Traveling West to East

Sunday, January 20,

It is hard to believe that we have only been away since Noon on Thursday,

so much has happened.

Going back if I may. Our trip into Vancouver was uneventful, the traffic flowed smoothly. When we arrived at Kerri's she was not home so we called a cab and in less than ten minutes our Black Cab arrived. It was different from any other cab I had taken because it had a ramp at the back so the luggage could just be wheeled into the trunk. No lifting required.

We got to the Abercorn and much to my surprise their motto is “ A Hundred Thousand Welcomes” . Because it is the same motto as Cape Breton it seemed like a good omen. The room assigned was on the second floor and not far from the elevator. The room was bright and clean which we expected. We looked out at Costco but we decided not go shopping even though we have new Costco cards.

I had brought some lunch with us so we could eat in our room. We went to bed VERY early because we had set a wake up call for 3:30. Our airport shuttle would arrive at four. As insurance Ken set the alarm in our room for 3:15. It turned out to be a wise move because our wake up call never came.

We had a few sips of coffee and a small muffin before the shuttle was ready to leave. There was another couple there and they were from Pemberton. She told me that we could get 7 days of free parking for each night that we stayed there if we booked it for ourselves. We booked through Booking .com. Next time we will be going through the hotel and leaving the Jeep there instead of bothering Kerri.

The airport was quite quiet considering the time of the morning. It went smoothly and after dropping our luggage that they assured us was checked all of the way to Fort Lauderdale, We headed for the security check. We had to wait for security to open because we were there so early. I sailed through but they stopped Ken. There was something in the back pack that alarmed them. After taking everything out of his backpack ( no easy task) the lady and the X ray machines discovered that we had a small penlight and not a mysterious bomb.

We had breakfast sandwiches and coffee which cost us 18 dollars and waited for time to board.

The plane left on time.

The flight was uneventful

We arrived in Toronto about 8 minutes early.

The pilot announced that the ground crew were not ready for us so we would have to wait in the penalty box until they were.

In only 5 or so minutes we were on our way to the gate.

Of course our new plane was miles away. We walked it and rather enjoyed being on our feet after almost 5 hours of sitting. This time there was no problem with security. The US officials found nothing they did not like. Ken had moved the pen light into the tray so they could see it and not be concerned.

We each had a pop and shared a sandwich . This time it was almost 22 dollars and the breakfast sandwiches suddenly seemed like a bargain.

On the first flight Ken was on the aisle but for this one he had a window seat and that pleased him even though it would be dark for most of the flight.

Again the flight was smooth and on time. We retrieved our luggage and waited for a Best Western shuttle that did not arrive. We hired a cab and were soon settled in our room. They must all be decorated the same because it looked just as I remembered. And surprisingly both hotel rooms were decorated the same. But since the Abercorn used to be a Best Western it may not be that surprising.

We left our luggage in the room and walked to the strip mall that was in the adjoining property. We bought wine for the trip and picked up supper from Subway. This was the biggest and least expensive meal of the day.

Back in our room we ate our meal and before long we were asleep. We were exhausted after the long day of traveling.

Amazing how much was jammed into one day.