September 24, 2011. A day I’ve been waiting for a long time! Today is the day, the first day of the trip. Time to put together all the planning.
The day started in PG cold and wet. A great day to escape to the desert. All my gear was packed and ready to go. My ride showed up, and off we went to the airport.
With international travel, the common rule is to show up 2 hours early. So I did. Of course, Prince George doesn’t have the volume of other airports so there wasn’t much of a line at the Westjet counter and the bags were quickly checked in.
Next was security. I always worry at security. These people can prevent me from getting on the plane! That would, needless to say, ruin my holiday! So, jacket off, pockets emptied, belt off and camera bags in the bin with the Macbook taken out for the sniffer. Through the detector I went and off went the alarm! Opps! Sorry, I didn’t take out my phone! Take two!
With that embarrassment out of the way, it was time to check the x-ray machine. The young lady operating the machine, noticed the camera gear. It actually looked like a photograph, the detail was so good. She asked what I had for gear and I showed her what each lens was. We continued to have a great conversation on photography for about 5 minutes! Meanwhile, there was no line-up to get through security! It was that quiet at the airport.
So, onto the plane, and off we go. The flight was enjoyable as usual with Westjet and we arrived in Vegas 30 minutes early.
Next was US Customs.
Our plane arrived at the same time as a Virgin Atlantic 747 from London so customs was filled with Canadians and Brits. It made for some great conversation. The line moved along quickly and within 30 minutes, I was in the USA!
Next was the shuttle bus to the car rental centre. Interesting concept. Move the rentals away from the main terminals and reduce traffic. An hour later, I was in my 2012 Chevrolet Cruze.
Next was a quick dash to the motel to get checked in then off to the Geocaching event at the In-N-Out Burger. First time there for me and Kevin, who I met up with. Good food, but long, long waits. As for the event, there was a good turnout and we heard some desert caching stories.
After the event, Kevin and I introduced a local to Munzee then took off to the welcome sign. Busy place on this Saturday night. There was busload after busload of teenage school kids dressed to the nines taking pictures. I think it was homecoming weekend. We couldn’t get near the front, but we did get some of the backside for a challenge. We also found a physical cache and a virtual. There is suppose to be a Munzee on the sign, but we couldn’t find it. However, we did find Elvis!
To end the night, I took a trip up the strip. What a crazy stretch of road! I was too busy driving to look around, however while stuck in one of many traffic jams, I caught the start of the fountain show at the Bellagio! I’ll be back to that! Well, enough for now. Tomorrow is desert day. The ET highway! How many will I go for. Stay tuned to this blog to find out!