HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Seeing a friendly face
BUMMER OF THE DAY: 10 hours on planes and 11 hours in airports
WORD OF THE DAY: American Airlines
DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 6,940KM
I found it hard to sleep last night. I have a billion thoughts running through my head and when it was time to put myself to sleep, my brain just wouldn’t switch off and the last time I remember looking at the clock it was 12.15am. My alarm was set for 3.30am; it was going to be a long day anyways-lack of sleep will just get thrown in the mix as well.
I had 98% packed last night. I am a pre-packer from way back and everything bar my toothbrush is all packed the night before. I think it is just the comfort that everything fits and zips and if not I have time to work on a plan B rather than realizing at 4am the next morning that I may have an issue.
So I made sure that I was all ready to go at 4.30am in case mystery transfer man Dwayne did turn up and had just forgotten to reconfirm, but I didn’t end up going down to reception to check out till 4.45am. I was ready early at 4.15 and after a quick spin on Facebook I decided to call Zeme. Yes this makes 3 calls in the one week. They aren’t the cheapest to make from my mobile phone in Barbados, but I justified it by not having spent much money all week and the weekly calls I missed when we didn’t have phone reception in Colombia and Venezuela. I see it as money well spent as I feel so good after hearing his voice and speaking to him. Especially after the last few ‘downer’ days that I let myself lapse into.
Needless to say there was no Dwayne waiting for me, but there was an Irish couple standing there and as I headed up the stairs to check-out they asked if I was heading to the airport. I replied yes and they said that their pre-paid transfer hadn’t turned up and that they had just called a taxi and I could share that. Why that’s so nice – thanks. I did mention to them since they had pre-paid their transfer had they tried to call them first? To which Mrs. Irish replied no they hadn’t. So I said you better try, so when you go home you can say you did try and contact them. So she did call them and they confirmed a transfer would be there in 10 minutes. In the meantime the taxi they had ordered arrived. So I said listen I can take your taxi, it saves me having to order one, and I’ll wait until your ride gets here. I said I would feel so bad if I took your taxi and then your car doesn’t arrive and then you have to wait for another one. So I loaded my gear in the van and we waited a further 10 minutes and their car showed. So with a handshake, a thank-you and a ‘see you at the airport’ we jumped into our prospective cars and made the 15 minute journey to the airport. There was no traffic and at one stage my guy was driving 110km per hour-holy moly, hold onto your hats. Now I didn’t confirm the price of the taxi, but it was 20USD on the way in. Add on a few dollars for the early morning start I was thinking around 25, at a push 30USD for the return. So when we pulled up and he said 35USD, I told he had to be kidding. He said the early morning taxis are 30USD and then he charged me 5USD for waiting to make sure that Irish’s transfer arrived. Geez Louise. So I gave him 40USD and conveniently he didn’t have USD change and was going to give it to me in Barbados dollars. I told him to keep it and that he wasn’t half bad. That will teach me for not checking with him, or at least reception to see what the rate was before taking the service. I mean that could be the going rates, but it was cheeky all the same.
The check-in counters remind me of Hawaii. They are located in an open plan building, like a big stable, but modern and you have to self-check-in, you have no choice and then bag drop it to the counter. Of course my passport wouldn’t swipe and after 2 machines and the help of the help staff I got myself checked in for all my 3 flights, all windows and my bag was checked all the way through to Ottawa, but like everyone else entering the USA from somewhere international, you need to collect your bag and then drop it at the transfer counter once clearing customs, just like you do in Los Angeles. Irish weren’t far behind me and it was nice to have a bit if banter with people, they were really sweet.
