I’m at the airport in Regina, past security, and waiting on my very delayed first leg of the journey home. It’s been a very fully week! Here are just some of the highlights.

Friday, September 7th (travel day)

-I am super amused that my cabbie showed up a whole 20 minutes early and charged me for making him wait two minutes! I remembered from when I flew back to Mazatlán to have coffee pre-security — pricy, but yum. I killed the time before the flight talking to a lovely Mexican-American couple heading home to Houston.

-Mérida to CDMX was a non-event. Aeromexico, like Volaris, has arm and leg room! They also serve very good quality apple juice!

-due to a complete lack of signage, CDMX was a nightmare. It took me 45 minutes just to get from terminal two to one, and then I had long lines at check-in (couldn’t do it online because I needed to do immigration paperwork), security, and immigration. Had a 2.75-hour layover and needed every minute of it. The GastroPub by my gate deserves a shout-out for getting me in and out with a hot meal in just over 20 minutes.

-I passed out on the flight from CDMX to Toronto. No other way to put it. LOL I’ve never slept that hard on a plane! Air Canada gave all the “real” food to the first-class people on the flight, so thankfully I was not one of the very hangry masses stuck with just overpriced chocolate bars and chips! They only had lukewarm drinks (no ice!).

-immigration at Lester Pearson was complete chaos and out of control — the kind of welcome I’d expect at a “third world” airport. I was not made to feel welcomed back into my own country and that’s all I have to say about that. A longish-layover was again just barely enough and I had to do fast food for dinner. I have to give a shoutout to the gate attendant who took one look at me and moved mountains to change my ticket for a window seat.

-Toronto to Regina was like flying in a sardine can. I dozed. The very large (as in muscly) Greek man sitting next to me was so kind and helped with my luggage.

-my friends Charles and Caroline were waiting for me when I arrived on time. We made a very Canadian stop in Moose Jaw at Tim Horton’s in Moose Jaw before arriving home at about 1AM or so. We pulled into Haven so I could see it was okay, but the entrance was completely overgrown with (mowed) weeds. A hot shower, and then I passed out in the extremely cosy and warm nest Caroline made up for me in my room.

Saturday, September 8th

-despite passing out at 2AM, I was up at 8:30. I lounged to 9:30 and then went to hang out with the cats for a few hours. As expected, Charles had left half a pot of coffee for me (as he would every day!). <3

-Caroline and I went to the thrift store and a garage sale in Willow Bunch. Charles had noticed a suitcase for sale so I bought it for $10 and there was a carry-on and personal-sized item inside.

-I then went to check out Haven. My “cabin” was filthy and inhabited by bats who said hello. Miranda was in fair shape and showed signs of a roof leak. I decided to make the break and put her up for sale rather than let her rot.

-dinner was venison stew — a clear sign that I was home!

Sunday, September 9th

-I had my coffee and breakfast and then went straight to Haven, where I put in a hard day of work. I mucked out the cabin, gathered some trash, and then started to make my “going to Mexico” pile, filling my new large suitcase with the most pressing items.

-neighbours K&T came for dinner and Caroline made a turkey with all the trimmings — so spoiled!

Monday, September 10th

-back to Haven I went to make a second take to Mexico pile, clean up, sort out more trash, and put together a giant pile for the thrift store.

-Caroline found me another suitcase, but I determined it was way too big — I needed one bigger than the one I’d bought but smaller than hers.

-I successfully replaced the battery in my laptop — a huge stress off my shoulders. I can’t believe how well my computer is working again!

Tuesday, September 11th

-Caroline and I headed to Moose Jaw. There, I found at Walmart an ugly suitcase in the in-between size I needed. It was $60, but very good quality so it didn’t hurt to get it. Walmart also had, on sale, all the food items I wanted.

-I treated Caroline to lunch and was thrilled she picked my favourite chain restaurant, Montana’s! We both had ribs. Yum!

-I managed to find a few treasures at Dollar Tree, including a small rug for my kitchen — imagine that!

-I picked up a new nose stud at my  piercer’s, but she wasn’t available to put it in. I somehow managed it easily when we got home — I seem to have mastered the “twist.” It’s nice to see that bright blue when I look down as I was getting sick of the emerald green!

