Arrived at Almosta Ranch, Arizona

Well I'm sitting here in bed at Almosta Ranch, Scottsdale Arizona. Left home at 9 pm last  night to drive to Comox airport.  I didn't want to leave this morning and risk missing my plane.  I went to sleep in the car at 10:30 pm and set my alarm to get up at 4:15 am to be in the airport for 4:30, 2 hours before my flight as instructed.  Hey guys, your airport doesn't even open till 5 am.  So I go in and nobody is working yet.  I went to the thing that looks like an ATM to print my boarding passes. I still had to go to a clerk for the baggage tag.  Next I wait for the coffee shop to open.   I don't drink coffee but want a bottle of water to mix my anti-anxiety herbal tinctures in to (I don't fly well). Turns out she opens in the secured area first so I go through the security check with my laptop, camera, passport, little glass vials of herbal tinctures (please don't make me throw them out). No problems. Finally I get my water and wait to board the plane, a 737.  I prebooked a seat just behind the wing (least turbulence) and by the window.  I add my herbs to my water and drink half of them, I'll sip the rest as we fly.  I stow my bag and start working on my crossword puzzles.

As the plane takes off I have to close my eyes and lean back in the seat, anything else feels worse.  When we got to the Rockies there were breaks in the clouds.  Lots of snow and rocks and looking out the window felt better.  Looking down the aisle briefly wasn't as claustrophobic as last time I flew but I had an aisle seat then and no herbs.  The landing was okay, didn't like it but it was okay, just a little ear pain.

Arrived Calgary 9:30 to depart to Phoenix at 10:30.  I go through the airport, for about 15 minutes and no I wasn't lost.  Another trip through security, this time for US customs, no problem. Another long hike and I find the gate, it's getting close to 10:00 already. I proceed to the gate to find out they moved to another gate.  I find that gate and am handed a $10 lunch voucher, apparently there's a 2 hour delay.  Now I get to hike all the way back to security and the same distance again the other way to find the food court.  A bar, a hamburger joint and a Tim Horton's.  But wait, behind that glass there's juice and wraps and salads and for some reason only people travelling somewhere else that have gone through some other security point can get in there.  What a pain.  I end up with a salad, 2 nut and seed bars and a juice from the bar.  At 10:00 am BC and Arizona time I phone Al Dunning to tell him my flight has been delayed and is arriving at 3pm.  No answer.  I connect to the internet and retreive my mail but can't send any.  At 12:00 I hike back to find they've changed gates again.  It occurs to me the herbs are really working well.

Once again I board a 737, same seat but this one's not quite as far back relative to the wing and I can't see out nearly as well.  Take off was better.  I leaned back in my seat before we accelerated and took off.  Another bottle with herbs and it's a reasonably enjoyable flight.  Clouds a lot of the way but I got to see the Grand Canyon area and part of Utah and Arizona.  The landing was painful but it was nice and sunny.   Of course it's only 2:00 pm because they meant we'd land at 3:00 pm Alberta time.

Now I'm supposed to meet my ride, where?  Thank goodness for internet.  I open my emails and find it's the North side.  Now I don't know if they got my message or not so I wait out there from 2:30 to 4:30 just in case.  I keep trying the number but still no answer.  By about 5:30 I'm thinking maybe I should rent a car to drive out before it gets dark.  I follow the signs and discover I have to take a shuttle to the car rental place. It's about 15 minutes away.  I inquire about a car and find out that for one day it will be about $100 with insurance.   You've got to be kidding.  There's a bit of a discount if  I take it all week but not much.  The nice man tells me that the Super Shuttle back at the airport will probably take me where I want to go for under $50, so back on the bus to terminal 4.  It takes me a few minutes to realize the bus has dropped me on a different level, find the elevators and find the shuttle.  Yes they will drive me, not only that but the nice man even stopped at a grocery store for me on the way.  Then the guy in the Safeway store used his points card to save me $15 off my groceries so I gave the shuttle driver a $10 tip.

So I arrived here at about 8:00 pm.  Got to see some of Phoenix and Scottsdale on the way. Lots of Cactus landscaping and Adobe.  It's dark now and I don't know much except this should have been a very stressful day and I feel like it was an ordinary day.  Can you say tincture of oats, passionflower and lemon balm for anxiety along with St Johns Wort and Kava for muscle spasms.

Stay tuned for pictures and updates.