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USA 2021
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USA 2021

Enobong's Jefferson drop-off Read more
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  • Trip start
    December 18, 2021
    Ron's OdysseyUSA 2021Traveler

    Off to PH Airport

    December 18, 2021 in Nigeria ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    Left home at about 11am with two Bolt taxis. Took Rumuokrushi, Express, Eliozu route to the airport. Road was free as we had avoided all the congested route. Mama was with us as she was continuing her annual vacation in Lagos with Affiong & Kokomma after spending a month with me in Port Harcourt. The airline officials stressed us, they refused to accept the frozen fish Mama carried in a sealed plastic container instead asking for it to be transported in a cooler. Fortunately we were able to reach out to Innocent who was going back with one of the Bolt taxi to the house as he accompanied the vehicle with most of our luggage to the airport. He was able to buy a cooler along the road and return back to the airport yet still the airline officials refused said they asked for a cooler bag and not a cooler box 🙄. Fortunately we had asked Innocent and the taxi to wait, so we gave him the fish to take back home and keep in the freezer.Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyUSA 2021Traveler

    Landed in Lagos

    December 18, 2021 in Nigeria ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C

    Ibom Air took off on time, they are well known for keeping to their departure time. We arrived Lagos an hour later got a Sienna from the airport to our hotel. Check in was smooth although the 1st room I was given had a damp smell so I changed to another.Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyUSA 2021Traveler

    Covid Test

    December 19, 2021 in Nigeria ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    I had to wake up early this Morning to go for the Covid test. USA recently changed their covid test validity requirement to 24hrs before the flight. Got to Medbury Covid Test Centre at Issac John Street, Ikeja GRA at 8:11am. The centre caters for drive through clients as well. There were 4 cars in the queue as well as 5 persons seated and waiting for their test. Forms were distributed, I paid cash N50,400 per person.

    It was my first test, the lady taking the sample pushed the probe deep into my nostril which was unpleasant. By 8:55 we were through with sample collection and left the centre for a quick dash to Ikeja mall to buy a power bank and breakfast before returning to the hotel    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyUSA 2021Traveler

    At Murtala Muhammed International Airpor

    December 19, 2021 in Nigeria ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    The predeparture COVID result was sent between 2pm and 4pm. Out of the 3 of us travelling together one person tested positive for COVID-19, this threw the whole travelling group into confusion, even though she showed no signs of the infection. We had to decide on whether to postpone our flights to allow for covid recovery or two of us continue while the 3rd person joins us after her recovery. We went for the latter option.

    Check in at the airport was smooth and we were done within an hour    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyUSA 2021Traveler

    On board

    December 19, 2021 in Nigeria ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    What a stressful evening. Having to leave one person behind was a sad moment which marred the trip.

  • Ron's OdysseyUSA 2021Traveler

    Washington Dulles Airport

    December 20, 2021 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 -4 °C

    Arrived Washington shortly at 6:16am. Flight was very bumpy and turbulent over Mali and Mauritania probably due to the warm Sahara currents and over the Atlantic close of the Eastern coast of America.

    Flight from Lagos to Washington took 12hrs, I couldn't sleep much and only watched 2 movies, most of the time I was glued on the flight map and thinking how slow the plane was travelling at 800+km/hrs compared to Startrek enterprise starship warp 5 😁

    The immigration queue at Dulles Airport was longer for citizens than for visitors. By the time we were through with boarder control our suitcases were already out on the carrousel. An improvement I noticed is that you no longer need to fill a landing card anymore. The border control /immigration officer asks all the relevant questions (currency travelled with, food etc) and keys in the responses directly into the computer eliminating the need for a pre-filled card

    Connecting flight to Philadelphia was postponed by 2hrs which wasn't too bad as the apartment refused to grant us early checkin    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyUSA 2021Traveler

    1st Morning in Philadelphia

    December 21, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C

    Eventually arrived Philadelphia around 4:30pm. Got a Bolt XL from the airport to our rented apartment. Apartment is lovely just like the pictures we viewed online. It is located in a busy part of Philly.

