Day 16–Home At Last!

The first thing the kids did when they woke up was to ask if they could go to the airport to see daddy!  Thankfully, I was able to tell them that, yes, we would be going this morning!  I watched the ‘SPOT’ website all morning until I could see he had crossed over into Alberta and then I got the kids ready to go and piled into the van.  We were at the airport for about half an hour before he landed and boy were the kids excited to see him come in!  Ben was quite concerned that daddy had disappeared again when he landed as he couldn’t see the plane at the other end of the runway, so when he taxied in, Ben was ready!

Looking for daddy…

He’s finally here!  Coming in to land.

The mad rush!  I love this picture.

Big hugs for daddy!

      
It’s been quite the adventure - 16 days (5 weather days), 14 cities, 35 hours of flying and 4484 nautical miles covered (about 8330 kilometers).  So glad to be home and together again.

Last day.

Day 15 - Closer to Home

They got out!  The weather FINALLY cooperated enough for them to be able to fly out of Timmins this morning!  They stopped a few times to fuel up - Geraldton, Dryden and then made it to Brandon.  What a long day!  I'm glad they decided to stay in Brandon tonight.  Flying by yourself for that long is hard.  Hopefully we'll get to welcome him home tomorrow!

As for us at home... it's been a pretty quiet (non-productive) day.

Day 14 - Still Waiting in Timmins

Lennard was really hoping that they'd be able to get out of Timmins today... but after waiting most of the day at the airport, they ended up having to check back in to a hotel.  So incredibly frustrating for him.  There are now 16 Century Flight members stuck in Timmins trying to get home.  I 'borrowed' this picture from Pat who took it today while they were all at the airport.

As for me... I have done four loads of laundry, gone grocery shopping, baked bread, picked up the mail, visited my parents at the airport, checked out the hail damage on our trailer (darn weather) and juggled kids! It's been a bit of a roller coaster day with the kids trying to get back into a routine, but overall it's been good.

These crazy kids have juice running through their veins!

Day 13 - 'Lucky' Day?!

It's definitely nice to be home, but boy it doesn't take long for life to come crashing back in full force!  I was so tired from traveling yesterday that when we got home all I wanted to do was go to bed.  Ben went to bed great... Emma was a whole other story.  Apparently she has been extremely clingy while we've been gone, and she definitely manifested that last night.  She would not got to bed without me in the room... I tried everything, but she got so worked up that I finally had to have her sit on my lap to calm down.  She fell asleep in my arms, but as soon as I got up to put her in bed she was awake and demanding that I stay!  Unfortunately for her... I don't go for 3 year olds telling me what to do!  Finally, at about 10:20pm she gave up!  I had just got in to bed and was almost asleep when Ben woke up coughing at 10:40.  I gave him some Tylenol to help with his sore throat and he settled pretty well.  He then woke up again at 12:20.  Emma was up at 4:30 and I gave up and let her sleep in bed with me.  Then Ben was up at 4:40 wanting his blanket and some juice.  I got them both settled... and then I was awake.  No going back to sleep for me.  My body is still saying that it is on Ontario time and we've been getting up at 6:00... so technically, I had slept in!  So, here I am... 5:00 and wide awake... as both kids sleep.  It's good to be home.

I decided that we would have a relaxed morning and go to just Sacrament Meeting in Mountain View with my parents.  It was a good thing too as both kids were overly tired and cranky.  I was glad for the extra help!  We had a wonderful home-cooked meal (after all the restaurant meals lately it tasted extra good) and then had to head home as Emma had an upset stomach.  They both had late naps and so it ended up being an extremely late night again.

Still no sign of the weather improving in Timmins yet.  Lennard went to church this morning and then just hung out.  He's getting pretty bored and frustrated.  Hope the weather improves soon!

Day 12 - Unexpected Ending

When we got up this morning Lennard immediately grabbed the iPad to check the weather.  I was really hoping that he would come up with good news, but unfortunately, the system that is preventing us getting west is pretty much stalled right where we need to fly through.  When the ceilings are only at 300 ft... that doesn't give you anywhere to fly!

We went and had some breakfast and as more pilots from our group came out, the weather talk increased. It was finally the consensus that we would have to wait another day.  There were two groups that decided that they needed to get home, so they planned on leaving their planes and heading back on Air Canada.

Lennard felt really strongly that one of us needed to be home with the kids, and since I'm not a pilot (ha! ha!), we finally decided to book a ticket for me on Air Canada to head home.  (Budget... officially blown!)  I gathered up my stuff and we headed to the airport.  It was hard leaving Lennard behind.  I understand the reasoning, but this definitely isn't how I wanted our vacation to end.

Leaving Timmins

I had a short flight from Timmons to Toronto.  Had enough time to have a bathroom break, buy a book (since I had to leave the phone and iPad with Lennard), and line up to board the next plane.  The next flight from Toronto to Calgary was fine.  I read and dozed most of the time.  About an hour outside of Calgary there was a medical emergency on board.  Not really sure what happened, but when they start calling for doctors to identify themselves, you know it's not just a bump or cut!  They were able to help the lady enough to keep going on to Calgary and she was taken off the plane first, so hopefully everything will be okay.

