We have arrived! - Day One/Two

OK, here it is! The post you have all be anxiously anticipating!!

We have arrived!!!

Well, fine, we arrived like 3 1/2 days ago, but give us a break...we were tired!!

I think I'll break this down into a couple of posts...one for each day...make it a little easier to write and to follow. :)

DAY ONE/TWO: FRIDAY & SATURDAY

After managing to fit absolutely everything I had with me into my two suitcases we dragged them out to the car along with my laptop bag, purse, cat carrier and a small bag containing the one tiny little plant I decided to take along with me. Tiffaney offered to drive so that she and Nicole could see me off at the airport.

I had to be there 90 minutes before the flight because you can't book your seat online when you travel with your pet. No worries, this left time for dinner before the flight....well, almost! After check-in we headed over to the White Spot so I could enjoy my one last Triple-O burger. We arrived at the restaurant at pretty much exactly 6:30 which we thought would be plenty of time for an airport restaurant....I had to be through security by 7:25. Crazy us, we assumed an airport restaurant would expedite service since 99% of their patrons are probably about to catch a flight. Well, we should know better than to assume!!

After waiting more than 5 minutes just get served, we waited over another 20 minutes for our food to arrive. I had to choke down my burger and barely made it through my fries. Not quite the situation I wanted before having to get on a plane for an hour and a half. By the time I got through security, my plane was already boarding....I just squeaked myself in at the end of pre-boarding.

The upside to this was that I didn't have time for a really teary goodbye. We had some hugs, and definitely a few tears, but I had to suck them back (I almost lost it in front of the first security guy) so I could get through security with my cat in my arms. Unfortunately it also meant that I didn't even have time to turn around and wave a final goodbye. BYE GIRLS!!!

The flight to Calgary was OK. Poor little Stoopy was not impressed about being in his cage on the floor, but it's not a super long flight and the turbulence wasn't too bad, so all in all he was OK. We lucked out with an empty middle seat so I had some room for my feet, but they don't let you move the carrier off the floor which is sort of stupid...especially since the woman in the aisle seat would have been fine with it.

Our layover in Calgary was only supposed to be about 45 mins, but ended up being a little over an hour. Then they were still loading baggage even after we were all on the plane so we were well over half an hour late leaving. The turbulence then started before we were even off the ground. By far, the worst turbulence I've ever encountered!! Up and down, back and forth. I was pretty proud that I didn't get sick...in fact I was only even slightly nauseous...maybe because I was more worried about the poor cat than I was about myself. He let out a few pretty serious meows, but once the turbulence let up he calmed as best he could. He did manage to get a claw out the side of the cage and into my toe at one point, but I figured that it was only fair. :)

The landing in Halifax was quite pretty....lots of snowy trees and such!

Cosette was there to meet me. Poor girl had been waiting an extra half hour and was starting to wonder if my plane was ever going to show up! I'm sure glad she is a morning person and being up and at it for 7:00am is normal for her.

We stopped by her place to pick up Mark and their daughter Camille. We dropped Mark at work, then made our way over the bridge to my hotel. DBF had actually arrived at the hotel around 6:00am and had called Cosette to let her know that he and the dog were safe and sound.

He was so sound asleep when we got to the room that he didn't even hear us come clomping in with all of my crap! Mojo greeted me with a short growl followed by recognition and some major tail wagging. I set the cat up with his new litter box (thanks Cosette!) and some food and water, washed my face, brushed my teeth and climbed into bed next to DBF. Yaaiiieee for the king size bed and comfy duvet! Three hours later we awoke and he realized I was there. :)

We spent the day lounging around the room, exchanging Christmas prezzies and ordered room service. After dinner we decided to go to a movie...we ended up choosing Sweeny Todd, which turned out to be a lot gorier than Tim Burton movies usually are...but I still enjoyed the singing!

I wish I had taken a picture of the view that first day because it was absolutely perfect for our first day in Halifax. We look right out over Chocolate Lake...it's all frozen and snow covered and the sun was shining. Lovely!!