Day 1

The madness has begun. Our parties have been split into two. Two thirds of us, five out of eight, have gone forward to Herndon, VA where we are staying together the night before our flight out from Dulles Airport to Vancouver, B.C. The other three will be flying out of BWI-Thurgood Marshall to Seattle, WA. Once there the Seattle folks will be travelling to Vancouver by rental car. For us in Herndon, this is perhaps the most mundane portion of our trip. The five of us are cramped into a room in a Comfort Inn. Don't tell the front desk because we only registered four guests. The little one has a sleeping bag on the floor. Ah, youth.

We have an 0830Hrs. flight out from Dulles. The airport shuttle from the hotel is set to take us out at 0530Hrs. It will be an early morning for all of us. Flight time is expected to be approximately six hours. Air travel sure has changed. United Airlines is allowing us
to bring our own food on board or we can purchase a meal from them. It seems as though the airline industry has decided to charge us for
anything and everything in order to make a profit. Can they charge you for Oxygen? "Breath shallow Ethel!" ,"No thanks, it's a short flight
I'll just breath my neighbors exhale."

For those Google Earth'ers that are playing along, here are my current coordinates:

38Deg. 58'00.00" N 77Deg. 22'08.52" W
399' Elevation

Next stop Vancouver!