January 11, 2013  Time to leave the woodlands of Minnesota and return with Bolli (pronounced Beau-lee) to British Columbia.  Woke up to melting snow and a light mist over the lake.  The drive and walkways had turned to ice overnight so our biggest worry was the drive to the airport.  Instead we were greeted with fog, thick, plane stopping fog.  As luck would have it - after I checked in with my bags and gone through the security - they cancelled our flight out.  Rescheduled the flight for later in the afternoon which meant leaving Duluth at 3, connecting in Minneapolis/St.Paul at 5, and arriving in Seattle 3 hours later.  One look at the fog probably meant that flight would not be leaving either so a quick call to Jan and off we were driving the 3 hours to the MSP, the much larger airport that surely would be in operation with or without the fog socking it in.  Arrived at the airport in good time.  Bolli was a gem and settled in right away into his carry-on.  How can a pup be sooooo heavy?  Of course, the gate was the farthest from the entrance point, couldn't wait to get there to take the weight off my aching shoulder.  A bit of fuss on the takeoff but he was quiet all the flight.  Fortunately we were seated between two dog lovers and ahead of a crying baby.  Bolli was a saint!  Can't say much about the flight other than the seats were as hard as a bench and leg room, due to a pup under the seat, left me cramped up.  Arrived at SeaTac, untangled myself from the seat, and headed to baggage check.  As expected my suitcase never made the flight so made arrangements to pick it up in Bellingham if it ever makes it there.  Had to scrape the outside AND inside of my van windows before heading out for the drive to the border.  Stopped on route at Denny's for dinner as I hadn't eaten since breakfast and it was now after 10pm, chosen as it was FREE for my Birthday.  Continued on again with only another stop at the Rest Stop to give Bolli a pee break and for me to catch a quick snooze....with the 2 hour time difference from Minnesota it was much later than I expected. Thankfully no problems getting across the border.  One more stop for gas before I ran out and a sudden realization that my house keys were in my wayward suitcase!  Didn't want to call my siblings at 1 o'clock in the morning so I risked going home and seeing if I could pop the window that had been giving me problems before.  Thankfully the neighbourhood wasn't watching and the police weren't parked in their usual spot or else I might have been reported for breaking into the house.  Was able to get in (mental note: put spare key back and fix window!!). Didn't take much time to get Bolli fed, watered and out into the yard and finally into bed with Bolli at my side.  What a great ending to an overly eventful Birthday that I WILL remember for a long time  :)  Welcome home Bollinger!