There were a few smaller flights to nearby Caribbean islands leaving early along with us, but there was no one at immigration as I passed through and there was no one at the security scan when I passed through that as well. I was all checked, stamped and security screened within 20 minutes. That is the good thing with sparrow fart departures or late at night ones that it really isn’t a busy time of day. They had a small selection of duty free shops and 90% of them were open and a small food court and seating where a few of the food shops were open. Considering the size and location of the airport it is pretty modern and not too much ‘tropical’ crap for sale, most of it was international brands, alcohol and perfume. There was a souvenir shop where I was able to buy a few stickers and I also picked up 3 pirate stickers for Tippy’s boys in Las Vegas where I used the rest of my Barbados dollars and some USD for the purchase. I was going to buy a sandwich for the flight, as food is not included in the flight, but I was tired and couldn’t be bothered and for a 3.5 hour flight, I could survive and I would just get something in Miami with my 3 hour layover.
The flight was boarded on time and it was full. I was sitting next to a Barbadian lady who was starting work on a Royal Caribbean ship from LA. No I didn’t speak to hear, I just snooped during the flight as she pulled out all her information to re-read it all. The sequined costumes she pulled out of her hand luggage during the flight to look for something was also a small give away that she was a show woman of some sort, well I had hoped. It was a 757 aircraft with a 3 x 3 configuration. I should Google American Airlines as it seems most of their fleet are 757’s. After some rain this morning as we waited at the gate, the sun come out just before we took off, which was great as I was hoping to get some good photos from the air as we left the island. Our route path was going to be over the Virgin Island, Puerto Rico, some others and over Key West into Miami. And finally the view didn’t fail to impress. The colour of the water was a brilliant aquamarine and with the reefs and islands thrown in for the contrast, I got some amazing photos. This is why I LOVE my window seats!
We arrived into Miami 20 minutes early and that was after also getting a bit if a scenic fly over of Miami Dade as we flew right past the airport and then circled back in for the landing. It is a massive urban sprawl, flat as a tack, but lots of waterways with houses built around them and the small lakes and ponds. It really is a busy airport and we arrived in at a busy time at 11.05am. We had to catch the air train to get to passport control and then the shit fight starts all again on which line to choose and hurry up and wait. I picked a line further down from the entrance and then did my usual thing picking people out of other lines to see who gets served first and just how far behind I get. Well for once I picked a speedy line and I even beat a few of my ‘fellow’ liners to the counter. My customs guy was nice and after having a flip through my passport he asked if I worked on a yacht! I said no why and he said with a tan like the one you have and all these stamps in your passport I just assumed. WOO HOO! I told you all I had got a tan, but to hear it from the customs man- oh yeah! How brown do I look!!! By the time I had waited and got processed it was just after mid-day and my boarding time for my next flight was at 1.55p. Even though a 3 hour lay-over waiting for flights is a long time, you really do need every second of it to not make it a stressful process. This one was a little different as we also had to do passport control, but I would prefer to have 3 hours and take my time than have 45 minutes and be a stress muffin with the worry of making connections and the hassles of missing a connection, especially if you have other flights after that and then it all becomes a domino effect!!!
Again with the time you wait in the immigration line, by the time you get to the baggage carousel your bags are sitting there, like small children, waiting to be collected by their owners. The trolleys are free, so after locating my bag, which had been pulled off the carousel by this stage, passed through customs and to the transfer counter time was starting to tick. There are 2 drop points, one is for passengers continuing through to other USA cities or like me continuing onto an international destination we have to drop our bags a little further around to the TSA bag drop where they have the authority to check open and check the contents of your bags before sending then through. This isn’t done while you wait though, you just leave your bag with a guy with a trolley and some crime scene tape (well the airport equivalent) separating them from passengers, and you just leave your bag there with them. It somehow just feels wrong as you walk if, but that system has been in effect for as long as I can remember with all my travel to the US and it obviously works.
