Canada 2017 – Day 1 – Start of our Canada Road Trip

The hustle and bustle of the airport hotel restaurant is hopefully the total opposite of what awaits us when we touch down and eventually get to the Rockies to start our Canada Road Trip. Peaceful lakes, relaxing drives, stunning views and a plethora of wildlife.

Before that though, we had the small matter of a 9-hour flight to overcome. I don’t mind airports too much. Admittedly they are not as much fun as though used to be, standing in line holding belts and shoes hoping my trousers don’t fall down in the process. Or perhaps that makes them more fun!

We pile our belongings into the (5) oversized grey trays and watch as they rumble through the X-ray machine. We walk through the scanner and make it to the other side without incident.

The same cannot be said for our trays. 3 pass with flying colours. 2, however, end up the wrong side of the glass screen and we wait at the end of the line like naughty school children, waiting to see the headmaster.

I refuse to incriminate the offending person, but someone forgot to remove their make up from the bags. The machine wasn’t as keen on the lip gloss and foundation as Mrs Mummy was. Like I say, we are keeping the offender anonymous for the time being.

Security and The Flight

Unlike the security line next to us, it was soon established we weren’t trying to take anything on the plane we shouldn’t. The other line next to us was not so lucky. They had to leave their scissors behind.

As we’d had a decent breakfast before we checked out, we just went for a snack before boarding. When I say checked out, what I meant to say is walked out of the hotel. For, when hunting for something in my pockets, I found the key cards to the room.

A quick call to the hotel and we let them know we would drop the cards back when we collect the car in two weeks. They were fine with this, fortunately.

After our muffin and cookie snack, and a quick stop for a few essentials we hunted down the nearest departure board, and saw our flight was leaving from gate 38. A fifteen-minute walk. Off we went and by the time we arrived the flight was boarding.

First Impressions of Air Canada

First impressions were good. The plane was clean, modern and looked comfy. Air Canada 1, British Airways 0. Last years flight to Florida saw us on a BA plane that needed a bit of TLC. We headed to Row 21, settled into the 3 seats across the middle. 21D, E and G.

I plan to find out why there is no seat F. I may actually have to ask someone, considering there is no Google on board.

Dinner was pleasant, cementing my new found fondness of Air Canada. They still came in the small plastic pots, the small plastic bags, served on the small plastic tray which was perched on the small plastic tables, that we had to cut with the small plastic cutlery. But the food was edible and hot. Not like all aeroplane food we have experienced.

A nap free flight

Eventually, the lights were turned off and we set about the arduous task of trying to convince Max a sleep would be a good idea. We wanted him a little rested, for when we landed we started our Canada Road Trip straight away. For some reason, he disagreed, and almost 6 hours into the flight he remains awake and functioning, if not a little comatose.

There is one other small thing, insignificant to most, that makes this flight one of the best. A USB charger. No worrying about iPads running out. We can watch, listen and play with them to our hearts contents. Kudos Air Canada. Kudos.

We eventually landed, and our buggy was at the plane door. Max by this time was shattered, so that was a bonus. It was 10 pm for him after all.

Touchdown, and time to start out Canada Road Trip

Immigration wasn’t too bad, and before we knew it we were picking up our car. We hoped for a decent one, as you cant do a Canada Road Trip without a nice car! But this is when we encountered our first hiccup. An additional driver wasn’t included so we had to stump up $130 CAD to add Suzanne. Something to look at when we get home.

Sat Nav / GPS plugged in, address plumbed in and off we went!

The start of the Canada Road Trip was average. Grey roads, wide open spaces that stretched to the horizon, merging with grey skies.

But then in the distance there they were. The Rockies in all their glory. As we neared them, the grey lifted, giving us blue skies with the odd remaining cloud perched at the peak of some of the snow covered mountains.

There are the Rockies, as our Canada Road Trip gets well and truly underway

Looking into the distance towards the range of mountains it almost seemed impossible to believe we would be able to weave our way through them. Over the next two weeks, 50% of the time and the part of our Canada Road Trip would be navigating these mountains. It wasn’t long before we found ourselves enveloped by the monstrous rocks, and making our way to Banff and our first hotel.

En route, after noticing a couple of cars parked at the side of the road, we joined them after a quick u-turn. And there it was. Our first spotting of wildlife. An Elk in all his/her glory. A good start to the trip.

The after checking in to what must be said is a quite average hotel room, but perfectly adequate, we wandered down the road and had tea in a place called Carlito’s Pizzeria. While in there we got talking to a couple of couples, one from the UK, and another from Ottawa. Both doing a similar journey to us, both telling us of their experiences with snow over the last few days.

Blizzards, and snowfall bad enough for their various excursions to be cancelled. As we head back to the hotel for bed at the ungodly hour of 8.30, we can only hope the same fate doesn’t befall us.

Oh yes, before I forget, if you are wondering why there is no seat F on the plane, it is because some planes have 7 in a row and this one had 6, so they had to lose a seat. They decided to remove it from the middle instead of the block of three by each window. There you go.

Until next time…Richard, Suzanne and Max

Today’s Stats

KM today – Flight 7144km – Car 136km