Unfortunately, when I arrived in Calgary, I discovered that the flight to Lethbridge was delayed by an hour and a half.  Grrr!  It was seriously the longest wait ever!  I was so glad when they finally allowed us to board the plane.  Gotta love those mandatory rest periods for the pilots (I'm glad I got rested pilots though!).  We got in to Lethbridge about 8:30 and I could hardly wait for everyone ahead of me to get off the plane.  I was so excited to see our kids!

Emma just about didn't wait for me to get through the doors before she was in my arms and Ben wasn't too far behind her.  It was all I could do to get to the chairs.  I, of course, bawled.  I was so happy to see them, though Emma was very concerned about why I was crying.  It took her about two minutes before she was asking where daddy was.  That was a hard explanation.  They both wanted their daddy!

We made it home, got all the stuff into the house and mom & dad left.  I can't begin to thank them and my sisters for watching Emma and Ben for us.  Lennard and I really needed this vacation and we couldn't have done it without them.

Now we just pray really hard that the silly weather will cooperate and let Lennard get home SOON!

Day 11 - Short Day

Today we went from North Bay to Timmons... just over an hour.  We had lots of cloud and some rain. Once we got there, we couldn't go any farther.  We hung out at the airport for hours hoping that the weather would improve with no luck.

My favorite picture of the day... Wayne & Linda and Pat & Lon

We finally gave up, got a taxi and went to a hotel.  The hotel is pretty basic, but at least it was somewhere to lay down.  After a bit of a rest, Lennard and I decided to go for a walk, get something to eat and then go to a movie. We saw Wolverine 2.  Really hope we can get out of here tomorrow.

Stats:  Just over an hour of flying time.  More time that we wish to count waiting...

Day 10 - On Our Way Home

We decided to head out this morning to see if we could get ahead of the weather that is supposed to be coming.  Pat & Lon and Wayne & Linda decided to come with us as well, so we all shared a taxi over to the airport, loaded up our planes and took off towards Trois-Rivieres, Quebec.  

Here is PEI as we were leaving this morning.  It was a bit hazy, but the clouds were high enough to get through.

I had to take one more picture of the bridge as we were leaving.

This is the view over the ocean.  One grey for the sky and one for the ocean!  I was glad we could still see land!

We could definitely tell when we hit New Brunswick!  Lot and lots of trees!

More of New Brunswick. (I think)

We had pretty good weather.  Even with clouds, they were broken enough that we could always see the ground.

After 3 hours of flying, we were all ready for a break.  Thankfully, we got to Trois-Rivieres right about then, so we took our time, had something to eat and enjoyed visiting with each other.  We managed to charge our iPhones and iPads during lunch and then we were ready to take off again to head to North Bay, Ontario.

This is where we found a bit more clouds.  Wayne & Linda stayed above the clouds, while Pat & Lon and Lennard & I went below.  Unfortunately, going lower meant more turbulence.  We tightened our seatbelts and just kept going.  There were a few moments where I was sure I was going to lose my lunch, but I managed to hang on!

We got to North Bay and all of us decided that we were done for the day.  It was a little frustrating to see beautiful blue skies and be on the ground, but we were all tired and mentally done.  I don't think I could have handled too much more turbulence today.  We got the planes fueled up and then got a taxi to a hotel.

We decided to go out to eat together and ended up at East Side Marios.  It was such a fun evening and we laughed a lot.  

After dinner we walked down to the shores of Lake Nipissing.  It was such a beautiful night that I was wishing that we'd had some lawn chairs to sit and relax.  We visited for a while there and then headed back to the hotel.

We are really hoping that the weather will improve over night so that we can continue on home, so please pray hard!  We are ready to be home!

Stats:  5 hours 18 minutes of flying time.  677 nautical miles.  2 more cities.  Lots more memories made.

P.S.  We were supposed to stay in PEI until tomorrow morning, but with the way the weather is looking a LOT of people took off today.  I feel bad because the closing banquet was tonight with a lobster dinner, but at the same time, I want to be able to get home!  From the pilot's we know, most of them left today.  I would say at least 1/3 of the pilots/crews left today!  I think the closing banquet might have been a little sparse!  

Day 9 - More PEI

We signed up to go on a driving tour this morning.  It wasn't good weather for flying, so we figured it would be a good alternative.  We ended up being in the very back of the van we were in, so this was our view most of the way there.

We got to a little narrow, bumpy road, parked the vans and all made our way around mud puddles.  I was really wondering where we were going when we came up and over a dune and came upon this!  So beautiful! (Cable Head)

It was a bit breezy, but so nice to be able to go for a walk on the beach.

Such a nice way to spend a morning!

It didn't take long before my jacket came off... as well as my shoes!  The water was even nice.  I was really wishing that Emma and Ben were here with us.  They would have loved it!

