Day 1: Rocking the Rockies – NYC to Calgary to Banff
I now find myself faced with the biggest decision of the day –Espresso Martini or the Coco Martini? Am sitting in the Larkspur Lounge at the Rimrock Hotel in Banff, gazing out of the floor to ceiling windows at the majestic Rocky Mountains and thinking that, all in all, life is pretty good. There’s the obligatory pianist tinkling the ivories (I think I’ve lowered the average age in the bar by a good 20yrs or so) and the whole place has a mildly Art Deco, Rennie Mackintoshian feel. Possibly linked to that is that the place seems to be somewhat overrun by Glaswegians (maybe it’s a mountain thing) – one of them is currently leaning against the back of my leather wingback chair, moaning about her daughter and some ruckus at a recent family wedding, so fairly standard really.

The journey here was pretty smooth, if a little long. The day seemed to naturally break into 2.5 hr increments today – up at 7am to leave the house by 8.15am to get to Newark. Cabbie didn’t give me the usual amount of attitude today that a request to go to Newark airport usually seems to generate, so that was good. He was also awake enough on leaving the turnpike, taking the exit to Newark, to avoid a crazy-assed driver actually coming the wrong way! Obviously an accident-in-waiting - fortunately today was not my day for my number to be up!
Had a couple of hours to kill at the airport, so hung out in the Northwest lounge for a bit, then went and had an omelette in a restaurant that must have been made from freshly laid eggs hand-collected from hens in Devon, the length of time it took to arrive! Got chatting to a couple of pilots whilst waiting at the gate – they’d also been in the same restaurant but had given up and left when all the waitstaff seemed to get distracted in participating in a noisy, protracted kitchen argument, fully audible to all us starving customers waiting on our orders outside!
The first leg of the trip was a 2h 15min flight from NYC to Minneapolis – it was fine, suitably non-bumpy for a change (hurrah!) although I’d been assigned a window seat, so had to keep disturbing the chap on the aisle when I needed to use the loo (which I hate doing, btw – a product of my English heritage of not wishing to cause a fuss!). At Minneapolis, had to get off the plane for about 20mins, then tromp back on and reclaim the same seat, this time minus the passenger next to me, so unimpeded aisle access!! Huzzah!!

Another 2 and a half hour flight and several mini-bags of honey-roasted peanuts later, and we were landing in Calgary. Coming in to land, I was struck by a couple of things – one, just how insanely green everything was and two, the super abundance of improbably fluffy and exuberant white clouds that enveloped the whole landscape. It reminded me of Patagonia and especially those days in Torres del Paine spent gazing at the distant mountains, wreathed in cloud, wishing for it to clear to reveal the rugged beauty hidden underneath. Fingers crossed I get at least a little bit of clear skies whilst I’m here (I don’t want to have rented that wide-angled lens for nought!). My bags were so quick off the plane, I think they must have taken an earlier flight, so I was out through customs and the baggage hall in no time at all – then it was time for another 2.5hr chunk, this time in waiting for my transfer from Calgary to Banff. After a quick mosey through the shopping mall (I decided it wasn’t quite time yet to buy a carved marble bear or some native American art), I did what everyone ends up doing with protracted waits in airports – eating mediocre food in the Food Court and realizing that Canadian dollars don’t seem to go as far as they once used to! (I’ve just realized that staying in nice hotels has a consequence on the wallet when you’re staying on your own dime, not on a corporate card ie suddenly you notice that breakfast costs you $15 for a cup of tea and a slice of toast!!!).

Finally, it was time to meet the guy for my transfer to Banff – this time, slightly less than a 2hr drive – I had the mini-bus pretty much to myself as there was only 1 other passenger. The scenery got steadily more and more spectacular as we left Calgary (which took bloody ages as it’s a big sprawling place, bigger in sq ft terms than New York despite only having a million inhabitants) – even though dusk was falling as we drew nearer to Banff, it was still light enough to be awed by the amazing landscape. For some bizarre reason, the Rockies remind me of tree-covered chunks of Toblerone, with bare capped tops and verdant slopes. Maybe that finger of Twix I had on the plane triggered some latent chocolate longing. About an hour in to the drive, it was WILDLIFE ALERT!! My first spot of native flora and fauna – a deer skipping around in the forest that ran alongside the road – hopefully a sign of lots of beasty sightings to come! Justified all the myriad of exotic wildlife warning signs by the roadside. A short prayer to the god of spontaneous animal spotting – please let me see a bear! After five and a half years of living in a continent apparently thronging with the furry buggers, I still haven’t seen one yet – if I don’t see one on this trip, then potential drastic action is called for (ie an excuse to go to Denali National Park in Alaska for salmon season!).
Btw, I’ve just changed the time setting on my Blackberry (very very happily not checking email as I did so) and I love the way the time zone is called Mountain Time out here – it sounds so much more evocative and appealing than boring old Eastern Time.

So, now the martini (Espresso won out, btw) has now been replaced by a rather nice glass of Cabernet Shiraz and I’m very much looking forward to the next 9 days and the opportunity to simply sit back, relax and reflect on what’s been a whirlwind 5 months. Time to think and to process one of the most significant changes to have happened to my life for the last 11yrs (even moving to NYC felt less of a significant change than the one I’ve recently undertaken) and to take stock mentally of where I am right now and what might be next. I’m not looking to make any decisions but simply to recast my future thinking given that I actually did what I’d spent the last 3yrs thinking about doing (ie leaving Pfizer). Being at Pfizer was such a huge part of who I was for so long, I guess I’m in the process of carving out a new identity and finding a new place for myself in this brave new world I’ve catapulted myself into! Well, I did say I wanted a change!!! Its true what they say - be careful what you wish for!