIEGO ZOO

The start of my first full day in San Diego, didn’t look good for the plans.  When I woke up very early and looked outside, it was raining hard.  So, I started to write yesterday’s Blog and play around on the internet.  Of course, that seems to be a hit and miss proposition.  It was down, most of the evening and caused me to miss the Canucks game.  When I got up and logged on, it was working but quickly went down again.  Thankfully, I don’t need the internet to write the Blog, just post it.

Anyway, by the time I got done, had my shower, packed my gear and was ready to head out for breakfast, it had stopped raining, but the cloudy skies were looking threatening.  Cloudy skies are certainly not a deterrent for photography, and so I decided to carry through with my plan of the San Diego Zoo.

My Uber picked me up and drove me to the zoo and it was then that I discovered that Spring Break is different from ours.  While our kids went back to school on April 1, theirs just started.  It seemed like there were 400,000 kids waiting to get into the zoo.  An exaggeration of course, but there was a lot.

It is different here than in Florida.  There are no x-ray scanners or physical bag checks to get into the zoo.  In Florida, there were x-ray scanners and physical inspections at Universal Theme Parks and straight up physical searches at Disney Theme Parks.  It was busy inside.

I managed to get to the Panda exhibit before the massive lines I saw later in the day.  Unfortunately, the one Panda that was outside, was fast asleep on a tree branch.  I got what pictures I could of her and then kept moving.  Of course, after I was out of prime photo range, she was up and moving.

In Florida I didn’t take advantage of all the photo ops offered in the various theme parks, except at NASA.  This time I did.  I had my photo taken in front of a green screen at the photo exhibit.  They took 3 poses and I was able to pick the prints up later.  Cost me $25 US for 2 prints in a cardboard frame, where they added in the Pandas.  You get digital downloads as well.

GREEN SCREEN PANDA

GREEN SCREEN PANDAS

I kept, wandering and taking photos and ran into a couple of other photographers using the same big lens.  One fellow was using a Nikon D4s and the Tamron 150-600 the same setup as mine.  The other was shooting with a gasp, Canon.  I couldn’t chat with the Nikon guy as he was from Japan and did not speak any English.  We each gave the other a thumbs up though.  I couldn’t chat with the other guy as he was shooting a, gasp, Canon.

When I got to the gorilla enclosure, again I was met by sleeping animals. But there were lots of other primates close by to get some shots of.  Tigers, sleeping.  Jaguars and leopards, sleeping.  I couldn’t find the polar bears and the hippo was underwater.  There was an interesting animal that appeared to be half deer and half zebra.  I can’t remember what it was called and couldn’t get a full-on body shot because he kept hiding his butt.

SLEEPING PANDA

SLEEPING GORILLA

With all these comments about what I couldn’t shoot, you’d think I got nothing.  That’s not the case however as I came back with 1138 shots.  I spent almost 7 hours walking around the zoo, up and down the hills with almost 30 pounds of gear on my back and front.  I never took any other lens out of the backpack, so I won’t take it on the next trip to the zoo.

I’ll likely be using more of the lenses and flash at the Flight and Space Museum, if that’s where I end up today.  If I go to the Safari Park, I’ll take it all, because I have no idea what I will need there.  I mentioned all the hills in the zoo.  Last time I was here, I remember a far more wide-open area and wide gravel roadways.  Maybe that’s the safari park, only it wasn’t called that then.

All over the zoo, there are signs commemorating donors who thorough their generous contributions, allow the zoo to not only keep operating, but carry on with conservation efforts throughout the world.  The biggest contributor, judging by all the signs is Mr. and Mrs. Ray Kroc.  Owners of McDonald’s Restaurants.

147 CALIFORNIA HERE I COME

Well, I’m pretty much all packed and ready to go, except for a few last-minute things to go in the morning.  I tweaked my back a few days ago, of course on a Saturday and no way to get physio treatment on it before I leave.  But, with all the physio I have undergone in the last few years, I did my own treatments on it.  So, I’m hopeful.  It’s painful, but I can still walk, it’s just it takes that much longer to get moving.

