16 It must be the end, cause the envelopes are empty

Kodi had put a wake up call into the switch board the night before, for 7:15.  They were usually awake by then, but better safe than sorry. Toos, once again was nearly finished with her packing.  She used the last of her insulin and gave Kodi the little insulated case back. Kodi packed as well , and they emptied the safe.  

They each picked at a little of the overly sweet carrot cake, and placed the remainder in the trash.

They had each kept a bottle of water, to empty and then take through security at the airport, and refill for the plane, so put them in their personal bags.

After showering and dressing, Kodi checked the account on the TV, and yep…the early check in fee was again applied for the night before. No kiosk check out was going to be possible, so she had to go down and stand in that damn line again. 

She was determined to get a printed receipt that was correct, before she left.

They both did a final check of cupboards, and shelves, and headed downstairs at 8:45.  Kodi would join the checkout line and Toos would head to the Nook again, since it was on the way to the ride share area.  It took a while to go through the bill with the clerk. By the time she finished the corrections, it was a jumble of plus and minus 30s, and of course the tax was applied and removed numerous times as well. Kodi was befuddled and confused, but thought things looked acceptable in the end, and she took a printed copy.  She was afraid to look at it again once she got home, haha.  She was honest about her frustrations in the survey they sent afterwards, but who knows if anyone ever reads that stuff.

Toos was at a table with two bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches when she got to Nook. There were also two coffees on the table.  A nice man in the line behind her had offered to help her with them.  All Kodi had to do was take hers back to the counter to add some cream.  

They hoped to get an Uber or Lyft to the airport and leave by 10 a.m. so didn’t linger over the meal.

The back entrance was crazy busy.  It was a slight relief to discover the 5 people standing to one side, were traveling together though.  An issue that Kodi has with these services is that it is recommended you check the license plate number on the vehicle before entering.  The car pulls towards you, but the plate is on the back.  Toos stood 10 feet to her left, to try to note the plate number, when so many similar cars were arriving.   

They ordered an  Uber, and it showed they’d have an arrival in 10 minutes, then 5, then 10.  Suddenly, another vehicle type and time appeared on the screen. It was 12 minutes away, then 5, then 2. It took another 5 after that, and they had become concerned.  When they left at 10:25, the group of 5 were stressed about their car not arriving.  It must have been a very busy day for Uber.

There driver was friendly, and careful, and the car was clean…and he dropped the Dames With Canes right at the WestJet Departure doors.  The Ride cost them  ( Toos this time) $22 including tip.  They checked in 2 hours before departure, and were told that there would be a wait for wheelchair assistance, because they had no-one available in Terminal 3, so someone would have to come over from Terminal 1.   There was about a 20 minute wait, and then a young man showed up.  He walked over and said “Oh, there’s two of you. “  He mentioned that he hadn’t worked in Terminal 3 before.  He asked them on the long walk, if they needed to use a restroom, or if they wanted to stop to purchase any food. They declined, and thanked him, as they appreciated the offer.  

They became a little alarmed when he put them in two different lines as they went through security, because they had watched out for each other’s bags previously.  Toos’ carry on got pulled out, after she was through the line, and he was on the other side putting Kodi’s luggage up.  A security official was asking who owned Toos’ bag, but since she was way beyond the scanning machine,  no one saw or heard her responding .   Kodi tried to get their helper to move her up to where Toos was and to answer the Security officer.  That got done, and it was discovered Toos had a sun block cream that was too large in the bag. ( …the same bottle she took through security in Toronto when they left. 😼)  

Meanwhile Kodi’s carry on bag and purse were left unattended,   on the end of the OTHER security belt, and she was panicking as she kept losing sight of them, as people went through, blocking her view.  They were both relieved when that ordeal was behind them.  

The young man said he couldn’t believe how far they had to go. ( Their gate as usual, was one of the last ones in the very long terminal.)  He said he hoped he’d never be asked to fill in over there again in the future .  Then, by the time they reached the gate, he said if he was ever transferred to Terminal 3 permanently, he’d quit the job. Wow!

They boarded a few minutes late, but from past flights, Kodi knew they could make up the time going East .  Once they boarded, one of the gals assisted them as they pushed the carry ons up into the overhead bin.  They had exactly the same seats as flying down.  The scheduled departure time of the flight was 1:20 p.m.  Everyone was seated by then.  Kodi, being next to the window saw the luggage carts drive up next to the plane at exactly that time.  Ten minutes later, the announcement was made that there had been a delay with loading luggage, but that they hoped to be  leaving shortly.  

