Souvenir Photo Studio, by Al Bourassa: Thursday January 28, 2016 To Calgary

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Thursday January 28, 2016

My odyssey begins with a taxi ride to the Terminal Terrestre to catch the bus to Guayaquil at 9pm Wednesday night. We are very fortunate to live in an area with awesome transportation options. Hailing a taxi is not a problem.

The bus was immensely powerful and it made the trip in only 3.5 hours, then a quick taxi ride over to the airport and I had a 4-hour wait to fly out at 5am. The Guayaquil airport was really quiet and appeared deserted until I noticed that almost every seat was taken by people sleeping across.

I decided to travel with only one backpack and my roller office bag because I could not afford to be waiting at carousels for luggage. This turned out to be my wisest decision.

The security process in Guayaquil is unbelievably lax compared to anywhere else, they hardly check anything, just relying on the x-rays.

The 3 hour Avianca flight to San Salvador was uneventful and we had a nice breakfast and enjoyed a movie. We got in a little early, which is always good, because I would only normally have less than 40 minutes to change planes. Because of another security check, this time extremely thorough, where I got relieved of several items like shave cream, cuticle scissors, etc., I just made it on time.

The green farmlands and the cone-shaped volcanic mountains around San Salvador really make the area a beautiful rustic sight.

The 5 hour flight to Los Angeles was less fun on Avianca, lots of turbulence over Mexico, and again we had a light meal and watched another movie. At least movies help pass the time and we never seem as uncomfortable when our minds are occupied. The plane was a huge Airbus and it was the first time that I had seen a headphone jack on the edge of the seat near our heads. I searched and searched for the darn thing without success until I saw the lady in front of me plug in. I though I was going to have to watch a silent movie!

Avianca is a nice airline to fly, usually it is always pleasant. They even served a complimentary alcoholic beverage before landing. I just decided not to cloud my mind with alcohol and just had water.

My only problem came when I decided that I should take a washroom break about 45 minutes before landing. There was a lineup of about 8 people waiting and it was soon apparent why... One of the only 2 washrooms in Economy was out-of-service, so there was only one bathroom to service over 200 people... not good...

That was another of my good decisions or the next couple of hours would have been mighty uncomfortable...

In choosing my flights, I studiously made my search avoid any flights to Miami where the Homey-Land Security is a nightmare of waiting in line-ups. Now we can add LA to that list! I had a layover of almost 2.5 hours and almost missed my flight out because of those @#$%&*. Trying to check in online prior to leaving, it would not let me do anything, so I had no check-in and no boarding pass. It was my good fortune that I did not have to wait for luggage or I would probably still be there, throttling those HS @#$%&*. I could not find the signs to direct me to WestJet so I was asking anyone in a uniform where to run. I finally found their desk and they actually called to see if I could still make the flight, claiming that the plane was already boarded (liars). Then I could not find the way to the Departure area and, again, was asking every uniform for the way, until I finally found it. I made it through security without much delay, Thank God, but I was sweating. I rush my butt to gate 24 only to find people debarking from the plane and everyone else waiting to board, late.... I actually had time to make a washroom break but did not have time to grab a bite anywhere. I refused to pay over $9 for a lousy sandwich at Starbucks.

The 3 hour flight to Calgary was much the same, watched another movie, supposed to be Pay-per-view??, and was only offered crackers, pretzels and water or pop. I was starving, so I paid $11 for a cheese & crackers tray and a bag of beef jerky.

Flying into Calgary almost looked like coming in the the moon, but with snow scattered about. It was dusk, and not very inviting at all, even though the daytime temperature had been a balmy +12C.

After landing on the new runway it seemed like the jet circled the airport twice before stooping at a gate. Everybody is standing to debark, as usual, but the door was not opening.... for a good 15 minutes... apparently some problem with the ground crew. I could not believe the patience of the Canadians. I dug in my bag for a pullover sweater, and put it on, because I had purposely not brought any form of jacket with me to further complicate my flight comfort.

After breezing through the Immigration, and not having to wait for luggage, I was greeted outside by my older brother Fern. They do not live too far from the airport so it was not long before we were having a lovely home-cooked supper, along with his Irish wife Eileen and their 2 grandchildren, Kieran and Duncan.

I crashed early, after having been in motion for about 33 hours and slept well.

I hope you enjoy the photos taken with the small Samsung camera. Due to the weight restrictions for the carry-on luggage, I had had to make the painful decision to leave my good camera behind (along with toque, nightshirt, jacket, and a few other items).

Again, the photos are not the quality that I would like to post, but beggars can't be choosers.

That was the day's excitement, Cheers, Al