We've enjoyed having a vacation together.  It's been a long time since we've had this much one-on-one time.  

Here's my handsome man!  What a good guy to carry my shoes while I played in the water!

We walked down the beach to this decommissioned lighthouse.  It was a nice walk with a beautiful view. 

We then went to the Rodd Crowbush Gold & Beach Resort for lunch.  We should have known just going in to a resort for lunch that it would be more than we normally spend, but we weren't prepared to spend $45... on 1 1/2 sandwiches, 2 cookies and about a cup of potato salad between the two of us!  It was a buffet with a set price, so we didn't have much of a choice.  Glad we didn't eat like that every day!  

A bunch of the group wanted to continue on to Cavendish afterwards, but as we have gone there a number of times, we opted to head back to the hotel and have a nap.  We weren't feeling great from riding in the back of the van.  We had a nice break and then, this evening, walked about 2 kilometres down to get donairs for dinner at Pizza Delight.  

We have decided that we're going to have to leave tomorrow morning instead of Friday morning.  It means we will miss the closing banquet here, but it's about the only day in the next 4 days that looks like decent flying weather!  We are both ready to be home again.  It's been nice to get away, but we are anxious to get home and see our kids now!

Day 8 - Tour of PEI

The weather is playing a big part of this vacation... and not always in a good way!  Today during the weather briefing I had to laugh.  One minute it was all good to go, and the next they were recommending not going, etc.  We finally decided that we would probably have at least 4 good hours this morning, so we hopped on the shuttle and headed to the airport.  A lot of others had the same idea so we had some good company.  We found someone to sell us some oil for the airplane, got the plane ready and headed out to circumnavigate the island.  It was so beautiful!  I wish the skies had been a bit clearer, but at this point we'll take what we can get!  I took a LOT of pictures while we were up, so I'm only going to include a few (lots more than a few... but you don't have to look at them all!)

I love PEI.  Just walking out to the plane made me smile to see all the yellow and purple flowers everywhere.  

I had my longer lens on the camera when we took off so I could get all the planes, but this gives you a bit of an idea of the planes that are tied down at the airport.

I loved seeing all the red coastlines.

More coastline.

Another view of the Confederation Bridge.

There were so many light houses!

This is one of the wind farms on the far end of the island.

Another lighthouse... not in perfect focus as it is extremely difficult to zoom in, hold the camera still enough and get it to focus on anything other than the canopy!

More scenery.

Love the patchwork fields.

After we got back from flying, we got a shuttle downtown and went to lunch at Lobster on the Wharf.  I had fish & chips and Lennard had a fisherman's platter.  SO good!  We ended meeting up with Darren, his dad and Guy there, so we had lunch together and then wandered around a bunch of the shops.  We found some fun gifts for the kids.  Can't wait to see their reactions!  

It started to sprinkle just as we got the shuttle back to the hotel and then poured once we got to our room.  We were glad that we didn't get caught in it!  The Century Flight had a Wing night at the hotel tonight that we went down to.  It was a bit interesting as everyone showed up at the same time and the wait staff got completely overwhelmed.  No one got their orders very quickly and it was really loud. I finished my dinner and headed back up to the room.  I'm actually looking forward to a nice early (quiet) night!

Stats... another hour and 45 minutes of flying time!

Day 7 - Quiet Day

We have had a pretty quiet day here in Charlottetown.  There were seminars this morning - one from Nav Canada, one on the different fly-outs, one on medical issues pilots face, etc.  By the time the seminars were done it was noon and we'd signed up for a walking tour of downtown Charlottetown.  We all loaded up into buses and headed downtown.  We had lunch at the Rodd Charlottetown hotel which was really good and then headed out.  It was a beautiful afternoon.

Our first stop was at the Fire Department.  They had this old fire engine outside.

Town Hall was next door.

There are numerous monuments along the way.  This one was for soldiers from PEI that fought in various wars.

We then got a chance to go through Province House which is considered the birthplace of confederation in September 1864.

The building is still used to this day to house PEI's parliament.

Our next stop was St. Dunstan's Basilica.  It is a beautiful building.

This photo is a bit dark, but this is the front of the cathedral.

This is looking back at the large organ.

We then made our way down to the waterfront and got a chance to look at a few of the stores.  We found these long-johns and couldn't help take a picture.  Too funny.

We definitely could have spent a LOT longer down on the water.  It was so nice!  

We finished off the tour by getting an ice cream cone at Cow's!  Yum! 

After getting back to the hotel, I sort of crashed and ended up having a nap for about an hour or so.  Guess I was tired!  We are a little frustrated that we didn't think to book a rental car before we got here as everything is completely booked now and we don't have any way of exploring the island more.  We are hoping to do some fly-outs this week, but the weather isn't looking too promising.  I guess we'll just take it one day at a time.  We walked over to Boston Pizza tonight and had a nice dinner.  It's been nice to have so much time together, but we're both missing our kids tonight.