Of, course, I wake up bright and early, at 3:30 AM, not intentionally.  I roll over and try to go back to sleep, but it’s just not happening.  I lie there until 4:30 AM and then give up and get up.  Off to my office I go and start killing time on the computer.  The flight isn’t until 1:35 PM and the plan is, I’ll leave at 9:30 AM to beat rush hour and have a chance to partake in breakfast at the Maple Leaf Lounge.

Finally, with all the last-minute items packed, I’m ready to go at 8:00 AM and I cannot think of anything more to do to keep busy and I wandered out and got my truck and loaded up.  Not wanting to just sit around, I headed for the airport at 8:20 AM.  I figured that I can at least wander around the airport and take pictures.

Well, how wrong I was.  Everything was smooth sailing until I get down on the perimeter road when the traffic starts to build.  Finally, it comes to a standstill and the road is a parking lot, and I’m not even halfway to the airport yet.  Traffic reports on the radio aren’t helping much and the hosts on TSN 1040 are late because of the traffic.

What was supposed to be a 1 hour and 15-minute drive turned into a 3 hour and 5-minute ordeal.  But I got there.  Not enough time to wander around taking pics.  I checked in, checked my suitcase and then went through the Nexus and US Customs lines.  Had a little trouble getting the machine to scan my passport and fingerprints, but it finally worked.  The US Customs agent was impressed with my travel plans of photographing the San Diego zoo.

Now, the next challenge.  Finding the Maple Leaf Lounge.  I spoke to 3 different Air Canada gate agents and an Airport cleaner and none could really tell me where to find it.  I just got vague instructions.  I ended up at the far end of the airport.  With no other option, I started the long walk back toward the gate, which I had passed early in the trek.

Finally, I found the lounge.  It turned out, by riding the moving sidewalk to save my feet, I had gone right past it and not noticed.  By the time I got upstairs, I found I had missed breakfast, but they were just laying out a light lunch.  I had a bowl of the most wonderful Minestrone soup, some salad and melon.  Just as I finished, they put out some very nice pizza, so I had a couple of pieces of that.

But that pretty much used up my time and I had to report to the gate.  We boarded the Bombardier CRJ 900 which is pretty much the smallest commercial aircraft I have been on.  I ended up with an entire row of seats and nobody right behind me.  The takeoff was smooth as was the whole flight.  The only annoying thing was some guy about 4 rows back was coughing up a lung and not covering his mouth.  I hope I don’t get sick.  I positioned the air conditioning fans, to blow back towards him, so here’s hoping.

DEPARTING VANCOUVER

They fed us on the plane too.  I had a tasty salad and a choice between Butter Chicken and a cheese/pasta dish of some kind.  I chose the Butter Chicken, because I’ve never had it before.  It was amazing.  She did warn me the plate was hot, but I thought, it’s an airplane, how hot can it be?  Turns out, it was burn my fingers hot.  I forgot about the perks of business class.  Desert was an amazing piece of Cappuccino Cheese cake.

We got to San Diego and the clouds were just breaking and the temperature was a pleasant 19C.  I had a little trouble getting my Uber as my phone would not log on to the airport Wi-Fi.  Once I got that settled and got my car, it was off we go.

LANDING IN SAN DIEGO

San Diego, like Orlando has changed so much since the last time I was here 35 years ago.  The driver I had was a pleasant fellow and we had a great chat all the way to the hotel.  He told me about all the changes in the city and we talked about places to see.  We drove past Old Town San Diego and it looks really cool.  I’ll have to go there too.

After getting into my room, it was now 6:00 PM and surprisingly, I was hungry, so I headed over to the onsite Restaurant/Pub.  First Item on the menu was real, Southern Fried Chicken (the Chef is from Georgia), mashed potatoes with Chicken Gravy, two southern style biscuits and Zucchini chunks in a tomato sauce all for $19 US, of course that translates to $31 Canadian.  I’ll tell you though, it was amazing.  I have never had fried chicken like that.  There were 4 large pieces of it.  I am not usually a gravy fan, but I’ll make an exception for this.  I forgot to order it with no gravy.

