My Birthday Trip Part 1

 

 

We caught a ride to the Bellingham airport, a place I had never been to before. Apparently 85% of fliers from my home town fly out of this American city at one time or another during any given year. I am now a statistic. Here is my son and travelling companion for the next five days. We are sort of dressed for warm weather, in spite of the cold rain, because we are heading south.

 

Another first for me is flying Alaska Airlines. Better than Can Jet but not as good as West Jet. I say that because there was more legroom in this configuration, even though the planes are both 737's. We got really lucky when we asked for and got 'exit row' seats. Lots of legroom and an omen for good things to come.

 

 

Here is me, a very happy traveller, looking forward to an adventure.

 

We arrived at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas, just after noon, to 20 C weather and a light overcast. The balmy air helped get us in a vacation mood. This is a very modern and highly efficient airport. I was very impressed by the organisation and the vastness of the terminal.

 

The thing about Vegas is that there is gambling EVERYWHERE! These lovely robbers of time and money grace the beautiful airport concourse. One can gamble immediately upon arrival, or the last minute before departure. We rushed past these temptresses and headed for the nearest exit, escaping with our vacation funds intact.

 

After some excellent directions from a friendly information lady, we caught the shuttle bus that takes us to the huge car rental facility about seven minutes away. The bus driver handles all the luggage and is very friendly.  At the car rental, we get a surprise, but more about that below.

 

We thread our way out from under the monster car garage and find the freeway out of town. We see the big resort casinos from the highway and try to get them behind us. We will catch up to some of those sights at the end of the trip. We are trying to get to Zion Park before the light fades.

 

 

 

But what is this? It does not look like a Ford Escape, the vehicle we had contracted to rent. When we were handing our paperwork to the agent in the car garage, he was too lazy to go get our Ford so he asked us if the vehicle right in front of us was OK. It was a Cadillac SRX sport utility vehicle. Pure class and luxury beyond anything we had ever driven, and it was a free up-grade.

 

Andrew can eat bananas and drive a Cadillac at the same time. Wow!

 

 

This is our transportation for the next five days. I think it is called "having your cake and eating it too."

 

So the last big icon of wealth and power on the Vegas strip was soon in our rear view mirror and we were on our way to the land of deserts and canyons. We couldn't get there soon enough. With 80 MPH speed limits, it did not take long either.

 

But what is that in the distance? We had been tracking the weather forecasts for days, and what they were saying was true. We were heading into nasty weather. We did have a 'plan B' but it was not sitting well with us. We were going to have play this one by ear.

Stay tuned.