    Enobong forgot her back pack in the taxi that brought us down from the airport. I contacted him and he confirmed the bag and wanted us to pay $50 to get it back, bloody pirate trying to shaft us. I negotiated $20. Had to withdraw $40 from an ATM at Walmart to pay him. Unfortunately he didn't have a $10 change to give me so I ended up giving him $20.

    Got Enobong's laptop at BestBuy, theshop assistant sold us the wrong laptop and instead of computing and refunding the difference for the correct laptop he refunded the entire money which will now takes weeks to get back into my Card account, I was so mad at him cause I had explained how to handle it, but he was in a hurry to complete the transaction and didn't listen to me. Now I am not sure of getting the money back before returning to Nigeria

    Bought a T-Mobile phone line along with a few miscellaneous items    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyUSA 2021Traveler

    COVID-19 Vaccination & Booster

    December 22, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 4 °C

    Quite an eventful day. Went to Walmart Pharmacy for Enobong's COVID-19 vaccination which we had booked the previous day. I asked if I could take a booster shot and they agreed eventhough I hadn't booked. They requested for my insurance and I told them I am visiting and don't reside in America, they asked for proof of my previous 2 doses of the vaccine fortunately I had my Nigeria COVID-19 vaccination card with me, which they checked to confirm I could take a booster.

    Strange thing I noticed was that after whipping the injection site clean with methylated spirit they applied a plaster to the site and inject through it. Never seen that done before.

    After waiting the mandatory post injection 15mins we got a Lyft to Philadelphia airport to try and change Uddy's ticket. The nice lady at the counter said they don't ammend tickets at the check in counter and this can only be done by calling reservation. So I called United Airlines reservation line after several attempts an agent attended to me and after spending an hour on the line with several holds she was able to return the funds to the original ticket and instructed I contact the original booking agent to rebook the ticket.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyUSA 2021Traveler

    Stay at home

    December 23, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 1 °C

    My friend and former colleague visited, bringing the things I had ordered on Amazon and sent to his house. He later took us to an African restaurant where we were able to order some good quantity of Egusi soup, Jollof Rice and Stew.

    Apart from this outing the rest of the day was spent in the apartment.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyUSA 2021Traveler

    Off to Washington D.C

    December 24, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C

    Had a tensed morning waiting for Uddy's PCR test result, thank God it came out Negative this time around. It had been a tough and expensive 4 days trying to rebook Uddy's ticket so she can join us in America as planned eventually everything turned out well.

    Had challenges picking up my rental car as the companies don't accept debit cards for out of town visitors. Now I have a reason to collect the credit card my bank has been chasing me to come for. The nice lady at the Enterprise car rental told us that the only place we can rent a car with a debit card is at the airport so I asked her to book one for us there and we took a LYFT down to Philadelphia International Airport. Got an electronic Tollpass for the car simplifying toll crossings. Was given a Nissan Maxima with inbuilt GPS and off we went to Washington D.C    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyUSA 2021Traveler

    Picking up Uddy

    December 25, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Left the hotel early with a LYFT got to the Dulles International Airport shortly after 5am. The United Airline counter was located on the upper floor above the baggage hall for International arrival. The UA staff I met at the additional services counter didn't know what to do and wasted time enquiring from other UA staff at the counter. Eventually he identified Uddy on the system and printed out a gate pass for me.

    The pickup process involves going through security checks as if you are about to board a flight and then taking a train to the required gate area in this case gate C3.

    On arriving at Gate C3 I met the ground staff receiving Uddy, she had her name on a tab, so directed me to go back to the main terminal and wait at Baggage claim 14.

