Vegas Weekend Phase 1: Landed

Update: Hospital Music started streaming at midnight on MatthewGood.org, and concert dates were announced on the FOX this morning as well – Happy Birthday Matt!. My sister sent me a text that I received here in Salt Lake – she was trying to win tickets by answering a trivia question: What high school did Matthew Good attend? She knew, but wasn’t the right caller. Ahh radio station contests.

My live blog will begin later tonight, hopefully I’ll have a couple posts up before then… maybe… the pool is calling. For Leg 1 of my trip, read below…

Update: Now in Vegas, 12:04pm (PS – McCarran rocks for having free wifi)

I fell asleep watching Harry Potter last night, I woke up around midnight and realized it was still on, checked my phone to make sure my alarm would wake me up at 3:30, and went back to sleep. When my sister picked me up there were no other cars on the road. We were post-bar crowd and pre-rush hour so we were able to get from North Surrey to the border in about 20 minutes.

Pulling up to the Pacific Highway truck crossing the border guard asked why I was going away, when I told her she lit up, “Oh cool!” then let us pass. About 20 more minutes down the I-5 we arrived at the Bellingham International Airport. I’ve been to my fair share of tiny airports but I have to say I think this one is the tiniest. About 10 feet from the entry doors are the ticket counters. Once I had my boarding passes I pivoted 180 degrees and walked about another 10 paces to the Security Area. Now I’m not sure if it was just the luck of the draw or the fact that I was using my BC Driver’s License as ID but I was chosen for one of their extra special Security Checks. I have to say though, that they were SUPER nice (and gentle) the woman who patted me down asked if I wanted a private screening, to which I replied “uh, will I be taking anything off?”, she said “no” and laughed. The two men checking my carry on bags were sifting through my unmentionables and swabbing every piece of electronics I had with me: a laptop, camera, cell phone, 2 ipods, and a microphone. I had thought ahead and placed my toothpaste and hair gel in ziploc bags, which they appreciated until they came across my mascara, lip gloss and foundation cream. It wasn’t a big deal, I was just told that “next time” I should include these items in the pouch as well and to make sure not to bring peanut butter or ranch dressing either.

I turned the corner, walked another 15 paces and was in the waiting area that had two signs, “Gate 1” and “Gate 2”. The woman who handed me my boarding pass earlier now donned a safety vest and was directing ground traffic. I thought to myself, for such a small mickey mouse airport they sure had some nice brand new leather seats in the waiting area, which I appreciated greatly. Completely ignoring the fact that a child passenger was running up and down the ramp on the other side of the security door that lead to the runway.

Once walking out on the tarmac and piling on to a tiny little puddle jumper all those little pet peeves about flying came back. I haven’t been on a flight since visiting John in Iowa, but I can still appreciate the classics a) man who has tray table down until take off and when finally prompted to set it back up he gets annoyed b) man with laptop out until take off, same scenario c) woman who will not get off cell phone even though we’re about to leave and it’s about 5:50am – who could she be talking to? d) those little tiny bottles of water that I could swallow whole.

Honestly, I don’t get annoyed easily, I *love* to fly and after about 10 minutes of being airborne I put on some tunes and passed right out. I love taking off and landing, all the parts in between I usually just snooze right through.

I’m now on the ground in Salt Lake City – which doesn’t have wireless in their airport so I’ll be publishing this from McCarran Int’l in Las Vegas. This entire place smells like Cinnabon, I’ve seen about 5 cowboys and the run rising over the mountains looks amazing. This is just a minor blip in terms of my trip – the real fun begins once I get to Las Vegas, find my way to the hotel, find my way out to Matt’s tonight and enjoy the get together.

I have to go find my gate – and get something to eat other than Cinnabon, will check back in later.