I got back to my room, just in time to stream the Canucks/Sharks game but the internet went down and the last score I saw was 2-1 Sharks in the first period.  I channel surfed trying to find the game on TV but no luck and fell asleep around 10:00 PM.  It was a long day.

146 CBD - THE GREAT EXPERIMENT

As you all know, my body is pretty screwed up due to my near fatal bout of sepsis in 2017.  All the details from that are available earlier in this Blog.  I have experienced so lasting and permanent side-effects from it.  I cannot feel my feet which makes balance difficult, but at the same time, they hurt deep inside.  Also, my right ankle, which I sprained prior to this whole episode starting has never healed properly.  In addition to other aches and pains, my hands have lost strength, I have very poor fine motor skills and they hurt a lot.

For months, I have been inundated with suggestions from my kids, friends, neighbours and various other associates, that I try cannabis.  I’ve never been a smoker and I’m not about to start now.  Even the media got involved.  Every week or so a supplementary newspaper about cannabis arrived at my home.

After a career spent fighting drugs and crime, I just did not want to go down that road.  Plus, I’ve never been a big fan of even legal drugs.  In the hospital when I was in agony, after a few injections of Hydromorphone I started refusing it and opting for Tylenol 3 and then stepping that down to just regular Tylenol.

So, I was not about to start using drugs, no matter how screwed up my body is.  Finally, it was more properly explained to me.  The cannabis they were suggesting, is not the psychoactive drug called THC in marijuana, but instead a completely different drug called CBD.  It’s got a long name that I can’t remember, cannabidiol or something.

So, I started researching it online and reading those newspaper supplements.  After reassuring myself that I was not going to become a raving pothead, I tentatively agreed to try it.  For anyone reading this outside Canada, cannabis is now legal here.  My son-in-law went to a dispensary and bought CBD drops while my son purchased a CBD infused topical cream.

They were extolling its virtues and promises of magical healing powers.  The research I did online was making the same type of promises.  Miracle cure for pretty much everything is what the research claimed.  I’m not even sure it’s proper double-blind scientific research studies, but who knows.  I remained extremely sceptical, because you know the old saying, “If something appears too good to be true, it is”.

Anyway, we booked a date, March 23, yesterday as it turns out.  The kids were coming over to assemble my new patio furniture and at the same time, I wanted someone with me before I took the CBD for the first time.  Just in case of side effects.  You know how in the medication ads where they talk about how less than half of 1% of people experience side effects?  I’m that half of 1%.  If there is a bad side effect to be had, I will have it.

Finally, it was time.  They gave me three little drops under my tongue.  I was expecting some wicked-awful taste, but there was no taste to it at all.  Backing up a little, I woke up in the morning with a “mild” migraine.  I still had vestiges of it, when I took the CBD.  I was also hurting pretty good all over my body.

After about 20 minutes, I felt something.  I can’t put my finger on it.  I just felt, strange.  Not unpleasantly, but I was not in any way intoxicated.  I didn’t really feel any improvement in my pain levels, although to be fair, it’s hard to quantify pain.  What for me would be annoying (I have a very high pain threshold) would be devastating to someone else.

Where I did notice something, is my hands had been sore before, seemed just a little less sore after.  I was having real difficulty bending down and picking things up, it seemed to be slightly easier after. So, at this point the jury is still out.  It certainly isn’t the amazing recovery that was touted in the newspaper, but I can’t definitively say it had no effect.  I can’t say for certain that it did either.

I may need a higher dosage, but I will build up to that.  It may also take awhile to build up in my system to the point that it produces therapeutic results.  At this point I can’t completely endorse it, but I can’t completely rule out any good effects yet.  I also rubbed some of the cream into my hands.  It didn’t appear to have any effect on them, other than to make my hands feel greasy.

I took a second dose just about 45 minutes ago.  This time, I did not experience the strange feeling that I did yesterday.  But, again, I feel like something is happening.  It’s by no means profound.  Just very subtle.  We shall see what happens.  I’ll continue to take it until I leave for San Diego, but I don’t dare take it across the border with me.

