I left good ol Grande Prairie on the queen of all transportation systems...the infamous Greyhound bus....which turned out to be not too dissimilar to the Intercity/Newman franchise in the n of z....however it has to be said that the scenery on nz bus trips is hands down more interesting than the 6hours of prairie-land i was treated to ie. grassy fields with either cattle or haybails oh and the odd deer. Given my budget travel plans and the lack of bus depatures i was forced to take a 1pm bus arriving at 7pm in Edmonton for my 6am flight...yes that is correct...so after a wander around inner-city edmonton (which reminded me of wellington, overhead tramlines and architecture, and hamilton, trees and next to a river) i took the half hour shuttle out to the airport for my 11hour wait.
Because United Airlines doesn't check luggage the night before a flight i was therefore forced to stay in the public side of the airport...which didnt turn out all too bad as i found a rather comfy leather settee chair in the viewing lounge and even managed to get a little sleep....Checkin was at 4.30 in the morning *to give enough time to clear US customs, which i was paranoid wouldnt let me in without a visa but that was just me going crazy* for the 2hr something flight to Chicago where in 32 degree weather i had 30mins to dash across the rather large and busy Ohare airport to make my connecting flight...and lucky me the shuttle bus wasnt running AND none of the escalators were either...I made my flight however my luggage did not!
arrival in Wisconsin minus my bag after a 24hour trip with little sleep IS NOT FUN....the next afternoon, after being in same clothes for 48+hours, bag finally arrives and i have never loved a shower more in my entire life....ahhh the joys of travel :)