It Didn't Start Well ...

Together for the first time in 25 years:  Bruce and Jamie Dopp - Top of Mount Tolmie, Victoria, 9 July 2017

Me, and Benjamin Dopp and Bruce in Jamie's back yard, 9 July 2017

Me, Jamie Dopp, Wendy Wasilewski, Bruce, 9 July 2017

The shots above show that eventually we had a very nice day once we got to Vancouver Island.

But it didn't start well. First, there was the unsettling news at about 9 p.m. Ontario time on July the 8th that our flight the following morning had been cancelled.

Remaining calm, I called Air Canada and was reassured that we were still flying out to Victoria, at the same time and everything, just on a different plane.

Next morning, we cabbed only as far as Union Station so we could take the Union Pearson Express to the airport. We just missed the train, so rather than arriving at the airport two hours ahead of our flight, we arrived one hour and forty-five minutes ahead of our flight. Good thing. Terminal One was like Walmart on Black Friday. 

We'd checked in on-line so all we needed was to get our bag tagged and drop it off at the baggage counter. But the bag line extended along the length of the terminal - hundreds of people. It was like nothing I had seen before.

The line moved fast but it still took us forty minutes to check our bag. I wondered aloud how much more time it would take us to get through security.

But, security was a breeze. Another new thing: I advised the person examining my boarding pass that I had an artificial hip. She signalled to the person on the other side of the scanner. I was expecting to be taken aside and wanded - but the scanner didn't sound, so no arms out, feet apart, getting patted down by a stranger wherever the wand beeps treatment.

Our flight was cancelled because Air Canada had two flights to Victoria booked at almost the same time. The passenger lists for the two flights were collapsed into one. This meant Bruce and I sat wherever they stuck us. I sat next to a nice retirement-aged couple on their way to do some house hunting on Salt Spring Island. Bruce sat next to two horrible little boys who, had Bruce had his way, would not have arrived in Victoria alive.

Five hours later, the trip was over. We were met by our friend Jamie who has been showing us around all day.

We are adjusting to the time change each according to our preferred approach. Bruce is having a nap. I've just had an espresso. 

Thanks for reading!

Karen