We ate a big breakfast with Dad this morning.
The Bentley has such good meals and such friendly staff. Dad enjoys the fact that he does not have to ask, but he gets two glasses of juice every morning.
We have to run around like crazy this morning organizing and running errands. We had stale dated cheques to deal with, the van to wash, insurance for the van to purchase, getting Dad picture ID, phone calls to make, you get the picture, we were busy. We had to pack up the van to be stored and also pay for our stay at the Bentley. I also had to activate a credit card. Ken had to watch for mail from our bank sent to Dad's mailbox. We had to buy our tickets for the bus ride to Regina. I wanted to visit with Dad some more, didn't get in much of a visit in the morning.
At lunch we checked out of the Bentley and went to have food at Fern's. Fern, of course, cooked us a dynamite meal. After setting the table she sat a jar of her way too delicious caramel sauce on the table for toast. Ken calls this stuff 'heroin' it is so good.
We are entrusting our much loved van, Pepe, to Fern and her garage. We have readied the van to be stored until our return in December, about seven months. We pay Fern the rent, we did not want to leave our baby there without reimbursement to Fern for such a kind act on her part. She only asked that we be sure there is insurance on the van while it is being stored, makes sense. The tags on our license plates will act as our insurance while Pepe is having his long deserved rest.
It was very hard to leave my Dad and journey on. I hate saying good-bye but must if we are to fly to Europe. We walk to the bus depot in Moose Jaw, something I have not often done as my Dad had always driven my there or picked me up there. Being in Moose Jaw remains a trip down memory lane until I leave. Even the trip to Regina tugs at my heart strings including the friends we are lucky enough to meet there.
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| Regina Bus Depot has upgraded |
Our friends Ivan and Kathie have been kind enough to pick us up at the bus depot. Ken made arrangements and they complied, taking us first to the B&B we will stay at for the night then taking us to a favourite of theirs, The Lancaster Taphouse, named after Ronnie Lancaster the famed quarterback of the Canadian Football League (Saskatchewan Roughriders). It was such a pleasure to see two familiar faces, and hear their voices after not having seen them in a very long time. It was truly a highlight! With heavy heart they took us back to the B&B for our "one more sleep" before boarding a flight to Europe.
The couple who called this B&B home are a well traveled couple who wished us well on our continued travels. They had thought of everything for a pleasing B&B experience. Plus, they stayed up and talked to us for about an hour after we arrived which made us feel very welcome. We had to get up very early about three-thirty AM to catch a taxi to the airport.
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Up early, jolted out of a sound sleep (3:30 am) we managed to not fall back to sleep but enthusiastically get ready for our airport experience. Okay, maybe "enthusicastially" is a bit of an exaggeration at 3:30 am but we were excited to be moving on the next leg of our journey.
The taxi dropped us off at Regina airport. The B&B owner had told us that we could get some breakfast at the airport. We ate what we could for such an early meal. As you know the flights require you to be at the airport about two hours ahead of schedule, especially for European flights. I suppose for checking into security, checking baggage, etc. they need the extra time. We were through with all those airport necessities in a few minutes. Our carry-on baggage did not require checking. We were at a cold airport for two hours before our flight finally took off.
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| Sleepy but up for the trip. |
The fields below us, after take off, looked like a patchwork quilt. I prefer the window seat and had a good view. We certainly saw the expansion of the city of Regina eastward toward Balgonie that Ivan and Katie had spoke of the night before. We were up and away, off of Saskatchewan soil perhaps until December.
Our flight was to land at Toronto's Pearson International Airport. It was at least a five hour lay over. We were stuck with our luggage for five hours, ugh! I already wish I had packed lighter but in reality it was difficult to pack as lightly as I did.
We need clothes to take us through several seasons and many countries so diversity was the key to packing decisions. We found out that it was not a good idea to leave the airport, well we could not anyway because of our ball and chain CabinMax luggage, plus one each of personal luggage.
We dined at Subway, if that is indeed dining. It was good enough, in anticipation of our soon to be ethnic food splurge from other countries.
I did my Spanish using the Duolingo app. I am on about a 187 day Streak and do not want to mess up my record number of days doing my Spanish lessons.
Ken was on the computer too. Pearson is huge.
I remember having a ten hour stop over here in the mid seventies and a young woman by myself. I had all my Christmas gifts in a paper shopping bag along with a suitcase. That suitcase did not have wheels either. I was sick on the plane somewhere over Winnipeg. Somehow I managed and ended up at my final destination of North Bay, Ontario that evening. I was not fond of air travel back then and did not want a window seat.
Second flight was not in such an advantages spot as previously, not a window seat and just behind the wing. All the way to St John's International Airport in Newfoundland we went. Yes, people from that accent do have an accent as you hear it on TV. For both Ken and me we have now been in all ten provinces. This is not really a fair representation of Newfoundland but none the less we have been their. By this time it is late evening on the east coast of Canada. An odd day that started early but seemed to come to a quick end.
