Day 9 - Flying, again....arg

So, I'm going to start this post now and finish it as my flight day continues given the opportunities, considering how my day has already started.

First off, I woke up at 4:28 am ON MY OWN - seriously, 2 minutes before the wake up call. You better bet that I snoozed for those two minutes. But seriously, how did I wake up that early on my own. Very bizarre.

I hustled to get ready and got down to the lobby after hugging Uncle Lenox's neck has he leaned out his door in his Gator pjs, at 5:01 am and saw the tail lights of the shuttle start to pull away. Aunt Dottie helped get my suitcase down so we ran out side to catch them. The hotel radioed for them to stop and I managed to jump on board after a quick hug and thank you.

I got to the airport a little more than 2 hours before my flight, and it was a good thing. When I got to the check-in counter, they informed me that my name was similar enough to a name on the Wanted/Black List and they had to take my passport for approval. Kind of freaked out about handing my passport to an agent to take it to another part of the airport, I stood in a foreign country (yes, Canada counts for foreign) for a good 20 minutes. She came back and finished my processing and put me on my way, but that was the longest 20 minutes ever!

I moved along to a long customs line, but got a much nicer agent then when I arrived - friendly even. The line moved slow and I saw it grow and grow behind me. I was glad I made it on the 5am shuttle and beat the rush. After customs, I had to go through security, where they took the small lotion bottle Aunt Dottie gave me and sent me on my way.

I picked up Tim Hortons (of course) and called my family to warn them about the long customs line and to let my Aunt Edwina know about the name issue. Her full name is Sarah Edwina Kelley, so I thought she should know about the whole Wanted/BlackList thing.

I am preparing to board my flight, so I better take my tranquillizers as Paul calls them!

Flying - Day One

I arrived today via my least favorite mode of transport. While it's the most efficient and supposedly safest, I still hate to fly. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to take a direct flight from Chicago, IL to Calgary, Alberta, minimizing my air time.

Thanks to my wonderful doctor, I was able to take some anxiety medication, which worked perfectly and I was to stay calm during the 3-hour flight. After a tearful goodbye, I boarded a plane that I must say, was rather nice. Leather seats, plenty of room and a nice entertainment display on each seat back. I had a row to myself but had to give it up because my entertainment system was out of service. I moved to the seat directly behind my assigned seat and interesting enough, ended up sitting next to a man from Jacksonville, Florida. I watched "He's Just Not That Into You" from the selections of movies and TV shows provided. Coincidentally enough, I had just rented this movie from iTunes, but was able to spare my battery time by watching it on their screens. I was also able to catch about ten minutes of an episode of 30 Rock before the entertainment system was shut off for landing.

I arrived in Calgary right on time, and the first Canadian I spoke with couldn't have been more rude - the customs agent. I had my cell phone open to check the time and she spoke up, "if you aren't done with your phone get to the back of line otherwise give me your passport." Then she proceeded to grill me about my trip, how I was getting around, what I brought with me - even what I did for an occupation back in "Ohio." She was an all around not pleasant person and the whole time I just wanted to tell her that her make up looked like horrible and she wasn't a good portrayal of Canadians. Similarly, the woman at the currency exchange booth was just as not pleasant and another woman holding a Canadian passport cut me off at the luggage area. By the time I made it out to where I would board my shuttle, I was thinking - well jeeze, and they say Americans are rude.

The shuttle driver couldn't have been more of a total opposite from every other Canadian I had met. First thing he did was open a tin an offer me a freshly baked cookie courtesy of the hotel. Fantastic cookies I might add. We had a nice chat to the hotel as I was his only passenger. I told him about how much I enjoy Canadian baseball player Joey Votto and how I secretly hope he's on vacation out here while he's on the DL. He laughed and said, well it is a small world, you never know. I'm certainly keeping my eyes peeled for the Reds first baseman.

After settling down in my hotel, digging out the surprise (amazing) card from Paul that he secretly hid in my suitcase, I went down to the hotel restaurant for some dinner and to meet up with the rest of the Kelley family. I entered the mostly empty restaurant and one of the waiters told me I could sit anywhere and I joked that I wanted the big table in the back all to myself. He joked back that he would have to charge me for all those seats. I politely took a nice quiet table for two by the windows with a view of the front door to watch for my family to come back from their dinner. I ordered a baked spaghetti and about half way into it, my family came strolling in. They all came over - Uncle Lenox, Uncle Jerome, Aunt Dottie Sue, Aunt Edwina, Aunt Robin, my cousins Dana, Zeke, Cailyn and some family friends of theirs the Schulers. The waiter that intially joked with me about the big table, laughed when he saw them all sitting around me at this little table and said "alright, already, you can have the big table!" Dinner was delicious because they covered the spaghetti with cheddar cheese instead of a mozzerella, so I felt back at home with Skyline.

Dana, Aunt Dottie, Aunt Edwina and join me while I finish my dinner.

We all sat around and caught up for a bit - telling stories of our trips, previous trips and some ammo for Uncle Jerome. Something about a Miss Kitty that I will have to bring up at the next opportunity. After dinner, we headed back to our rooms to relax, journal for a bit and get ready for our welcome meeting at 8pm (10 EST). I'm sure we'll be ready for bed after that meeting and ready to set out for day two tomorrow morning!