    Finally at 6:45am Uddy appeared    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyUSA 2021Traveler

    Drive back to Philly

    December 25, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    After a quick stop over at the hotel we loaded up our stuff into the car and headed off to Mcdonald for a quick breakfast before finally commencing the drive back to Philadelphia at 9:23am. Trip was smooth, saw an accident when we entered into Philly, road was busy, seems people here don't stay home on Xmas day. Finally got home at 12noonRead more

  • Ron's OdysseyUSA 2021Traveler

    Xmas lunch with the Anetors

    December 25, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Had a wonderful Xmas day with the Anetors. The Nigerian food he ordered was sumptuous and on point. We had a lovely time reconnecting. Their place is in a lovely suburb 45mins away from Philadelphia city centre.

    Found paid parking 4 minutes walk from the apartment at $25/day    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyUSA 2021Traveler

    Tour of Jefferson University

    December 26, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    Visited Enobong's new school, Jefferson University this afternoon with Enobong and Uddy. The campus is quite large and spread out. We were able to identify her faculty and residence along with other key buildings in the university. Spent about an hour walking around the campus. School was currently not in session so we had the freedom and space to walk around without bumping into other people. Took a ton of pics.Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyUSA 2021Traveler

    King of Prussia Mall

    December 26, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    From Jefferson University we headed of to King of Prussia mall located 20miles Northwest of Philadelphia. It is said to be the 3rd largest shopping mall in America with over 450 retailers.

    The girls spent a long time in H&M while I just chilled in the hallway taking in the sights and soundRead more

  • Ron's OdysseyUSA 2021Traveler

    Post Office to pickup visit

    December 27, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 1 °C

    Enobong was excited to visit the Post office this morning, her new iPhone 13 Pro had arrived over the holidays only for the unhelpful Post office lady to tell us she can't search for the package now, took down my phone number saying she would call us when she locates it. She later called us back after an hour to come pick up the parcel.Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyUSA 2021Traveler

    Returning the Rental Car

    December 27, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C

    Just made it on time 11.49am to return the rental car. The GPS took me in a circle for a while until I decided to breakout from its grip and it then recomputed.

    Took the SEPTA train from across Terminal D at 12:08am to Central Philadelphia stopping at Surboban Station. Exited the station and took bus 38 to the Art museumRead more

  • Ron's OdysseyUSA 2021Traveler

    Philadelphia Museum of Art

    December 27, 2021 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 2 °C

    Very cold afternoon with drops of snow flurries falling as we walked up the stairs towards the Philadelphia Museum of Arts. The museum was Chartered in 1876 and the building completed I 1928 and has a collection of 240,000 objects spread over 3 floors comprising of Europian, American and Asian art works.Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyUSA 2021Traveler

    Taking the train to Philadelphia Mills

    December 28, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    Bought three weekly passes on SEPTA Key cards at Gérard Station, which allows us board trains and buses throughout the week. Took the Frankford - Market line (Blue) to 15th Street as Google map had indicated the Philadelphia Mills Mall was located there but alas it was wrong so we had to retrace our steps and record the train to Frankford Transportation center and then bus 84 to our final destination. Trip took over an hour.Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyUSA 2021Traveler

    Stocking up on Grocery

    December 29, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Picked up some bowls of Egusi soup, Goat meat Peppersoup and Jollof Rice at SA Cafe and then headed off to a Walmart Supercenter to buy additional food to stock up the fridge with.

  • Ron's OdysseyUSA 2021Traveler

    BigBus / City Sightseeing bus tour

    December 30, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    Took the train from Girard Station a 4min walk from the apartment to 5th St independence stop which is the 1st stop of the BigBus tour.

    I bought a CityPass ticket for 3 attractions last night, which allows you to take 3 attractions within 9days of taking the first attraction. Due to the low season the two bus tour companies share rides and allow customers to switch from one bus to the other.

    The entire tour takes about 1hr 15mins and riders can stop at any of the 28 stops and hop onto the next bust in 30mins to continue their tour.

    We did the complete route first before stopping at China Town during the 2nd circuit    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyUSA 2021Traveler

    China Town Philadelphia

    December 30, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Stopped over at China Town during the bus tour. The girls bought some keyholders at Asian Craft, had Ice Tea at Vivi bubble tea before we all had lunch at a Chinese restaurant.

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