Refection on Traveling Great Distances-Embarking July 24

I was watching the musical "1776" before we left and there is a scene between John Adams and his wife who is 300 miles away. The dialog is taken from the letters that they wrote to each other while he was in Philadelphia orchestrating the Declaration of Independence. He is disgusted with the lack of movement toward declaring the separation of the colonies from England. Abigail says, "You are only 300 miles away. If you leave tonight you can be here in 8 days". I have thought about that scene and how fortunate we are. Our airplane journey took 3 hours from Phoenix to Vancouver...three hours for over a thousand miles! I am in awe of how far we have come and how it is so common to get on a plane and travel great distances.

Pictures from the first in Vancouver include arriving and a picture of the wonderful hanging pots of flowers and an amazing "steam clock" that plays chimes and tunes on each quarter hour. We are staying at the Delta Vancouver Suites on Hastings Street.  Just a quick walk to our place of where our ship leaves. Weather is warm and my long-sleeved shirt is perfect. Purchased a vest and a couple of t-shirts for the trip...my warm coat and vest are laying on the bed at home...AUGH!

Airport Update!

We made it on the plane! Cudos and a pay raise to US Airways employee Melanie ...our newest hero! Counting our blessings of helpful people!

Reflections on Taking a Trip

We made it!  On ship and ready to sail...

We are leaving on a trip of our lifetime this AM. We have planned it and research it and finally booked it the first of June. It's an anniversary trip...a celebration of 40 years of togetherness that is coming 3 years late. Alaska calls; we are packed; and, the boarding passes need to be printed. But wait! the passes are for a totally different flight!! AUGH! Will they hold the ship? I don't think so...5 hours later after talking with travel agency, travel insurance, credit card company and the airlines...all are pointing fingers at others saying they can switch flight plans and waive the fee. Long story short?....no one can do anything...we are stuck and are rolling the dice to see if we can fly standby on the flight that we originally had thought we were scheduled on...Leaving this AM at O-dawn thirty to see if the Fates are kind...

Lessons learned: 1) Don't trust any agent to make your reservation for you. 2) Double and triple check your dates long before you go to print your passes, and 3) Being nasty only makes you feel worse and doesn't change the situation, and finally 4) a sense of humor is priceless but revenge would be sweeter...;D

Being patient and pleasant didn't change anything but after 4 hours of everyone pointing fingers (Oh yes..yes we did...we went up the supervisor chain with "Do you have the authority to change this flight and waive the penalties? ), it got to the point where we were laughing at the canned dialog from the agents..."No, I am sorry I do not have the authority to do that. Yes, I will connect you to my supervisor...No, I am sorry that can only be done by....(Here you can insert any of the following: Airline agent, booking agent, credit card agent, insurance agent).

So off we go...hoping that we can get shuttle to drive to the airport to catch the flight that connects to the ship that leaves the harbor that cruises Alaska on the 43rd anniversary celebration that Bob and Darlene built...:-D

REflections on Waiting....

From Wind Erosion Multimedia Archive by Clayton Esterson.

 I continue to learn the importance of waiting...the importance of letting time and life sort out complexities, challenges and impossibilities. I am learning that if I follow the advice to "Be still and know that I am God." that I have a clearer sense of direction and purpose. Otherwise, I kick against the pricks and it seems that I am flailing and making a lot of noise but going nowhere. The thing that brought this to mind was this amazing dust/rain storm (called a monsoon here in AZ, but that really isn't the right name...NOTE: they tried to change it to the correct name several years ago with all the weathermen/women calling it by its correct name, but we are creatures of habit and it remains a monsoon.) that we had of late. You could see the wall of dust, the wind picked up, our small trees were bending almost horizontal and then the rain hit...Sheets of water filling the pool, overflowing into dry washes and cascading down the mountain. Washes ran and every living thing took cover to witness the power of nature. Twenty minutes later is was gone and all the angst of whether we would survive was gone. During the storm, minor problems: chairs flying across the yard, electricity out, dirt and debris in the pool...but safety in our home. I waited out the storm...am thinking that that is probably a good lesson for me to remember in the storms of my life..."Be still and know that I am God." Ok...I get the message!