I woke up just before my alarm went off at 5:00. Had a shower and made a nice cup of tea before packing up. I was already pretty organized and it didn’t take long – I have another bag of stuff I won’t need at home – Colin’s going to take it back to Italy with him.

After a bit to eat and a final check we were on our way as planned at 7:00 – we took the BMW rather than the mini so that Mo could come – she’s not allowed in the mini. We left way earlier than we needed to but I’d rather be early and wait than be rushing about at the last minute.

It rained off and on but traffic wasn’t too bad – a couple of spots where it bogged down for a bit, but all in all a decent drive. Colin parked in the parkade so he could come in with me – said goodbye to Mo in the car.

I took my stuff up to an agent to make sure the large bag was ok – it’s just the same as when I came over but you never know. I had to take it to ‘excess baggage’ to check but she gave me a sticker for it and both of my boarding passes so it was all good.

After that all I had to do was go through security so Colin and I had to say goodbye as he’s not allowed through. There was so much to say but rather than get all red eyed and blotchy faced crying we just had a nice good hug and said ‘see you next year’.

Security was a bit fun – something I had on made the machine beep so I got the whole pat down routine – that’s never happened before but eventually she realized I didn’t have an AR47 down my pant leg.

I was way early for my flight so sat in the lounge area reading. The walk to my departure gate took a few minutes, then we boarded almost on time. The first flight was pretty good – all the way from Heathrow to Calgary, and it wasn’t full so there was an empty seat between my (at the window) and another lady in the aisle seat.

I watched a couple of movies and some tv shows, and ate the chicken dinner they served – it wasn’t terrible. We passed over both Iceland and Greenland along the way, although it was cloudy a good part of the time so visibility was spotty.

We landed a bit ahead of schedule in Calgary – clearing customs was easy. We each had to fill out a one-page info sheet and scanned it and our passports into a little machine. You then answer a few questions and as long as you’re not stupid answering the last one you get waved through. I was laughing as I left and one of the security guards asked why – I pointed out that the final question was ‘are you bringing any cannabis or cannabis products into Canada’. I thought that was quite funny – they don’t care about harmless little things like guns or anything – just the dreaded cannabis.

The second flight was short and on time, and Dominic picked me up and took me home to the babies. Once again Sly played the shy guy and fled out the window, but Merlin was a bit braver. Walking around with the comb in my hand helped, and Merlin was leading me on his ‘tour’ in no time. Sly took a bit longer, but was purring and cuddling by bed-time.

Another fantastic, awesome trip – can’t wait to sort through all of the photos. Colin, Mo and I travel so well together – we make a great team. My adventures would be considerably different if I’d never met them. We’re already planning our next trip, which will start in early March in Italy, then on to….

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