I almost made it. Thought I had escaped cleanly from the cruise with no residual damage, but nope.

We made a clean and fast exit from the ship two days ago. Down the gangway in minutes and walked to a short taxi line. $25 later, we were deposited at Ft Lauderdale airport where the security lines were surprisingly short. Great so far.

Our flight to San Diego via Denver was delayed about an hour, but not cancelled. We left FL feeling lucky. Exit row seats and everything. A nice just under four hour flight landed us at the North Pole in Denver.

UPDATE – the power just went out at the house, 630am. The generator kicked in within 2-3 seconds, and stayed running for 10 minutes, until utility power returned. Worked perfectly – I love our Generac. Anyway, back to Denver.

Denver was intense. Runways covered with swirling powdery snow, ice hanging from parked planes. About 15 degrees and windy outside. We only had 30 minutes until our next flight, so we ran from gate to gate with all our luggage. That was fun. We made the flight and took our seats, then waited to be de-iced by the line of trucks along the runways.

I was pretty sure we weren’t going to get to take off – conditions were harsh. But we made it, and I settled in for the relatively short 2 hour flight.

Made it home by 9pm, an 18 hour travel day from ship to home. A celebratory splash of Willet Rye, then a well-deserved bedtime. A long but successful day.

Then I woke up the next morning, Monday, with a massive sore throat. Uh oh. I managed to get some things done, but by the afternoon I was feeling awful. So much for a clean escape. Some kind of virus had tagged along for the ride, and now decided to show me who’s really the boss in travel situations.

A long afternoon yesterday curled up on a couch, mostly non-functional. At least today I feel stronger and have few doubts that this is a cold, not flu or Covid – no fever, no body aches, just congestion, sore throat and some serious fatigue.

This is one of the hidden costs of a travel lifestyle. You lose days every so often with the illnesses you pick up in crowds. It’s frustrating, but at least I have confidence that the new leadership of the CDC and HHS will lead the way to a cure for the common cold. Right.