We made it. The flights down were pretty uneventful. Some of our expected trials never occurred:
Hurricane Cadence -- She can be a handful but for the most part all the children did really well. Cohen was a huge helper as we schlepped around three 50 lb. bags, seven 45 lb. rubbermaid bins, 10 pieces of personal luggage, a camera and a jogging stroller. In every airport we were managing at least two overburdened luggage carts and the jogging stroller which did its share of hauling baggage. The unfortunate story of the stroller is that one of the wheels was flat -- we filled it at a service station in Toronto but the next morning -- flat. Going on the to do list is 'fix innertube'.
Hurrican Irene -- Anyone who was worried, we flew right around her. At one point the pilot directed our attention out of the right of the plane to see her. It looked like a bunch of clouds as far as I know. The strange thing is the CTV news reports in the seatback system had reports of flight delays and pre-emptive evacuations for places like Manhattan -- yet the GPS images in the same seatback system showed our flightpath straight through New York. There was some turbulance at points, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Customs -- we weren't sure how the customs officials would recieve a family of five lugging 500+ lbs. of stuff or what they would say when we responded "nine months" to the question "How long are you staying?" We sat at the front of the plane which meant we disembarked first. Serendipitously, our bags were the first off the carousel, too. So we got to the front of the customs screening line where I was asked to open each of the seven rubbermaid bins for inspection. Carmen pointed out that there was a fellow behind us who was quite upset that we were holding up the whole plane -- and he was quite vocal (and likely 'lubricated').
Friends who are experienced at moving across this border suggested that we be prepared for a delay and perhaps an import 'duty'. The belligerant fellow made such a fuss that all attention turned to him. Instead of pulling our bins apart, instead he recieved a detailed baggage inspection. He continued to rail against the injustice of entering a foreign country -- I don't know what happened to him but I did have to open all the containers for a cursory look-see. At the end, the customs agent shaked my hand, thanked me and welcomed us with a big smile.
Transport -- We took two minivans to the airport in Edmonton. In Toronto we filled a 15-passenger van. We were a little concerned that our arranged arrival transport would be too small which would required two trips, double the cost and I would have to stay back at the airport with our bags. Instead, Pilcio came through. His little boxy van carried everything in one trip. The 45 minute transfer was a relief -- that the whole 'travel' part of the journey is done (for now) and the 'living' part is about to begin.
Honestly, I am exhausted; Carmen is exhausted. Yet somehow, the kids are still going!?!
We have a lot to do. First off groceries, then the beach. Monday we start figuring our what life like
here is going to look like.
Hurricane Cadence -- She can be a handful but for the most part all the children did really well. Cohen was a huge helper as we schlepped around three 50 lb. bags, seven 45 lb. rubbermaid bins, 10 pieces of personal luggage, a camera and a jogging stroller. In every airport we were managing at least two overburdened luggage carts and the jogging stroller which did its share of hauling baggage. The unfortunate story of the stroller is that one of the wheels was flat -- we filled it at a service station in Toronto but the next morning -- flat. Going on the to do list is 'fix innertube'.
Hurrican Irene -- Anyone who was worried, we flew right around her. At one point the pilot directed our attention out of the right of the plane to see her. It looked like a bunch of clouds as far as I know. The strange thing is the CTV news reports in the seatback system had reports of flight delays and pre-emptive evacuations for places like Manhattan -- yet the GPS images in the same seatback system showed our flightpath straight through New York. There was some turbulance at points, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Customs -- we weren't sure how the customs officials would recieve a family of five lugging 500+ lbs. of stuff or what they would say when we responded "nine months" to the question "How long are you staying?" We sat at the front of the plane which meant we disembarked first. Serendipitously, our bags were the first off the carousel, too. So we got to the front of the customs screening line where I was asked to open each of the seven rubbermaid bins for inspection. Carmen pointed out that there was a fellow behind us who was quite upset that we were holding up the whole plane -- and he was quite vocal (and likely 'lubricated').
Friends who are experienced at moving across this border suggested that we be prepared for a delay and perhaps an import 'duty'. The belligerant fellow made such a fuss that all attention turned to him. Instead of pulling our bins apart, instead he recieved a detailed baggage inspection. He continued to rail against the injustice of entering a foreign country -- I don't know what happened to him but I did have to open all the containers for a cursory look-see. At the end, the customs agent shaked my hand, thanked me and welcomed us with a big smile.
Transport -- We took two minivans to the airport in Edmonton. In Toronto we filled a 15-passenger van. We were a little concerned that our arranged arrival transport would be too small which would required two trips, double the cost and I would have to stay back at the airport with our bags. Instead, Pilcio came through. His little boxy van carried everything in one trip. The 45 minute transfer was a relief -- that the whole 'travel' part of the journey is done (for now) and the 'living' part is about to begin.
Honestly, I am exhausted; Carmen is exhausted. Yet somehow, the kids are still going!?!
We have a lot to do. First off groceries, then the beach. Monday we start figuring our what life like
here is going to look like.
Hi guys,
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear u arrived safely
We look fwd to keeping up to date with your adventure; miss u lots.
Kerri, Chris, E3
The beginning of an awesome adventure! Send pix when you can.
ReplyDeleteIan