At least I knew where to find the American Airline counters after getting lost here last week. It is quite cool to know where you are in an airport, for once, and as I already had my boarding pass I just needed to get to a departures screen to see what concourse my flight was leaving from to go through the right security control. There is always a long line to get through security, but I do have to say that people are on the ball, they start taking off belts and jewelry before getting to their turn in line, and once they are there to unpack all their stuff, passports away, shoes off, laptops out along with liquids and gels, jackets and scarves off you would think, times that by the hundreds of people processed it would take forever, but we are like little travel machines, we know what to do, we get it done as quick as we can and when through the other side, we pack up in 10 seconds flat as peoples bags just keep coming out of the scanning machine and then we are finally through and another security process passed with no issues. I was in the scanning queue again for what they call the millimeter machine. You walk into what looks like a round phone box sized shape, you have to place your feet exactly on the pre-painted yellow feet on the floor and when instructed you have to life your arms up over your head and then the machine does a since rotation scan of you and then you are free to step out. There was a man about 20 people in front of me that refused to step into the ‘machine’ and was told to wait as they called someone to manually search him. He waited, and waited and waited……. And he was getting really cranky standing there, and I know that the security people were just being difficult, making him wait, but he was being pretty rude, so I rekon I would have done the same thing as well. Anyway he was just getting frisked as I collected my stuff on the ‘other side’ and he was still mouthing off as he had his arms outstretched sideways and he was standing in one leg as they checked the soles of his other foot that was in the air. He looked ridiculous and you have to wonder what his reason was for not wanting to go through the machine in the first place. He really was a twat that was for sure and you would think, besides passport control, that security would be the last people you would want to piss off!!!
I had just over an hour before I had to board my flight to Chicago and I was ravenous. So heading towards my gate, I passed all these food outlets and shops, so I stopped at a burger joint and got a burger, drinks and fries that I got ‘to go’ and would consume at my gate. Well I arrived at D16 and there was hardly anyone there. I wasn’t too concerned as I was a little early, so I ate and enjoyed my meal and then I thought I better check the departure gate hadn’t changed and low and behold it had, so I then located my new gate and it was busy. It looked like it was going to be a full flight. But at least I had a belly full of food now and I was happy to just read and listen to my music.
Our aircraft was late arriving by 15 minutes, but it is pretty amazing how quickly they can turn the aircrafts around and get them back in the air. I am now super paranoid that I have a wheelie bag and my backpack that when I get to my seat on the plane there is no room left to store in the overheads. My backpack I can handle as that can go at my feet, but the rolly bag is my concern and so far all my flights since purchasing it, I have been the last section allowed to board, so I get even more panicky. American Airlines permit you to have a rolly bag and another piece of personal item such as a handbag or laptop, I am sure I am possibly pushing the rules a little far with the size of the ‘additional’ piece, but so far so good and I even after they called section 4 (that’s the last one and me) I was able to find space for both my bags in the overheads. I have small bag that I now have for my flights that houses my book, camera, IPod, some cash and my passport that fits into the red backpack and I just pull that out as I get to my seat. I am back on a 757 aircraft, 3 x 3 configurations and the flight was full again for the 2 hour and 40 minute flight to Chicago. Again drinks are included, food is not, but after my feed in Miami I was happy to take a coke and then I shit my eyes and drifted off to sleep for most of the flight. By this time I had been on the go just under 12 hours and I still had the flight, another layover and flight before getting to my final destination. I must say that these 4 hour flights are a walk in the park to the last few flights I have done that have been 8-12 hours in length, but they still zap your energy all the same.
We landed into Chicago at 5.45pm Miami time, 4.45pm Chicago time, winding our watches back an hour upon landing. I had 3 hours here for my connecting flight to Ottawa but as I already had my boarding pass and my bag was checked all the way though, I just had to work out where my departure gate and then find somewhere to settle down for the remaining time. I always like to find my gate before I do anything else, as some of these gates are quite a fair way away and require air trains to get to them. Once I know where they are then I am happy to shop, get food etc. So after walking what felt like 10km, Chicago O’Hare Airport is massive and finding my gate, I grabbed 20 nuggets from McDonalds (I know it sounds a lot but they only came in 10 or 20 and for an extra 1USD you got the extra 10, why not?) and then I set up my computer, paid 3.95USD for a 24 hour internet connection and then sat on my computer for 2 hours on Facebook chat catching up with people who were online. Thanks Anna for helping fill in my time. At 7.30pm, I packed up and then went to sit at my actual gate and the gate had changed again for the 3rd time, so it is lucky I keep checking this as it would be terrible to miss a flight sitting at the wrong departure lounge!!!
