Thoughts on travel

Well, I finally arrived at the hotel tonight. I arrived at the airport in South Bend (Indiana) around 3:00. I got a ride from Debbie's parents, since the hood still hasn't arrived for our car yet—although it is supposed to arrive on Thursday. I went to check in and the auto check-in wouldn't let me. It said something about overbooked flight or missing connecting flight. Immediately visions of staying the night at the airport flash to my mind :(

Well, turns out that the weather—lots of thunderstorms—had backed up South Bend and Chicago. My flight to Ottawa from Chicago would be gone by the time I left South Bend. But, they put me on a later flight. Problem solved. The flight, which was supposed to leave at 4:08, ended up leaving at 5:30. When I got to O'Hare, the flight I was originally booked on was still in the gate, so I could have made it. Instead I sat in the airport for an extra 2 hours. No problem though, I just caught up on some blog reading.

The flight to Ottawa was pretty uneventful, but the guy next to me was reading a Dan Brown type novel. He glanced over at what I was reading—the Greek New Testament. He went back to his novel. Too bad! It could have gotten interesting :)

Because I had shipped books ahead of me, they sent me to customs. I sat there for a long time while they grilled some people in front of me. I was wondering what I would be in for when all of a sudden a new customs officer appears with two people in tow. Apparently they had tried to bring meat into the country without declaring it. From Iraq! Uh-oh! They're probably still there, or in jail.

When they got to me, the customs woman asked me why I was here, what I had shipped, why I had shipped it and then let me go. I offered to show her the book I had in my backpack: Ashkelon 1, but she wasn't interested. I told her I was proud of it and that it was just published. She reluctantly agreed to let me show it to her, but she didn't seem impressed by its 7 pounds of mass. Oh well.

One advantage of catching the later flight was that I ran into the guys from TBN and we shared a cab. Since it was around 11:00 at night, I didn't see much of the city, but it looks nice. Hopefully I can walk around some while I am here.

When I got to my room and opened my suitcase, I noticed that they had rummaged through it. I had a brand new bottle of contact lens solution in a side pouch. The unzipped the pouch and moved it. It was still sealed, or I bet I wouldn't have it anymore. They also took my toothpaste! I've never had that happen before. Oh will, it has been a long day with 8 hours in airports, so I think I will head for bed. The hotel has a workout room that I will use in the morning.