We were up at 5:30 this morning and breakfast was brought to our room at 6:00. We figured this would be the quickest way since we have to been down in Frans Hals Lounge before 7:30 am to disembark. After breakfast, we watched the ship back in to the pier in Vancouver. We didn't realize Vancouver was so huge but found out on our ride to the airport that it is Canada's third largest city with 2.5 million people living here! More on Vancouver later.
We were in the "red" group meaning that we had transportation arranged to the Vancouver airport. Again, everything was so well done and things went smoothly. We were divided in to three groups and as they called our group number, we had to go to the front, give them our room number and show our passport. We were given a paper to put in the passport and told not to lose it. Once everyone had done this, this sent us to the bus waiting for us. We had to scan our ship card one more time to check out and we loaded a bus. (Conrad figured that if everyone on the ship was riding a bus to the airport, they would need 28 buses!) They took the slip of paper from our passport as we got ready to board the bus to the airport.
Coming in to Vancouver
A bridge in Vancouver
A floating gas station
The floatplane airport
--Vancouver has the 2nd busiest airport in Canada
--There are no freeways in Vancouver
--There are malls and trains underground
--In some areas of the city, there are 100,000 people per square mile
--It has the most congested traffic in Canada and is 2nd in North America
Los Angeles is the most congested in North America
--The convention center has grass on the roof to help keep it cool in summer and
warm in winter
--Last year they only had 4 days of snow
--Vancouver has the highest price for gas in North America at $1.53 per liter or
about $6.00 per gallon! Ouch!!
--Vancouver Island is about 300 miles long and they are still getting debris from the
tsunami in Japan in March 2011.
We wish we had taken an extra day to explore this city. I guarantee we wouldn't have gotten home any later! (Most of you know, getting home was a real problem!)
Downtown Vancouver
Hotel Georgia - built in 1927 - celebrities who have stayed here are
Nat King Cole, Elvis, Louis Armstrong, The Beatles, John Wayne,
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip
BC Place was the main stadium for the 2010 Olympics
This area near the airport is going to be converted to condos.
The house on the left is for sale for $2.99 million! Others are for
sale for no less than $2 million.
We arrived at the airport, unloaded the bus, and went to claim our luggage. We couldn't check in for our flight until 3 hours before the flight. Ours was at 2:20 pm. We visited with the couple from California and the couple from New Orleans we had met on the ship. That sure helped to pass the time. Finally, it was time to check in. The line was really long (our first long line of the day). We had to show our passports to check in, got our boarding passes and went to eat lunch. After lunch we got in another long line to check our bags. Again, had to show boarding pass and passport. That line was about 20 minutes long. Then it was on to the security line that was another 20 minutes long. Again, had to show our boarding pass and passport. Of course, I didn't make it through so had to be hand searched. Conrad was the one they chose to pull aside and do the full body scan and also ran the wand down in his carry-on bag. It took him a long time to catch up to me. Then we had to go through immigration and this time scanned our passport and it printed us a receipt with the passport picture on it. Then had to show our boarding pass and turn in the receipt. This whole process (baggage check, security & immigration) took about 50 minutes but if you saw the line, you'd be impressed it moved that fast. We got down to our gate and when it was time to leave......you guessed it.........we had to show boarding passes and passport AGAIN!
Leaving Vancouver
We were to land in Denver and had about an hour layover there. Well, we had to fly around some big thunderstorms and then circled the airport for a long time. The pilot finally told us that the Denver airport was closed because of severe storms and we would be going to Colorado Springs. It was a pretty scary landing since the cross winds were so high. We bounced around and when the plane came to a stop, everyone clapped. By this time, our flight should have left for Little Rock but had been cancelled. We sat on the ground in Colorado Springs for an hour or more and a fuel truck pulled up and they brought out one of those luggage lift things to stand on to refuel our plane. The plane was too large to land at this airport and security would not let us get off. We finally took off again for Denver and had to go to United's Customer Service area.
Refueling in Colorado Springs
Below is the line for Customer Service. Once it gets to the front, it winds around in about three lines to the desk. We were finally able to get through on the 800 number and were told we had already been rebooked on a flight for tomorrow. We just had to pick up our boarding passes in the morning. We were assured our luggage would be on the next direct flight to Little Rock. We're not so sure about that. By now it is 11:00 pm and we're absolutely exhausted and starving!
The line at Customer Service
We walked all around Terminal B looking for a place to eat but everything was closed. Finally found a bookstore that was open and we asked about a place to eat. They were serving hummus and crackers but we were a little hungrier than that! He told us there was a 24-hour McDonald's in Terminal A and how to get there. Off we went, only to discover another LONG line! Conrad got us a table and took my backpack and I stood in line to order some food. That was a 45-minute wait and it was 11:45 pm. We decided to "sleep" in the airport since there are no hotels within 25 miles of the airport and we needed to be back early in the morning. Of course, we couldn't sleep. We walked around, read, watched people and waited for morning to come.
The line at McDonald's
It was so cold in the airport and I had a sweater I dug out of the carry-on bag. We had bought the granddaughters these little pillows with an animal on them. I put one in the backpack but Conrad wanted to pack the other one. I was glad to have it. I did stretch out on the floor a couple times just so I didn't have to sit, stand or walk!
My sleep pose - wishing it was true!
Finally, the sky starts getting a little lighter and we go find some breakfast and head back to our terminal and the last long line. It took us an hour in line to get our boarding passes and the woman tells us we are confirmed on the 11:15 flight to Houston but why weren't we booked on the direct flight to Little Rock at 9:50? Well, we don't know but she gives us stand-by boarding passes for the direct flight. We are #2 and #3 on the list. We see #1 get on and then the woman prints out a list and we just know we didn't make it. Then she calls for any stand-by passengers and we jump up and rush over there. There are 2 more seats on the plane! I'm desperately texting Jason that we got on the plane and will be in Little Rock at 1:00 and to pick us up! Then I have to turn off my phone.
Morning arriving in Denver
We arrive in Little Rock right on time and Jason and Macey are there to pick us up. Macey came running in to my arms with a huge hug and I knew I was home again. AND...........our luggage came on the same plane with us!!!!!
Thanks for joining us on our trip. Anyone who wants to take a trip with us, just let us know! We'd love the company. We're not sure where our next adventure will take us yet. Any suggestions?