-for dinner, I tried a goose burger! Very tasty!

Wednesday, September 12th

-my final day at Haven. I emptied Miranda of anything that can’t be sold with her, putting the last bit of my “treasures” in weather-proof bins in the cabin. Anything left at the property that can be plugged in or could “spoil” is for sale or has been given away, but I’m keeping things like hand tools, my ladder, my wheelbarrow, etc. as they are all in a weather-proof building.

-dinner was again from the land I love so much — garlic elk sausage and spicy Italian goose sausage. Caroline feeds us so well! I haven’t even shared all the yummy things she fed me!

Thursday, September 13th

-this was my “vacation” day. I slept in very late and went to the thrift store with Caroline and T to drop off a few things and came home with a few small treasures. They’d “shopped” in my pile, so I was comfortable with Caroline shelling out the $4 for my things since I’d avoided taking out cash for my trip and this was the only place that doesn’t take debit!

Friday, September 14th (first travel leg home)

-we didn’t have to leave until early afternoon, so I had another lazy morning as I was facing a nearly 30-hour trip home.

-I packed. I’d done a few dry runs and got 99% of what I wanted to bring home into two largeish suitcases, a carry-on suitcase, and a carry-on bag. Might as well take advantage of my luggage allowance!

-fortified by Caroline’s chicken noodle soup for the second time this week (not a hardship!), I braved the COLD and loaded up the car with Charles, then off Caroline and I went around 1:30.

-we stopped in Moose Jaw to drop off my dead computer battery at Staples for recycling (shout-out to Caroline for making several calls to find out where I could bring it!).

-Caroline then had the brilliant idea that I should go to the Bulk Barn next door for airplane snacks!

-we continued on to Cabela’s in Regina, which is just before the airport, where I picked up two packages of seasoning to make sausage (one sweet Italian, one breakfast). Caroline suggested I do something I’d been thinking about — make “sausage” from just ground pork and spices and then shape it into patties. The Cabela’s spice mixes will be much easier than trying to source the ingredients in Mérida.

-we got to the airport at about four, where I learned that my flight was delayed about 1.5 hours! That pretty much guaranteed I won’t sleep tonight as I won’t have as long in Toronto, but the Regina airport is really not a bad place to be delayed — it’s quiet and there’s very good WiFi and outlets.

-Caroline stayed during the check-in process to make sure all was okay with my luggage. Despite having weighed it all with a scale that has never failed me, I was a bit overweight, but the attendant didn’t care. I’d been quoted $80 plus tax for my bags but only had to pay $60. Wow!

-the only food option for dinner was very pricey — $25 for a club sandwich, beer, and onion rings, with a tip! — but there was beer, it was cold, and the onion rings were worth a detour!

-security was a non-issue.

So that brings us to now, 7:45, my original departure time, and I’m post-security and reflecting on the last week. It all boils down to I made my emotional break with Miranda and hope to never see her again, but my grip on Haven is as firm as ever. It continues to be a spring of energy from which I can draw. I will always have a home there.

I  definitely timed my trip perfectly — it’s going to be an early winter. It got colder as the week progressed. I’m glad to be heading back to the tropics! I wound up having the right amount of layers and didn’t freeze-freeze, but I did accept a new polar fleece sweater from Caroline that looks like a Haven sunset and I was grateful that “my” cosy robe was hanging in my bedroom so I could (literally) chill in my PJs in the morning!

There was a new dog at C&C’s and she was SO sweet. I fell in love with her the second we met (I mean, she came up to me like she’d known me all her life and promptly cuddled!). She made my missing B a little more bearable. I did get lots of B updates over the week and am pretty sure she never had time to miss me!

I think I’ve managed to capture the bulk of the week. I hope you enjoyed the few pictures I managed to post of my beloved Prairies. I made sure to get tons and hopefully one will be magical enough to be worth printing and framing to hang in my home in Mérida.

And with that, I’m now expecting a boarding call very shortly. Let’s hope the trip goes smoothly, especially the likely too short transit time I have in Mexico City, and that I’m in my hammock by this time tomorrow night!