The next adventure begins. This time our crazy 70 days around the world – starting in Vancouver, British Columbia, cruising to and around Japan, 5 days in Kyoto, then 10 days in Chiang Mai, because, well, we needed to fill a 10 day hole, and well, why not go to Chiang Mai? From there, we fly to Cape Town, S. Africa (yes, Cape Town!) to board the Swan Hellenic Diana for a trans-Atlantic crossing to Antarctica ending in Ushuaia, Argentina where we disembark and fly home, completing our circumnavigation of the globe.

Crazy, right? But should prove to be oh so fun.

We begin with Lisa driving us through pouring rain to the airport (which we appreciate so very much!), after the CF of the United check-in (holy cow, you should have seen the line!), we manage to make it to the overcrowded gate area, where we stand (no seats available) for 30+ minutes before finally getting the boarding call. From there, though, everything goes quite smoothly – including the free wine on our first flight. We gave the flight attendant what she called an “excellent flashback” to pre-COVID days by trying to use free drink vouchers my mom had provided. They don’t accept them any longer, but she was so tickled she gave me my wine gratis anyway. Thank you very much Mom and sweet FA!

Our 2 hour layover in Denver goes by quickly in the lounge, then the flight to Vancouver is seamless; we ate in the lounge but had pre-ordered a salad with a side of chicken for this flight, so we had plenty of food – especially late in the evening since it was midnight on our body clocks. All went well, and we even landed early (which was a blessing because for weeks we have been following this flight and it average anywhere from 1 to 2.5 hours late every night!). We had pre-submitted our entry documents, so we hit the immigration line, first at the electronic kiosk, which was totally simple and fast, and first out at the baggage carousel. Another first – literally – our bags were the first off the flight, so we were out the door and walking to the airport hotel in under 30 minutes from landing. Absolutely amazing.

We chose to pay the big bucks and stay at the hotel right in the terminal, figuring quite correctly that we would be exhausted by the time we landed and wanting to hit the hotel ASAP without a shuttle ride off property. Turns out it was well worth the money. The hotel was excellent, room huge and comfy and we were there, settled, had our last glass of wine and beer and in bed within an hour and a half of leaving the plane. Record setting!

Tomorrow – our Vancouver explorations begin.