The alarm clock sprang to life at 3.00 am.
I was waiting for it. I woke every half an hour to check that I wasn’t going to miss the call. I shut my eyes for another 10 minutes then resigned myself to the inevitable. I had to get up.
Of course it was pitch dark outside and the temperature had dropped to the low 40’s.
I turned on the heater, checked the email and then went through the final stages of packing…. Each bag must not be more than 50 lb, so it’s a matter of trying to gauge the balance of the bag weights. It’s great exercise early in the morning. Pack, lift, check. And then check again.
I spend my life checking things like, schedules, air tickets, contracts. I really think it was easier being a Mum of millions…!!
I tried to bump the bags down the stairs with as little sound as possible. Bump bump, bump. Drop that bag in the lobby where some of my fellow tutors were already waiting. Run up the stairs again and repeat the performance twice more.
The hotel breakfast was being prepared… I’m now aware that those darn sausages and leathery eggs sit there for ages until the 6.00 am contingency arrive…I wasn’t even 4.00 am and they are going to sit there till 6.00. am or longer.
I scrounged a piece of bread and a sausage and was surprised at how good it tasted washed down with my coffee. To the amusement of my friends I actually made a chicken roll from left overs at dinner last night just in case I didn’t get to eat. There are limited meals on planes here in the USA and with uncertain plane schedules you never know if you have to wait or run. I don’t want to fade away from lack of sustenance.

All I can say in relation to travel, is that you need to be flexible and relaxed in the event of the unexpected.,
As I write this I’m winging my way to Chicago. So far I’ve had the excitement of traveling on  5 shuttles, lugged my luggage up and down 10 sets of stairs. Had to re-pack a bag and stuff a handbag into an impossible space in my computer bag because the over officious airline worker decide that my 2 bags and a handbag, (small in comparison to most)  was going to take up more space than some of my fellow travelers whopping carry on bags.
I’ve managed to send emails using wireless internet in 4 different environments and now I have the earphones on listening to a little country and contemplating eating my rather squashed left overs from last night.
The view of the desert far below is spectacular punctuated by banks of mushroom shaped clouds that float by us slowly leaving only their grey shadows on the ground.