The day started with good byes to the cats, taxi pickup at 6, panic check-in (see previous post) and breakfast in the SAS lounge.

The flight to Amsterdam was quite uneventful, apparently we were lucky since we went in one of SAS new Airbus A320 Neo.

Well at Schiphol I got a brisk walk from end to end to catch my next flight (see another previous post). Boarding was quite chaotic. Passengers trying to pre-board, a queingsystem that shouldn’t be used and incorrect announcements. First group 1-3 should board, I had group 0. When I asked if business class were to board now he asked if I traveled in business class and looked at my uniform. Looks can be decieving.

To travel in biz is a whole other experience. Robert, the guy responsible for my section of the plane, asked if he pronounced my name correctly (even though he never used it again). Hot towels before the three course meal served on white linen. Really comfy seat which makes the 8 hour flight feel like a long movie-session at home. And to get a couple of hours of sleep, just lower the seat to a flat bed, pull over a blanket and take a nap.

They had some issues with withdrawing the bridge so we were about an hour late from Amsterdam. During these troubles the captain where quite good informing us about the progress, the only boring part was that it got repeated in both french and dutch, pausing the movie on the screen…

The delay didn’t really matter since the flight time was about an hour shorter than what it said on my ticket so I had roughly the same amount of time to get through to my next flight in Toronto.

Landed in Toronto and started the journey through USA Customs and border patrol. It went really smooth until I had to sit in a waiting room for 26 minutes while they went through my luggage in customs. No cellphones allowed. Luckily I had a couple of magazines with me. Next I got to the CBP-officer and that line went really slow. Didn’t have the address for the Summit Bechtel Reserve so he had to Google it.

When I got through I went down to the area where my gate were, felt like a small forgotten part of the airport, even though quite fresh. Met a girl from the Netherlands that also were heading to Charlotte and the WSJ.

The plane was late to gate but finally got to board this rather small plane, a bit more cramped than biz ? One of the few bad times to sit in the first rows is when all the toilets are in the back.

When we landed in Charlotte we had to wait 20 minutes on the ground before we could get to an open gate. Inside the terminal me and the dutch girl bought a sallad for the busride and then went to collect the luggage.

Out of the terminal and on to the bus it has been so much fuss about. No checking of a list, no verifying tickets, just load your bag and jump on. 4,5 hours to the campsite.

Got to the Ruby Welcome center, time to check in, started queing 23:20, got in at 01:35, out in the other side 15 minutes later. Another line for the bus out on the campsite took 30 minutes. Found my tent, took a shower and then went to bed around 3:20.

At 4:30, the next person dropped in. Let’s get back to sleep.

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