It was at this point I found out I was on an American Eagle flight and I know from past experience that these flights are generally little feeder planes and they aren’t that big. I started to panic that I was going to have too much cabin baggage and it wasn’t going to fit in the smaller plane. But I looked around the rest of the lounge and there were people with bigger bags than me so this made me feel instantly better and would just roll with the punches. We were called on time and as we had out boarding passes scanned, our rolly bags were tagged and we were to leave them on the cart located on the aerobridge and we would be given them back on the aerobridge when we landed in Ottawa. I was fine with this as there was nothing I needed from the bag and it saves me having to worry about overhead storage. Well this plane was tiny. You had to duck your head to get onto the aircraft and it is run by a one woman hostee show. The plane was an EMB jet with a configuration of 1 x 2 seats. I felt like I was on a Tonka version of a plane after all the massive aircrafts I have travelled on in recent months. Looking out over the wing, it felt like a baby it looked so small and that I was just in a normal car as we taxied off. I finally didn’t have anyone sitting next to me for the 1 hour and 34 minute flight to Canada and my final destination of this long day in Ottawa. I am getting excited as I have people I know waiting for me on the other side. This hasn’t happened since my last trip to Ethiopia and before that NEVER. There is something comforting about having someone waiting for you on the other end and it made me smile. This is going to be the start of a great 5 weeks with friends and laughs and reminiscing about our respective trips which are something I really haven’t had a chance to do on any trip I have done on my Odyssey and I can’t wait!!!!
We got great views of Chicago lit up at night as my flight took off on time at 8.50pm. I will be back in Chicago in 12 days where I am spending a week with my United Hostees and this I really can’t wait for as Cheryl put it a stay-cation for her and David and to show me their city.
I arrived into Ottawa at 12.40am Chicago time, 11.40pm Ottawa time. We wound out watches back an hour and it was funny that after 2 time changes I am back to the original time of Barbados where I left 19 hours earlier today!!!! We were the only flight arrival, so I only had to wait 10 minutes in the queue at passport control where I did get a bit of a grilling from the officer as he flipped through my passport and sounded cynical that I had been travelling for 12 months and that I had no job until I had to show him my out-going ticket as proof I wasn’t going to abscond in Canada and he was very impressed with my e-ticket that had my 17 flights on it starting in South America and then wished me a pleasant stay in Canada and with a wink as well!!!!!!! Sly dog. I think this must be the first time I have had to wait for my bag and as I waited I checked to see if Ottawa has free Wi-Fi and low and behold it did, so I was able to load my status, check-in and perfect timing my bag popped out and with it scooped up into the trolley I headed for the exit and hoped that Marc was there waiting for me.
It was so good to see his face as the doors opened and he was there. A friendly face and a massive bear hug. It is good to be here!!!!! He hasn’t changed a bit. It has been nearly 12 months since our Contiki Spanish Spree and the first thing he said was ‘how bloody brown’ did I look!!!! Love ya Marc!!! We had to catch the car park bus to his car, that we only had to wait 5 minutes for and then we were on the road to his bachelor pad and my hone for the next 4 nights! He only moved into his apartment 3 weeks ago, so my timing was great and he has a pretty amazing little home. I am on the spring coil futon for the next 4 nights and Contiki Husband no.2 arrives tomorrow afternoon. My first reunion from a past trip and I am 100% happier than when I left Barbados this morning. I need this and I am glad I decided to visit friends on this section and not do the 44 day Intrepid tour. I needed a break. So happy days ahead for the next 38 days…….
So after 2 beers, a 2 hour chinwag, we went to bed at 3am. Marc had a half day at work tomorrow and we were picking Andy up at 3pm from the airport for the final piece of the Contiki Husband Reunion. Good night from Ottawa and from Marc’s Bachelor Pad Somewhere in Ottawa.
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