A rocky start into our adventure

Sorry - This post is out of sequence now, as I accidentally delete it. I am in the process of recovering it. Switching between a sometimes working wifi, a sometimes working French cell network and going between laptop and iPad, one runs into new obstacles all the time.  

Pictures to follow soon - again.

This morning, I am leaving for good: 12 months on the road, I mean ocean. Many things have been prepared, as you can imagine. The to-do-list just did not get any shorter, despite my best efforts, and time is running out. In the end, I mostly worry about the things you forgot to do.

First pebble:
My iPhone woke me as I had set the timer, but the alarm clock on my bedside did not go off. After my shower, the screen on my iPhone on my bedside was still on. It should have been off. No time to investigate.
At 7:30 Kim and I dashed to the dentist office to make sure the payments for her braces would be taken care off. One thing I forgot to do last week.
Sparkles is inside. Quick, close the cat door. He knows things are going on that he does not like. Why would his crate be in the hallway otherwise with all those bags?

Second pebble:
Kim is going into the garage to get her bike to go to school. I follow her to say my last good bye for 3 months. As I am in the door, my iPhone rings with Alex, a sailing buddy, on the line. He had purchased the old anchor from me yesterday afternoon (one thing I did get done just in time). "Rolf. You called!" - "Eh. No." - "Yes you did. Twice. Once I heard you talking in the back ground.". By this time I realized that my iPhone was really warm. Something is wrong with it. It must have switched itself back on in my pocked and redialled the last number. "Shit! (No, not you, Alex). Kim hold Sparkles! Quick. To late. " My hands full and distracted by the call and the iPhone spookiness, Sparkles seized the moment and escaped between my legs, dashing past Kim to safety under the motor home in the front yard. After that, he made a quick dash to the neighbour's garden. Chasing him now would just drive him up a tree or further away. Just over 1 hour until I have to leave for the ferry and still so many things to do. "Bye Kim - kiss - I got to run. Sorry. No time."

Think Rolf, think fast. Chasing Sparkles will not do any good. The chances that he goes back in through the cat door, once I have opened it, are really, really slim. He just ate, and the only thing that drives this very fat cat is food. I have one more chance, though, so I call our neighbours, Tom and Doreen. "Doreen, Sparklesescaped. Can you try to coax him into your place? He is not happy, as the crate is waiting for him, and that usually means injections at the vet." Doreen is just too happy to try. I go off and drop some last minute items off at the office and at the mail box, buy some things for the trip, get my first coffee of the day (The coffee maker has been prepared for long absence already). As I come back, there is no Sparkles in our place, but the message light is blinking. This must be good, and it is. Sparkles is at Tom and Doreen's place. As I come in, he dashes to the sliding door desperately wanting to get out into the garden. He is NOT a happy camper. I rejoice as I feel that we people are still a tiny bit smarter than our pets, or so we hope. 

Completely resetting the iPhone seems to clear the problem with it. My time is running out. Recharging the drained batteries takes its good time. Other things to do. Shut off water, set thermostats, etc. etc. I am running around like a chicken with the head chopped off.

Third pebble:

Kevin picks me up 5-to-10 to take me to the ferry. On the drive I get voice message. Glad I charged the phone. It is Lufthansa. "Your flight is delayed until 17:30." That is 1 1/2 hours later. I could take a later ferry now, but we are almost there. 

Oh yeah! By the way, I had planned to take the bus from down town Victoria to Vancouver airport. Luckily, I went yesterday to get a ticket at their office. All was fine until I mentioned my extra pieces of luggage, of which one would be a pet crate. "No sir. Not with us. Cannot do that." Plan B: Ferry and an expensive taxi ride on the other side.

Forth pebble:

At the airport, all is going well. I tell the lady" "I am doing well. I know we are delayed, but at least I am flying." The lady at the counter replies. "You could say that. Let me see where you are going. Oh you are lucky, you are only going to Frankfurt. Anywhere else and you would be stuck. We are lucky this plane made it out ofFrankfurt. Big strike there. Most flights are cancelled." I check in my luggage and I know that I have to go over to the Lufthansa ticket counter to pay the extra charge for the cat crate handling. Big line up as many people are trying to re-route through Paris, London, you name it, to catch a connecting flight. Many are from Irak, Russia, Poland, Italy. You can imagine how quickly that line moves, with everybody very tense. Molasses in a deep freeze.

Vancouver airport line up of rebooking travelers 

 Luckily, after about 45 minutes,  somebody from Lufthansa spots the cat crate and whisks me to the front of the line to take my credit card.

Now I am sitting in the lounge and I will have a glass of red wine in a minute, as soon as this post has been sent. 

Cheers.

P.S. I just hope the whole trip will not be an obstacle course like this one today. I am holding my breath, though. Crossing my finger. Drücke meine Daumen. Whatever helps. Maybe, I even let Silke hang a charm from the bimini over the steering wheel. You might want to ask Silke in a quiet moment about that "removed charm obstacle course" of mine.

PPS: (from Silke) My lucky charm has long been packed and will get a prominent place on the boat. I really did not want to experience a repeat of the "removed charm obstacle course" from some years ago, so packing my lucky charm prior to leaving has been on my todo list for the last 3 months...Looks like we are ready to go after all. :-)

At Frankfurt train station

PPPS: Despite the information that luggage service will be spotty in Frankfurt due to the strike, Sparkles and the luggage arrived quickly.  The weather is absolutely great here. Sunshine and about 20 degrees. We managed to get the high speed train just after 2 pm. Lucks like I was able to leave the rocky path behind.