AC Flight to yyz then yts

Luggage carts are worth their weight in gold even when it means you have to carry them up every hill. Getting to the Metro was easy. At first the workers seemed concerned. Maybe it was a security issue because of a big box going into the subway system, or maybe they thought we would disrupt other passengers with their sheer size.

Either way, they helped us through and using the cart and the elevators, it was a breeze to slip the bikes onto the red line for the few stops up to the Aeroporto. Soon in line for the Air Canada flight, it took some time for the workers to organize their line perimeters, and they seemed quite flustered completing what seemed to me a simple job. Finally, they were done, and then they were re-flustered with the bikes until I showed them the military allowance on Air Canada which permitted three bags of 70 lb each. These were dropped off at the oversize check-in, with hopes of seeing them again in a few hours in Timmins.

The boarding was slightly delayed though the waiting room seemed fairly empty. Once on board Air Canada Rouge's Boeing 767-300 in row 45, in moments I realized that this back section of about twenty rows of seven seats (that is, about 140 seats) there were about seven people. I asked the stewardess who told me that the AC season from Lisbon just started so this second flight is generally under capacity. I had a whole row to stretch out to sleep and read for the 7-1/2 hour flight. Heaven on wings!

Not so heavenly was the Toronto airport. When the plane broke through the clouds just east of Toronto, I could see that the fields were filled with water, rivers were swollen, and rain was pouring. Apparently there was a weather system stalled over southern Ontario and Quebec that was dumping piles of rain and flooding everywhere. Furthermore, there was extensive rehab work being done on one of the main runways so overall there were dozens of delayed and cancelled flights. Not only was the wait for the Toronto to Timmins flight seven hours away, but it might be cancelled until later tomorrow or who knows when.

To make a long and boring wait much shorter, I spent the time reading and when the time came, the flight boarded, was fully sold out. Sadly, we sat on the apron for an extra half hour before leaving for Timmins where we arrived at 1 am along with the bikes. They had made it and though the boxes were a bit damp from the rain, they were pretty much intact.

There was 'only' the hour long drive back home to a snowy Cochrane but I was able to tell Dad all about the trip.

As I have said before...

Home again, home again, jiggidy jig.