145 PACK MAN

The time for San Diego is fast approaching, roughly two weeks out now.  I’ve been busy packing and repacking the new photo back-pack.  The instructions for it say that it can hold a DSLR camera with a 200mm lens attached, but, with some judicious re-arranging of the Velcro spacers inside, I have gotten the case to hold something bigger.  I have my Nikon D4s, which is quite a large camera, to fit in the case with the Tamron 150-600 lens attached.  Down either side I have several lenses, a flash, noise cancelling headphones, my laptop and my iPad Pro.

BACKPACK AND D4s WITH 600MM LENS

The configuration is heavy but nowhere near as heavy as the rolling bag I took to Florida.  The other thing is that even with it fully loaded, it’s comfortable to wear.  Well, at least it is for the half hour or so that I walked around in the house with it on.  It maybe a different story when I get to the airport.

Initially the backpack will e riding on top of the “spinner” suitcase.  But once the case is checked in, the real test will start as I wander through the airport.  This time I will be doing a little more looking around.  Well, hopefully.  I’m hoping not to start off the trip sick this time.  Seeing some photos posted by friends, there is apparently an aquarium in the airport, so I’ll be looking for that.

I also want to leave enough time to hit the Maple Leaf Lounge and have breakfast there.  I chose an early afternoon flight this time.  That way I’m not trying to fight through morning rush hour to get to the airport.  The other method to my madness, is that the hotel I’m staying at doesn’t allow check-in until 4:00 PM.  Since my flight doesn’t arrive until after 4:00 PM it will save sitting in the lobby for 3 hours, like the earlier flight would have caused.

Being a slightly more experienced traveller now, I have a better idea of what I’ll be facing.  Last trip, I left my suitcase unlocked, even though it is equipped with TSA approved locks.  There was no problem with it, but I did not put anything in the suitcase of value.  I’m still trying to figure out the best course of action, but Facebook is being persnickety, and I haven’t been able to post anything for two days.

WATER POUCH NASA PATCH

POUCH  MEMORIAL PATCH

CANADA AND BC PATCHES

 The back pack itself, I have modified.  It is equipped with Molle straps which allows attaching various pouches.  I added a square one to the waist belt which can hold my cell phone, wallets, and Nikon A900 backup camera.  I also added a water bottle pouch to the right side of the pack.

To make things slightly more identifiable, I have added a few stickers to the big orange spinner suitcase.  On the backpack I added a few patches.  On the back I have a Canada Flag over top of a BC Provincial flag patch.  On the square pouch I have a Law Enforcement Memorial patch, on the water bottle pouch is a NASA patch and finally a Maple Leaf pin on the left shoulder strap.

COUNTER-ATTACK, UNDER ARMOR AND APPLE STICKERS

In order to help conceal what the backpack actually is, I will be travelling with the built-in rain hood over it.  On that I added a Canada Flag patch over the Lowepro insignia.  Now it just looks like an ordinary backpack.  As added security I will be locking the zippers to the main compartment.

PACK WITH RAIN HOOD UP 

I’ve even started packing the suitcase already.  Last time I had the camera bag packed weeks in advance, and I guess I do now as well.  But I didn’t even start packing my suitcase until the night before.  I’m also bringing things down to it, instead of loading it upstairs and having to drag it down two flights of stairs.

So, as I said, I’m a little more seasoned now and I have learned what I need to bring and what not to.  I will also no carry anything in my pockets and will put it all into the backpack pouches.  It’s much easier to throw one bag on the X-ray and search table, than it is to empty my pockets into a bin and then refill them after.  Less of a security worry as well, leaving my camera and wallets unattended in a bin, while the security people do the pat down.

I’m really looking forward to getting to San Diego and especially getting to the zoo and start taking photos.  I have a few “targets” as it were.  I want to get more gorilla and tiger shots, but I especially want to get orangutans, chimpanzees and panda bears.  Lions, giraffes and elephants, rhinos and hippopotamus rank right up there as well.

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.