OK, before I begin let me apologize and explain for my whereabouts last Friday and my lack of post. Let’s just say that last week was a long week with a lot of traveling and a few wrinkles a long the way. On Thursday afternoon I left West Virginia and had a pit stop in Chicago before boarding to Toronto and doing an overnight before flying home on Friday morning.

The first flight from West Virginia started off about an hour late which started to have me worry a little bit because my time in O’Hare was tightening up and I am not familiar with that airport. After studying the map of the airport I knew my time was going to be tight. I started on foot and pretty much ran for the gate through the maze of people and boarded the plane as pretty much the last person but with time to spare. I am sweating by this time, so I get settled into my seat and crank on the cool air. Little did I know that I would be sitting in this seat on the runway for about 2 hrs and 15 minutes waiting to take off.  Grrrr but you know I have so much patience I just let it roll off my back and think positive.

All of a sudden, the captain comes over the air “Flight attendants, prepare for take off”. We are ready to go! A few minutes elapse, and we are not moving and all of a sudden I feel the plane doing a u turn and leaving the runway. I am slightly perplexed but assume everyone has everything under control. A minute later the captain comes over the air “Ladies and gentleman, at United air we are committed to offering superior service and safety to all our flights and at this point I cannot continue flying this plane. I just found out my Dad has passed away and I cannot fly. I will take you back to the gate and we will look at getting another captain”.  I say to myself… Holy shit – I cannot be mad – this is awful.  Meanwhile we are waiting for another captain but are soon to find out the flight is canceled. At this point there are about 300 people looking for a new flight and a hotel as there are no more flights to Toronto this late in the day.

Now the fun begins…. I am starving and cannot wait in the line, it is damn well huge. I wander around and get a snack and come back- all the while I call my travel agent and she works her magic as always (Thanks Christine) and I am booked on a flight in the am. But now I need a hotel. I am hot, sweaty, hungry and soon to be cranky but not there yet. Finally I get a hotel and take the shuttle back to the room and order a pizza. All is well but I am pretty tired at this time – since it is midnight and the flight was supposed to depart at 6:31pm.  Oh dear.

Zesty Meets Elvis

Well not literally, but I was in Tupelo, MS last week and was within 3 miles of Elvis’ birthplace so I thought I would take a visit before driving to Alabama.  There was a park, museum, his old homestead and a souvenir shop.  I snapped a few pictures on my smart phone ( apologize for the quality ) and picked up a couple of gifts for the family.

I am not a huge Elvis fan but being so close  – I just had to pop in for a visit.

Teriyaki Salmon

Saturday night, I was shopping at the grocery store and I was super hungry….. bad idea I know but look at what I found.  At the sushi section, I was poking my nose around when this little gourmet bowl looked up at me.

Teritaki salmon with a top some julienne carrots and sticky rice.  The salmon had a lite coating of teriyaki flavor as well as a variety of toasted sesame seeds and a sporadic green onion.  I was all over this in a heartbeat.  At $6.00 for a ready made meal, it was fair for sure considering all of the other fast food I could have picked.  As soon I got home, I ripped off the lid and popped this in the microwave for 2 minutes and I was a happy boy.

The salmon was flavorful, juicy and the carrots were crunchy.  The sticky rice was just that.  I loved it.  It was such a hit that I went back to pick up a couple more.  One for Mrs. zesty and one for today’s lunch.

Well that was a long winded post but I felt I had to enlighten you with my “luck” while traveling and I just had to share both Elvis and the salmon.  Have a super Monday and I will share some more words with you on hump day.

Take care

zesty

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