We are on the way...
The last couple weeks went by surprisingly quick. Tim was busy working on an essay for his masters and I stayed busy with work and things around the house. I may have read a bunch of books as well. Anything to distract us from the time remaining before the big trip.
In the last week leading up to our departure, we did our last little bit of planning, printed all of our travel documents and assembled our comfort essentials for the gruelling 13 hour flight. Tim bought us noise cancelling headphones, which by the way I am immensely enjoying as I write this... He also purchased candy and salty snacks, but, we haven't really needed extras so far. We packed a pillow and blanket, tablets and computer into two quite full carry-on bags.
We left Bagotville on Wednesday; the base called stand-down because of a winter storm. Freezing rain coated the car with about half an inch of solid ice. I was quite surprised that Tim still wanted to leave through a storm, but as he pointed out, the roads were good and it was only expected to rain periodically between Bagotville and Montreal. Besides, we finished work at about 1pm, which allowed us to get on the road by 2pm.
The trip from Bagotville to North Bay is 1020 kilometres. That translates into about 10-11 hours on a good day. This is probably the worst road trip every. Not only do we have to travel through the Laurentian park, which even during the summer has terrible road conditions with rain, snow and thick fog, but also, we have to drive through Quebec City, Montreal AND Ottawa. If Tim wasn't one of the most aggressive drivers in the world, this trip would still be long and boring. Unfortunately, he is; drives the car like it's stolen and he thinks driving is not only a competition, but a video game. I doubt he'd ever get a speeding ticket, but perhaps reckless endangerment, passing on a corner or tailgating. If you are frustrated with someone in your rear-view mirror, it might be Tim... I might consider Valium for the return trip!
We arrived in North Bay without incident. I was a little surprised that from Ottawa until North Bay there was only one gas station open. We have driven basically all over the US and never seen this level of shut-down during the night. Fortunately we didn't need gas, but, this day and age I would expect at minimum some of the stations would have self-serve pumps. We arrived in North Bay, safe and sound at about 12:30 AM. Step one in a 12 step process...
We enjoyed a short visit at the Mom and Dad's. Simon was happy to enjoy a game of Battle Star Galactica; albeit, he was annoyed Tim played Hay Day on his tablet between his turns. I guess it was at least good he humoured us.
Simon drove us to Toronto Saturday morning through some relatively bad roads. There was snow from Huntsville until after Barrie, but his steady hand and studded tires allowed us to pass basically everyone on the road. We enjoyed our hotel room and Tim was nice enough to get me Hawaiian pizza from his least favourite pizza joint; Pizza Pizza. I only cared about the dipping sauce, which he could not guarantee from other establishments. I'm pretty sure he was feeling sorry for me; probably going to be one of my last meals in a month. Thai food is spicy!
We woke up quite early this morning, ate some leftover pizza and mentally prepared ourselves for our 24 hours of travel. It was very good to have gotten a hotel at the airport; it allowed us to avoid being rushed. We booked it through Hotwire.com; the lottery of hotel bookings. I would suggest this if you are not concerned of you exact location. We got a very nice room at the Comfort Hotel for only $50 at Toronto Airport. Free shuttle to the airport; which we were solo clients and only took 10 minutes door-to-door.
We cleared security quite fast. The line appeared worst than the Mexican boarder, but they were quite efficient. We were very surprised when we arrive to the International terminal; there is an Ipad on almost every table; can be used for free. Surprisingly comfortable seats as well. The three hours passed fast and before we new it we were on-board, along with the other 350 people.
The 777 is very comfortable, even back here with the RIF-raft in economy. International flights still enjoy free food and drinks. Before the first hour was over we had 3 drinks and a hot meal in our belly. Two hours down; ten to go...
