Mind Full of Travels!

This past couple of weeks has been extremely eventful. I haven't had time to sit and write about what has been happening. Now that I am at the airport awaiting the first leg of my next journey, I have a little bit of time to catch up and relax and report.

From Reno I returned to Michigan for a couple of days. During this time I stayed at a decent hotel, visited my brother, and attempted to relax (which I tend to have a very difficult time with). From there I flew to Baltimore for a night. I stayed at the Westin and loved it! It is a luxurious hotel which I would definitely stay at, but the price is a bit more than I would typically like to spend.

After my short night in Baltimore, I boarded the plane to London. I was actually heading to Endinburgh, but it was on a separate ticket. I was required to transfer terminals and recheck in. The gates at Terminal 1 were great! They are self gates at which you place your boarding pass on the scanner and look into the camera. If all checks out, the gate opens and you go through to security. Shoes, belts, and such are not required to be taken off at first, unless they feel there is need. They are particularly strict about the liquids though. Apparently they do not have as sensitive detectors as those in Terminal 3 as I went through the former with no problem, but managed to set off the others while all on me was the same.

This trip led me up to Edinburgh as stated previously, and then off to London for a night. Then I made my way off to Denver where I was to make contact with the group I would accompany on a glorious trip to Zimbabwe and South Africa! So much fun, so little time!

Connections and Coincidences

Spending a week in Las Vegas may sound like a great thing, and for the most part probably is, but I was not really feeling all that upbeat about it. I had just started an antibiotic regime that was causing me to feel a lot less than stellar, and as usual, I was there alone and was not too fond of the situation. All that being said, it was quite relaxing, and I did have a bit of fun as well. 

On my way to Las Vegas via Chicago and Seattle, I sat next to someone I had met previously at a Frequent Travelers University (FTU) in Tampa. If this rather interesting coincidence weren't enough for my connection based brain, upon my arrival, I sent an email to another person I met at FTU letting him know of the meeting

   

    "I just wanted to tell you that I am not coming to Houston! OK... now back to your regularly          

     scheduled program. :)  Actually, I am on my way to Las Vegas. I was thinking that it had been a long 

     time since we had spoken, so I felt l should send an email. Then during my trip, and interesting thing 

     happened: I ended up sitting next to someone from FTU:  ... Still getting your Southwest fix?"

A fairly innocuous email to which I received the following part of a reply: 

     "Well it really is a small world. I am replying to you on my southwest flight's WiFi en route to LAS 

       myself!"

So, I told him I wasn't going to Houston, where he lives, but instead was on my way to Las Vegas. I then proceeded to ask him about his propensity to fly Southwest. He read it on his way from Houston (obviously) to Las Vegas while flying Southwest! To the normal person, this really means nothing. However, to a person like me who loves to see all the connections that happen in life as connections, it was quite interesting. 

Of course we decided to meet up upon his arrival. We enjoyed a nice lunch at Beijing Noodle Restaurant inside Ceaser's Palace and then walked the strip to see what we could see. He also showed me the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens inside of Bellegio! Much fun to be had all around!

Horse display inside the Bellegio Conservatory. 

The Eiffel Tower. I really need to take a true "European" trip. 

Fountain show. Really needs to be on video!