This Journey

(as written yesterday afternoon.....leaving it as was)

This latest, relatively Random and entirely unprecedented Road Trip hath now, officially commenced.

Tone for said Big Adventure (and , coincidentally, new Job) was set last night in absolutely Royal style.

Having recently been blessed by several more Hostesses with the Mostest, I was treated to a Send Off Feast by the duo who I will, in future, refer to as the Madames Fabulinas (not those kinds of madams either, just for the record...few know better than I how easily rumours get started ) . Said absolutely Divine creatures fed (check my links for THE best cakes on this Island) and nurtured me and sent me off into my future with much merriment & JuJu. Rarely have I felt so spoilt and utterly content.....Thank You , Ladies.....You truly ROCK.

I was also most fortunate to be delivered by one of these gals to the airport in Nanaimo. Having mentioned the travelling issues of being an Island Dweller previously I'll just say that the time spent in superb company is at least a thousand times more pleasant than the shuttle bus. Again, THANK YOU.

Imagine my surprise to find that, once again, my wee little 'local' (40 minutes away) airport has been redesigned and I no longer have a clue where , how or what I'm supposed to do or be going. Cool. Fits in the overall scheme of this latest adventure anyhow. I admit to being a little horrified that I'm apparently schlepping 85 pounds worth of 'stuff' with me (!!) but, just for a moment, ponder removing yourself to an extremely remote (no corner store if you forgot your toothbrush) location for three whole weeks. Really think about it. Those little tiny travel size containers you usually take? Replace every single one of them with a life size version. Alarm clock? SAD Light? Puter...iTouch dock?? I'm still a little amazed I didn't find a way to pack up a hound or two also. Needless to say , the GOOD news is that only half of it, if all goes well, will make the return trip. 50 lbs of “Home” will indeed remain in way back and beyond for use in future travels.

That said, imagine my complete shock to have the flight attendant of my wee little puddle hopper announce that they had to re-arrange passengers to the back of the plane (!!) because there wasn't as much luggage as they expected . Pray Jayzuz but I no longer had to worry about being responsible for a crash into the Salish Sea due to poor packing and excessive luggage !

After settling into our whopping 15 minute flight (for the record, this translates to nearly 2 hours on a ferry AND a half hour to the Vancouver airport...this'd be the reason to FLY if possible) I got settled into a wonderful conversation with the sole flight attendant, who, oddly enough, happens to be a HUGE fan of San Antonio and Texans in general. Stories were traded and both of us have enough suggestions for things to do and places to see to last several more trips. I consider it A Sign LOL

Mercifully enough (the last , Post Olympic trip was quite a shocker) the Vancouver Airport remains much the same as last time. Sans the beer however as I am no longer allowed to DO that . Saved me locating one of those invisible lavs at the last minute so as far as I'm concerned it's a Win Win anyhow .

I settled in with my borrowed laptop and got caught up with friends and, with The Fires (!) The gentleman seated beside me in the waiting lounge was headed to the same destination. His profession is dealing with fires and he hath been summoned......to......YUP.   Apparently my current destination is having some serious issues with shifting winds, smoke etc etc.....I looked it up and it's really not looking very good. This may well be a short trip (!!) We shall see...........regardless I am so far removed already from anything remotely considered 'normal' , in even my vocabulary, that it doesn't matter. These people KNOW how to evacuate and, at the very worst, I have 50 lbs less of stuff !!

So, here I AM. Inaugural twice monthly 'commute' of 8 hours and 1400 miles nearly complete. I've always loved flying, anywhere, as it is the one place that there are absolutely NO demands on your time. Sleep, read, write (he he) ..Knit (better odds of you winning the lotto on this one...just sayin') ......whatever. It's YOUR time. Totally. I for one am looking forward to exploring the possibilities therein and open to suggestions as well (other than knitting of course ;)

Time for final leg of this journey......into the (literal) fires apparently and into what quite possibly will be my new 'Home' for three quarters of my life at the moment.

A beat up pickup and several more hours of travel await me.

That's what she said for now.

Light

K