SLC AIRPORT and BACK ON BOARD

I just can not believe how slick Salt Lake City airport is compared to Miami. I drove in the rental car and dropped it off with the people at Alamo processing me through in 2 to 3 minutes. Walked across the road to the flight check in, used the automatic check in device to scan my passport and got waved forward to baggage check in where the guy was waiting with my boarding passes and the luggage label, another 3 minutes.

Relieved of my luggage I ambled down to security to find again I was prechecked and avoided the scrum removing shoes/belts/jackets/laptops etc. My carryon went through the scanner I went through the usual arch and reunited with my bag and a minute laterI was free to enjoy some airport retail therapy. I remembered from last year that the WIFI was free, so I fired up the lappie and was soon deep in my email inbox.

OK if I return next year I have to find a way of avoiding Miami.

Spotted this hanging from the roof though. Weird?

My knees are saying well before you book a return to the ski slopes can we talk about this. But I reminded them of the 80 year old we met still skiing on 210 GS race skis and the old farts group all 80+ that meet regularly to hoon about at Alta. Yes I am creaky and it is not getting any easier but to manage to cruise down the blues and easier blacks on a sunny day in the rockies is such a delight. Also I am lucky to find a poker game that is laidback and not too cut throat. Eric runs a great home game and varies things to stop it being boring.

So somehow I think I will be back in Salt Lake City next February, maybe a week or two earlier than this year. The memory of standing at 11,000 feet in the Rockies on a sunny day with a perfectly groomed piste falling away in front of my feet is so vivid, so sharp and so amazingly life enhancing that I have to see if I can repeat it. To say nothing of carving my way at speed down the hill with the snow hissing as it spumes off the tails of my skis.

Well I collected Dizzy Sox from cat hell

and I have been on maximum guilt trip ever since. He has been welded to my side and as good as gold. I can hear cat telepathy bouncing off my brain as he beams messages of cat love and pleas not to be sent back. Although it looks like they did a good job at PAAWS he is obviously happy to be back on board.

Marker buoy misplaced. Anyone looking for the port side channel marker at the entrance to Falmouth harbor will find it in the car park behind the gas station.

23 days with out water. We need water onboard Elephants Child. We do have a watermaker but I like to keep things simple so fill up our tanks when ever we can. I knew there was a water shortage in Antigua but when I called the fuel dock for water and diesel they tell me it is 23 days since they have had water. From the taps in the marina. I wonder what the mega yachts are doing?

After calling around it turned out that Catamaran Club had water and we got our tanks filled. So I did not have to go to all the hassle of recommissioning the watermaker which would have been a real PITA.

All the supermarkets have HUGE stocks of water in.