While the time spent with my newly reconnected family was great fun, the getting there was not. I tailored my plans specifically so that I could travel with my cousin and arrive with her at the big surprise party. The last time I saw Leslie we were wee small children. I was really,really looking forward to this. Two things went against me, though. Westjet chose that very day to do upgrades (obviously not very well tested beforehand) to their computer systems. The other opposing force was the weather. Fog at the Prince George airport .... apparantly ONLY at the Prince George airport and nowhere else. Now, I'm no expert, but if you can take-off and land a plane in the dark, why can't you do it in fog? Seriously. I sat on the tarmac for 5 hours. It was bleeping ridonkulous! This caused me to miss my connecting flight ... my cousin ... the party. The whole danged shabang. I was NOT impressed. I think Westjet needs to hear from me.
One good thing came out of that experience, though. Sitting beside me for those 5 hours, on a plane going nowhere, was one of the Directors of the BC Historical Federation. She was in PG doing research on her own family tree. When she casually started to tell me about it, my ears perked up and I turned completely in my seat to face her. Was this kismet, or what?! I still can't believe it. Since returning home, I've been in touch with her and she has offered tons of tips to help me find my very elusive grandfather. Very woo-woo.
I didn't know how the whole family visit in Montreal would go, so didn't plan to stay long. Once there, however, I wanted to hang around. Westjet was not very accommodating with my attempt to change return flights, so I just came home as originally planned. I was somewhat ticked with airport security rifling through my bag ... looking for God knows what ... only to have them confiscate my toothpaste. There went my plans to run amok with flouride gel!
I don't want to sound complainy, because the discomfort and annoyances were totally worth it. I got to meet some great people and maybe start the healing of an old wound in the family.
It was good to get home to my hunny-bunny and all our kritters. If I look a little tired, it's only coz I was.
Oh ya....and no plane trip is complete without catching the obligatory cold. But don't get me started on why they can't put better filtration systems on those airplanes.
