Bye-Bye Bali! Its Been a Blast! ☀️

Neither of us slept very well. I was restless and couldn't seem to get comfy. The old boy was coughing a fair bit!

We were down for breakfast by 9:00am. Raymond and Danielle had already eaten but joined us to share some time before we departed.

We also had a nice visit with our host, Mara, before we left. They all saw us off when the driver picked us up. He said the trip to the airport was 35 minutes " without traffic" ... so ... we were delighted to arrive in just that amount of time.

We lined up in the priority line and we ushered ahead of those flying economy. We were gifted with access to the lounge. I was starving so I was grateful for complimentary food and drink. I had no idea we could even take a shower with lounge access!!

We filled our tummies from the buffet and then realized our flight was delayed by about 30 minutes! We only have a two hour lay over in Taipei, so hopefully they can make up the delay in the air! 🤞 If you are going to have a delay, the lounge is certainly a perfect place to be!

And, our first experience with Eva Air has been very impressive! We were sipping white wine even before our flight took off! And the food service was excellent!

I watched one whole movie and half of another. And then I had a good nap. In order to start combatting jet lag, Timeshifter is suggesting we stay awake for the 10 hour leg from Taipei to Vancouver! I'll do my best, but if we can lay down on this flight ... it would feel like a shame not to enjoy that luxurious option, right?

Our next 10 hour leg with Eva was comparable to my first leg with Air Canada to Bangkok! The tickets were so much less expensive for Eva Air that I wasn't sure what kind of service we would get! It was stellar ... all the way ... except for one hitch!

We had to collect our bags in Vancouver when we cleared customs and immigration, recheck them and get through security again. Eva is authorized to check them past the first point of entry in Canada. So, it's a bit confusing and we only had an hour to do it all, but ... we did it!

It is in moments like this that we are both grateful for the positive pole of my anxious mind! My attention to detail helped us eliminate a number of wrong turns! 👏👏

We have thoroughly enjoyed our "business class" experience!!! We kind of like loading in Zone 1! 😉

And, we're spending the night in Calgary! Our final leg will be on the Red Arrow tomorrow!

So, for tonight ... we're hoping to get some sleep. Bali is 15 hours ahead of us in Lethbridge and I slept more on the plane than would be optimal for minimizing jet lag. Ha ha ... its crazy to think I just said I slept MORE! When does that happen during more than 24 hours of traveling??

Good Night ... I'll jot down some closing thoughts tomorrow (or maybe in the middle of the night if I can't sleep!) 🥴

With grateful hearts to be back on Canadian soil,
❤️ k&j ❤️

P.S. As we were flying into Calgary, I was thinking about how "mountain free" our air travel has been this trip.

And then, we arrived in Calgary and were stuck on the tarmac because our gate was occupied by a plane that had not departed due to problems. The pilot came on to tell us that they "hope(d)" they could find us another gate within 15 minutes or so!

So close ... and yet ... so far!! 🥴Les mer