RTW Redux ... 2023

I wasn’t anticipating that I would be writing in this journal while we are on our expedition voyage in the Canadian High Arctic. But something came up today that is directly related to RTW2023 … hence this footprint.

(The story of our High Arctic adventure is at this link … if you wish to check it out … https://findpenguins.com/8pccjefaitoru/trip/61f…)

Despite being in the middle of Baffin Bay — surrounded by sea ice and hundreds of miles away from land in every direction — the wi-fi signal onboard Quark’s Ultramarine was exceptionally good today. Thus, when the “purchase return airfare for RTW2023” notification popped up, I decided to try my luck.

The United Airlines app opened right away when I clicked on it. In short order, I had a list of flights with award availability. Insignia is scheduled to arrive on the morning of 12 July for an overnight in San Francisco prior to disembarking world cruisers on the 13th. Award rates were better on the 12th versus the 13th, SO we have decided to leave a day early.

We now have a 2:39p flight booked to DEN on 12 July. I have to wait a few days to select seats, but that’s OK. The aircraft is wide open … getting the E+ seats we paid for won’t be an issue.Читать далее

We beat the snow to Denver. But then, we knew that would be the case today since the white stuff is not expected to fall until later tonight.

The question that remains unanswered is “how much snow will we get at DEN by the time we wake up tomorrow?” The airport is east of Denver, which is not supposed to get too much snow, and west of the area where there are blizzard warnings posted by the weather service. I guess we’ll just have to wait to find out if we get dumped on here or if we get by unscathed.

In the meantime, here’s the quick story of our day.

We picked up the rental car around 11:00a … a one-way rental that was about half the cost of taking Uber … a very good deal. With the last minute chores completed, we got on the road at 1:30p. OK, OK … so it was actually 1:33p! We pulled up to the Westin @ DEN around 3:00p and were checked in within a few short minutes.

Our room is just as we requested … on a high floor … quiet (meaning it’s away from elevators and vending machines) … and not-connected to another room. Perfect. Located in the East Tower, we have a view of the “peaks” of the terminal … designed to mimic the peaks of the Rocky Mountains.

After settling in, we headed back out to return the rental car to Avis. That accomplished, we took the shuttle back to the airport and walked the short distance to the hotel, stopping to enjoy some of the holiday cheer on the plaza that connects the terminal to the Westin.

I had mentioned in a previous footprint that the bonus for being at an airport hotel was that we were able to move our flight from tomorrow afternoon to tomorrow morning. Well, there was one other bonus. We got to have dinner with our friends Sonia & Boris. Since we are “sans-wheels,” they drove out to us and we enjoyed a very nice meal at Ted’s Montana Grill. Thanks for making the trek, Sonia & Boris … we’ll see you on Insignia on 15 January.

And with that, it’s time to end today’s story and get ready for a good night’s sleep. Yes, it’s early … but we have an early wake up call awaiting us.Читать далее