We were up at 3:30am and caught the 4am shuttle. It took a little maneuvering to get our bike boxes and duffles into the van, but the driver did it! We were a little worried about flying with our bikes, but everything went very smooth. Although our bike boxes just barely fit into the oversized scanner! We made it through security without any glitches and had time to grab breakfast before waiting for our flight. Our flight to Toronto took off at 6am. We had just enough leg room and they had tv screens which helped pass the time. We were also blessed with nobody in the third seat or behind us which was very nice. Seated nearby was a young mother with an 18mth old baby. He was a content baby and so much fun to watch. She ended up being given the empty row behind us so she could lay down with him. Two hours later we disembarked in Toronto. We had a second breakfast before catching our last flight to Kelowna. Unfortunately this flight, though bigger, had less leg room and no screens. They also had no potable water due to a maintenance problem. My knees were pressed against the seat in front of me and we were in a full row. They served bottled water and soft drinks. I was so tired and I had forgotten to bring my Sudoku book so I had nothing to do. I tried reading an ebook but my eyes were very heavy. I rested them for a bit but I didn't want to fall asleep. 4 and a half hours later we arrived in Kelowna; 11am BC time but 3 pm our time. Mom and Elizabeth had just arrived and welcomed us with big hugs and Elizabeth had even brought helium filled balloons. It was so great to see them. Dad was outside waiting with the vehicle in the waiting zone. We went to the baggage pickup and waited for what seemed like a very long time for our bags to come through. Eventually they did and then we went to the oversized baggage pick up. I was worried about our bike boxes but they came back looking pretty good, we still have to set them up so we'll see! We managed to fit our baggage into the vehicle. It was so great to see mom and dad and Elizabeth. I held back some tears, happy tears, overwhelmed tears, and exhausted tears! We grabbed some lunch on the go and drive home. It was great catching up with them in a small setting first. Arriving at home was nice, especially that first tall cup of fresh milk. Oh how I had missed my milk! Sara and I shared our stories, and then heard tales from happenings at home too. We had a quiet afternoon, but were expecting a busy evening. Aunty Liz, Eileen and Theo were coming up, and then as kind of a surprise, Uncle Leo came too. Paul, Micah and Israel also came over for a welcome home dinner. They are expecting their second baby in the new year. Israel is getting so big! We had a delicious steak dinner. I was exhausted so I didn't participate a whole lot. Because of the extra company, Sara and I ended up on the couches for sleeping. Oh well, after 9 1/2 weeks what's one more night? I still can't believe that we are done, much less that we biked all the way across Canada!!!
9/8/2017 0 Comments Day T+2 Heading HomeWe were up at 3:30am and caught the 4am shuttle. It took a little maneuvering to get our bike boxes and duffles into the van, but the driver did it! We were a little worried about flying with our bikes, but everything went very smooth. Although our bike boxes just barely fit into the oversized scanner! We made it through security without any glitches and had time to grab breakfast before waiting for our flight. Our flight to Toronto took off at 6am. We had just enough leg room and they had tv screens which helped pass the time. We were also blessed with nobody in the third seat or behind us which was very nice. Seated nearby was a young mother with an 18mth old baby. He was a content baby and so much fun to watch. She ended up being given the empty row behind us so she could lay down with him. Two hours later we disembarked in Toronto. We had a second breakfast before catching our last flight to Kelowna. Unfortunately this flight, though bigger, had less leg room and no screens. They also had no potable water due to a maintenance problem. My knees were pressed against the seat in front of me and we were in a full row. They served bottled water and soft drinks. I was so tired and I had forgotten to bring my Sudoku book so I had nothing to do. I tried reading an ebook but my eyes were very heavy. I rested them for a bit but I didn't want to fall asleep. 4 and a half hours later we arrived in Kelowna; 11am BC time but 3 pm our time. Mom and Elizabeth had just arrived and welcomed us with big hugs and Elizabeth had even brought helium filled balloons. It was so great to see them. Dad was outside waiting with the vehicle in the waiting zone. We went to the baggage pickup and waited for what seemed like a very long time for our bags to come through. Eventually they did and then we went to the oversized baggage pick up. I was worried about our bike boxes but they came back looking pretty good, we still have to set them up so we'll see! We managed to fit our baggage into the vehicle. It was so great to see mom and dad and Elizabeth. I held back some tears, happy tears, overwhelmed tears, and exhausted tears! We grabbed some lunch on the go and drive home. It was great catching up with them in a small setting first. Arriving at home was nice, especially that first tall cup of fresh milk. Oh how I had missed my milk! Sara and I shared our stories, and then heard tales from happenings at home too. We had a quiet afternoon, but were expecting a busy evening. Aunty Liz, Eileen and Theo were coming up, and then as kind of a surprise, Uncle Leo came too. Paul, Micah and Israel also came over for a welcome home dinner. They are expecting their second baby in the new year. Israel is getting so big! We had a delicious steak dinner. I was exhausted so I didn't participate a whole lot. Because of the extra company, Sara and I ended up on the couches for sleeping. Oh well, after 9 1/2 weeks what's one more night? I still can't believe that we are done, much less that we biked all the way across Canada!!!
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9/8/2017 0 Comments Day T+1 Being TouristsOur first Wednesday in 9 weeks where we didn't have to bike! Sara and I spent Wednesday (the day following dipping our tires) touring Halifax. We tried to sleep in because our beds were that comfy, no such luck. We were up by 7-7:30. We caught a shuttle bus to the airport and from there took a transit bus to downtown Halifax. It was an hour long bus ride. We got dropped off just below the Halifax citadel so we went there first. On our way up, we were able to share about Sea to Sea with s couple of people our for a morning run. While at the citadel, we were surprised to see a few more Sea to Sea cyclists who were getting a tour. Sara and I didn't have time to take the tour so we just walked around by ourselves. It was a very active citadel, with bagpipes playing! We went through the museum and walked around the walls. From there we walked down to the boardwalk. We enjoyed our sightseeing along there even though it was a hazy day. We had a huge slice of pizza for lunch and walked down to Pier 21 where we found the ship (Grootebeer) my Great Oma's family came on, with their names. We also found the ship my Grandpa and Grandma came on (Ryndam). That was really cool. We were just about done when Len, Carrie and their family came in, it was great to see them! Then, We were just leaving the record room and heard "Hey Sea to Sea'ers!!!"Reuben's wife and baby were right there. It was great to see them as well. We saw Reuben shortly after. We walked back, stopping in many shops. We realized we were exhausted and had been since about 1 in the afternoon, which was a strange feeling for us, usually we'd still be biking. We caught a bus back to the Hotel but not before buying matching dresses! (Our first real purchase on the trip). We caught the long bus ride back to the airport. Now we had to wait for a shuttle, we missed the one that was there right away so we walked to where we had been dropped off earlier. We had a long wait and Then saw the shuttle go past us, way past us. There was a different pick up spot! We ran as fast as we could in flip flops down to where he had stopped. We made it! Upon arriving at the hotel we went to do a load of laundry. Without thinking I put a loonie in the change slot, only meant for quarters. Sara went up to get a hotel person to fix it. Bad timing, a rear ending in the parking lot had them in a mad scramble. We went to get dinner at the bistro instead. I had Southern chicken!!! After a few bangs and shoves, the washer was working again. We did our laundry and then packed. We went to bed on time because we had to be up at 3:30 the next morning. |
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April 2018
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