The over-riding theme of the first day of our family vacation was line-ups.
We left our house at 0445hr…the “0” standing for the omigawd it is early. However, with the forces of good on our side we were packed and on the road. Seeing as it was so early on a Sunday morning, there was virtually no traffic to contend with. Nice.
Arrive at YVR, park in the long-term parking lot; unload the car, grab a couple of carts and load all of our possessions onto them. Wheel over to the bus stop in the fog and stand there, assuming that bus is going to come to transport us to the airport. It does.
Once in the terminal it becomes apparent that we are not the only people with an early flight to catch…it is 5:30am and our flight is supposed to leave at 8:30am.
The first line up is to check in our bags. Chaos ensues in that line up because the line ropes are not properly deployed. There are about 6 or 8 people in the line up behind us when another couple figures the line-up starts from another side. On behalf of the people behind me, I tell them they are in the wrong spot, they move to the back of the line up, not happy travellers.
We finally get to the front of the line, the Air Canada check in agent is super nice, and seriously helpful. Having twins strapped to our chests probably helps. We check our bags…which means she puts a bar-coded sticker on the ones that are going on the plane. I ask if they take care of the bags from here…not so lucky. We have to take the bags down to a central processing place. So we load our three suitcases, two carry-on bags, diaper bag and two complete car seats back onto the carts, while each of us has a twin strapped to our chest. Around the corner, and omigawd, the line-up stretches as far as you can see. We are quickly told this is the second line-up we will need to get into. We first have to go to the north end of the terminal to drop off our bags. We get down there and line-up to drop off our bags. Not too bad, ten minutes in line and then we are able to go to that seemingly endless line-up.
While on our way we see Phil Moore and Doris Gee, the realtors who helped us buy our home. Then we see two of my former colleagues, and a current colleague. It is like old home week in the line-up.
It is now about 6:30am and we have not yet had a coffee. Caragh asks me to pop over to Starbucks and get us a couple of coffees. Enter the next line-up. 15 minutes later I have a couple of coffees and a muffin.
The line-up we are in moves forward imperceptibly. And then, it is our turn. We are at the front of the line-up expecting to break through into an open room. Hahahahaha.
Once again, because we are carrying the twins we are taken through the handicapped peoples’ entrance…hmmm…we take the “fast-forward”. Into a new line-up to have our body and carry-on luggage searched.
Our flight is supposed to leave at 8:30. We were told to be in the waiting area at 7:50am. It is now 7:45. It doesn’t matter though because all flights are being delayed an hour or two anyway. We get to the loading area…along with other couple of people waiting for the same flight. So there are six people out of 100 people here for the 8:30 flight.
Once again Air Canada staff come through for us. Our seats are rearranged to allow us to have an empty seat beside us for one of the car seats. Baby Story gets to ride on the plane in her car seat.
Once on the plane, the flight attendants further rearrange the seating so that Caragh and I are across the aisle from each other. I ask if this is going to be okay, they reply, “there are three mothers running this plane, it will be fine.” Pity the fool who tells me I am in the wrong seat!
Anyway, the plane finally left Vancouver at 10:30am. Five hours after we got to the airport. Plane takes off, Story goes to sleep until we land in San Diego!! Annalie is blissed out in my arms and sleeps off and on with only one screaming/crying spell. Amazing. Guy sitting beside me is kind, thoughtful and completely patient.
Get off the plane, line-up for the car rental place…another forty five minutes done. Get our car, drive to the Bahia Resort…booked through the internet where the pics look like a million books. Remember the song, “A three dressed up as a nine”? That is the Bahia. NOT pleased.
More about our move out of the Bahia Resort and out to the la Jolla Hilton tomorrow.