Once you get used to lazy days of retirement leisure, it’s challenging to suddenly adapt to a day of strict schedules. I could feel the early morning stress that jolted me awake at 4:30 a.m. this morning, a rare experience for a champion sleeper like myself. I was also on Eastern time, three hours difference from my West Coast home, 3000 miles away.

I was in my grandson’s short, single bed, and not exactly snug as a bug. He had to sleep on the couch, that actually may have been more comfortable. I also am not used to sleeping alone, as I had for the past four nights. The  “Grant” autobiography that I’m reading failed to ease my tension, despite the graphic details of another bloody Civil War battle. A quick routine of stretching and push-ups, followed by the minimum run distance and a brief shower got the long day started on schedule.

I was faced with this series of deadlines today:

7:00a EST – Get a ride to Enterprise Rentals

7:30a EST- Start the 45 minute drive to drop my grand kids off at school.

8:15a EST – Start the 2 hour drive to Orlando

11:55a EST – Flight to Denver

3:15p CST – Flight to Portland

5:30p PST- Airport Shuttle to car

7:00p PST- Home Sweet Home

Time Elapsed from wake-up to arrival at home approximately 17 hours.

Years ago, I used to keep this kind of schedule on a regular basis, but any more I’m definitely out of travel shape. It’s hard on this 66 year-old body, and even more exhausting psychologically, having to traverse three separate time zones there and back. In the process, I spent nearly four hours in Chicago and two hours in Denver, plus at least five hours in the car.

I often refer to my movie favorite, “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” when assessing each personal travel experience. There was no “train” on this trip, but instead “trams” at the Orlando Airport and at Walt Disney World. From start to finish, everything ran smoothly – no disasters, delays, or drama – with maybe the exception of the water heater. (See Post #389). I’m relieved there’s no strict schedule and time zone changes to follow tomorrow – it should be hassle free.