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Sunday February 7, 2016
Friday was a very busy day, packing, returning the Bug to Gord and Em (THANK YOU so much guys!), and trying to pack in other visits before leaving the house at 4pm to begin the arduous journey home.
We met Uncle Emilian and Auntie Jeannette at Mom's apartment because they are downsizing to a new location so they were interested in taking Mom's dinette set and a few small items. It is much more preferable to our family that someone else in the family gets good use of items from Mom's rather than strangers.
My last visit with Mom was pretty anticlimactic. I am pretty sure that she understood my goodbye but she kept drifting off to sleep so that is the way we left her, peacefully sleeping.
THANK YOU again to Fern & Eileen for putting up with me for 8 days. I did my best to stay out of their way so they could continue with their normal daily operations without worrying about me. Having my own transportation certainly made things easier.
We had an electronic bathroom scale to weigh the suitcase lent to my by Fern & Eileen so that I could bring back some necessities, mostly from Costco. The scale said 49.3 lbs and the WestJet scale said 49.3. I did not weigh my carry-on, which was an oversight, and WestJet insisted on weighing it, so I was apprehensive of course. The scale said 20.0, bang on the allowance, so I gave myself credit for superlative packing.. It is a good thing that they did not weigh my fanny pack...!!!
The 3 hour flight to Los Angeles was uneventful and I read a book most of the way. Since I was staring at a 12-hour layover, I was not looking forward to that, again saved by the book and catnaps.
LAX is under renovation, I know, but jeepers, do we really have to step outside to go from the ticket counter on the main floor, walk a block to an escalator to get to the security area, then go up another floor to the Departure area..... really??? And the only real amenity available was a Starbucks that closed shortly after midnight??!! They also only have the row seating with armrests to discourage anyone from stretching out and actually getting some decent rest.
Then the Avianca people had told me at 9pm that I could check-in at 5am, so I was first in line, but, of course, they did not open until 6am.... I spent the night away from everyone in the baggage area.
The 7 hour flight to Bogota was the hardest because of much turbulence (again) over Mexico, even though we were flying at over 40,000 feet, and we could not walk around to even go to the bathroom. Avianca offers decent drink options, including free alcohol, but their meals leave a lot to be desired.
The Bogota airport at least had a lot of amenities available for the 3-hour layover but our gate was a main floor exit onto buses and then climbing the steps onto a visibly aged and dirty Airbus. Mercifully the last leg was only 2 hours to Guayaquil and we had a quick breeze through Immigration but then I got pulled over for another inspection. I asked the guy why we would possibly need an inspection in each of the 4 airports??? Overkill to say the least.
I caught a cab the short distance to the Bus Depot and went in the wrong entrance which disoriented me from finding the ticket counter for the Cuenca buses. The heat and humidity, combined with my fleece pullover, and hauling the suitcase and carry-on had me dripping wet in no time.
I climbed the escalators to the bus departure gate 87 as instructed and put my bags below and presented my ticket to board. The man said that I should be on the bus in gate 86, so I had to retrieve my bags and repeat the procedure on the new bus. If you have ever seen the movie "Airplane" where the main character is sweating like Niagara Falls, then you will have an idea how I felt.... Then several people were seated in the wrong seats and it took ages to seat everyone properly before we finally departed... It was an unbearable time until the bus got in motion and we could get some cool air circulating.
Then, I am still figuring out how, or why, the bus made its way to Azogues before coming to Cuenca....
Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to arrive home shortly after 6:30am and to be met by an appreciative reception from Cristina, Lupe and Mariposa. So essentially my odyssey was 36.5 hours and I survived, stinky but unscathed, and deliriously happy to be at home.
Carnaval is beginning so the neighbourhood is very quiet for a Sunday as everyone with the capability leaves town during this period. You have to be in the right mood and frame-of-mind to venture out on the streets, knowing that you can get soaked, foamed, and even covered in flour.
I hope you enjoy the photos, again taken with the baby camera, so apologies for the quality. It will be nice to have the big camera in my hands again. That was the day's
excitement, Cheers,
Al
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| Always a pleasure to see Auntie Jeannette and Uncle Emilian |
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| Eileen's grandson is mad for Emergency vehicles... |
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| A drive-by shot of Calgary's skyline from the south |
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| Another panorama-style shot from the south showing the Calgary Tower |
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| Waiting to get on the Boeing 788 out of LAX |
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| Cheesecake and sparkling water for $4 in Bogota |
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| Folks whiling away the time in Bogota Airport |
