Okay….a full day of travel awaits…I woke up at 0430, brushed my teeth, and turned my car on. While my car warmed up I brewed a cup of coffee and enjoyed the fire in the living room one last time before leaving for the airport. The drive to the airport was simple and easy, and took me less than ten minutes to get to there. Once I got there I was able to park the car in a National rental car spot right next to the terminal and walk in and put the keys through the drop box. It took me about 15 minutes to check in, that is only because the attendant did not have any knowledge of free checked bags for military. Security took less than five minutes, and once I got to the gate, right next to security, I went to the restroom and took off all of my extra warming layers I had not already packed in my check bag. I over heated on the flight from Texas to Canada with my long johns on and did not want to make that mistake again.
The travel day was starting off well! I got on the first flight to Edmonton, Alberta and had an empty seat next to me! The lounge in Edmonton was next to terminal 50 was very relaxing and looked very nice. The food was pretty sad with old stale cookies and hot pancakes, sausage, and eggs that tasted like what I was getting served when I go to the field for training in the Marine Corps. Don’t get me wrong, I ate like 10 sausages but they tasted below average. They had a sign at the bar that stated Alberta alcohol laws prohibit drinks to be served until 10 am and a maximum of four drinks were allowed. Good thing my flight to Calgary was only 30 minutes!
Sooooo….I get to the Chinook lounge in Calgary and I was there for over three hours getting happy on free Canadian Whisky and typing away on my blog. I flew in on gate C so I could only assume, being ignorant for foreign travel in so long, I would fly out the same terminal I flew in on. I knew my gate was E but I did not know…it sent me through customs… I timed leaving the Chinook Lounge so I could walk straight to my plane and board…
Surprise! I was randomly pulled, as I was the only person there, and I went through the most thorough search I have ever been through in an airport, plus I had to go through customs after security. My AMEX gives me a reimbursable Global Entry account, which I did not sign up for, but if I did would have expedited me through customs. This was the first time I had to do the airport shuffle or sprint in my case. I heard my name to check in over the intercom then about two minutes later, I had a final boarding call…I was literally sprinting to the point of exhaustion, and I am in ironman shape, or at least I thought I was!!! The ladies said, “cutting it pretty close aren’t we…” Now I know the Calgary terminals and customs and so do you if you didn’t already know. I could have also tried some different lounges in the international area but oh well; the Chinook lounge was still great! Just FYI, the Chinook lounge and my gate were almost the greatest distance between them for me to go inside the Calgary airport. Relived I got on board, because I thought I’d be stuck in Canada…I sat on the DAMN plane for an hour before we took off…
When we landed in Houston the pilot announced it was 4 C and everyone to include myself laughed because of how much warmer it was, even though everyone in Houston thought is was frigid. I found my Jeep and headed home with great anticipation to put a pin in my travels. Until my next adventure…
