The Return To Cowtown

With my Philadelphia experiment deemed a complete success, today was pretty much a travel day. My flight was scheduled for a 6:45 pm departure which meant there was time time for a couple more NERF adventures as well as a much needed load of laundry. Beyond that it was a pretty quiet day.

Gage’s brother, Marshall, was kind enough to drive to me to the airport and by 4:30 pm I had worked my way through the ever-pleasant experience of airport security and was relaxing at the appropriate gate. I managed to sit there for a whole five minutes before boredom set in. With not much to do, airport boredom inevitably leads to buying overpriced food. Today was no exception. On the upside, the burrito I ended up getting wasn’t entirely terrible. Dare I say it was almost not bad.

Much like the flights to Philadelphia, the return trip required a brief layover in Toronto. And again, much like the flights to Philadelphia, the return flights were on schedule and entirely uneventful. Pretty much the two qualities that I look for in a flight.

Clearing customs in Toronto was simple enough although the agent I spoke with seemed a little puzzled that I went to Philadelphia for a week with only one piece of carry-on baggage. I attempted to explain the situation but he didn’t really seem to care and allowed me to pass. But not before asking one final question (actually, one question and then a follow-up). The question was a bit unexpected so I was a bit surprised when he asked, “Have you been to Africa?” I said, “Uh … yes!” He said, “In the past month?” I said, “No.” He smiled and waved me by. Not sure what that was all about but it was at least a little interesting. You know it’s a slow day when that conversation is deemed interesting.

My connecting flight from Toronto left about 15 minutes late due to some late boarding passengers but we still arrived in Calgary on schedule – shortly after midnight. From there it was a short, but expensive, taxi ride to the Lakeview Signature Inn. John, my Warm Showers host, is the General Manager there and arranged a room for me. And the room was great. One might even say huge. One might even say it was bigger than my former apartment in Toronto. Side note: To say that John and Susan have been incredibly generous and accommodating hosts wouldn’t even begin to cover it.

I’m not entirely sure what my plan is for tomorrow but at some point I’ll have to connect with John and Susan as they still have my bike and gear. Other than that, we’ll see what the day brings.