As anyone who has flown regularly knows, planes have a timed window for takeoff.   If they miss it, they go to the back of the queue.  By the time they pushed back and began to taxi, the jet was about 7th in line for the runway.

As always, Kodi felt a real pang of regret as she saw the Strip and the city disappear below her.

The flight was fairly smooth, and no one around them was coughing or sneezing…they felt lucky to have stayed healthy ( no matter what their original issues were) on the trip. Now to just get past that critical incubation period for Covid once they got home. ( They did!)

They each had a protein bar, but had decided to purchase a small meal on this return flight. There was a very short period of turbulence that delayed the cart service for a few minutes.  Once the crew came down, they offered tea, coffee, juice etc.  Kodi heard a man across the aisle ask about getting a bottle of wine.  The flight attendant said that unfortunately, no alcohol or food had been loaded for the flight. No explanation was given.  Hmmm, you might know ...the first time Kodi planned to purchase anything in years, LOL.

Even with the delay in Vegas they were only an hour late.  They knew that Toos’ daughter, who was picking them up would follow the flight, so would know the landing time.   They were held  away from the gate for a few minutes because passengers from a large Icelandair plane were on their way to customs ahead of them.  

They were last off the plane, and as the male flight attendant walked by them twice, checking seats, he ignored them and they hauled the bags down by themselves.  There was one other lady walking with a cane who was accompanied by her husband.  The three got to the jetway and were told that wheelchairs weren’t there yet, so would they please walk up into the terminal.  They both struggled on the incline, and the lady behind them lost her balance and bounced against the glass window, with her husband trying to keep her upright.  They all made it to the top of the ramp, and leaned against the wall of the terminal. A girl showed up with one chair and said they were short of them..so could two of them walk?  No they couldn’t…which is why they had booked the service when buying the tickets.  She radioed someone and they found two more chairs for them.  The husband pushed his wife’s chair, and the original young lady pushed Kodi and Toos. 

They made it as far as the elevator going down to the customs hall.  They were parked against a wall and about 20 feet away from 5 other people in wheelchairs .  Across the hall on the other side of moving sidewalk ( which wasn’t working) there were another 6 people in chairs .  The group next to them were yelling at the one other employee there,  who was on the other side with the group.  “We’ve been here an hour. We have far to go. What’s taking so long?”

Once again the girl with them asked them to take the elevator down by themselves and go through customs on their own , because waiting for the ‘golf cart’ might take an hour more of waiting, since they were the last ones to get to area they were all sitting .  

Toos was feeling tempted, because she was worried about her daughter waiting outside.  Kodi knew exactly where they were in the airport and knew it would definitely take them over an hour anyway, walking with their canes and pulling their cases, to get to the ground transportation, with a lot of standing in line in the process.  She refused, because of that.    A couple of minutes later the girl relented and took them downstairs, one at a time, in the elevator, with the man and his wife .  They were taken through Customs, and when they got to the baggage area, the girl asked if Kodi could now please walk, using a luggage cart as a walker, while she pushed Toos.  Kodi  gave in and trailed behind her until they got out to the outside doors. She turned and hurried away, leaving Kodi still catching up, and with her tip still in her sweaty hand…

They texted Ingrid their location, and an hour later were back at her home, where Tom was waiting for Kodi, and after they transferred her luggage to their car, they were eating toast in their kitchen a half hour after that.

This trip might have seemed pretty boring for most people, but the pace worked for two Dames With Canes, and Kodi enjoyed re-connecting with a long time but seldom seen friend.  She had a few amazing moments, that will be lasting memories.

She was rather dismayed and disappointed about the times she botched things up, and now realizes that she probably can’t trust herself to travel solo, or needs to be willing to accept that more things will go wrong, and she’d have to learn to cope with that.

Vegas or perhaps now anywhere she travels will never be as easy as it was even a few years ago, so there’s that.  Canes and pains are part of her life now.

Some friends and family members will never understand why, when she’s asked about any upcoming vacation dreams, Las Vegas is the first and often only thing that springs to her mind. But a lot of people on this board know why. There’s nowhere like it.  

If you’ve hung in this long, thanks so much for reading the ramblings of an old lady, currently using a Cane.

“I do hope to see these places again some day…” says Kodi, wistfully.