Hi Everyone!
I'm not sure if I ever told you about our return trip on VIA RAIL from Ottawa to Saskatoon...so here goes. I'm sure that some of you will have a good chuckle! And, recped...yes...the trains of yesteryear when you rode it...no where near as comfortable as the modern ones!
We left Ottawa...Fairfield Station near our daughter's home...right on time on December 23rd...little bit after noon. My son-in-law put our big luggage on the train for us, we said our goodbyes, shed tears, waved and we were gone.
We had packed a lunch which we enjoyed around 1 PM. This time is important.
We were delayed on the track for about 1-1/2 hours near Brockville because another train coming towards us was late...but because they were using the single track through that area we had to wait. No biggie as we were to have more than a 5 hour wait in Toronto before boarding for our cross-country trip back to Saskatoon.
So...we get going again. We napped, we looked out at the countryside, we chatted. We had a great time. Our girls are such fabulous travelers! I love being with them.
We arrive in Toronto..1-1/2 hours late. We had to wait for more than 1 hour on the platform for a porter to come and get our luggage. He was busy helping those in need of wheel chairs first. When it was finally our turn to have our luggage taken, the porter said that he would just check it for us right on through to Saskatoon so that we didn't have to keep up with it for the next several hours. Great idea.
Luggage checked and as we were leaving the counter a VIA RAIL manager came up and asked us if we were the Swansons. I said yes. He said that they had been looking for us to put us on a bus. I asked him why we were going to be put on a bus when we paid for the train.
The manager said that our train was more than 23 hours delayed so they were going to fly us to Winnipeg and the bus was going to take us to the airport. I asked him if we had a few minutes to get our girls some take-out since they hadn't eaten since noon. He said, "No, sorry. The bus is waiting on your family and then it will be leaving." Another porter got our luggage and took it to the bus.
Our girls said not to worry about dinner as they could wait until we got to the airport to get a sandwich.
Well...we sat on the bus for 2 hours before it left. They would not let anyone off even though the bus was just sitting there. Thankfully we had some fruit and granola bars with us.
We finally got to the airport, got our luggage onto some carts and wheeled it all inside to stand in line where VIA RAIL told us to. They had booked a chartered flight that was suppose to leave at 11:15 PM. It was now about 9:30 PM. My girls were hungry. There was another Mom with a 4-year-old and a 3 month old who had started out when we had as well. We were at the back of the line...the other lady with children...two people in front of us.
Around 10:30 PM a VIA RAIL agent came through the line and was handing out ham and cheese sandwiches to everyone. The little 4-year-old and our girls were thrilled to have something to eat. HOWEVER...when the agent got to our families he said, "Sorry, no sandwiches for you as you are not in Sleeper class. You have to wait until you get through security and then you can buy your own food." The little boy burst into tears. I scrounged through my bag and found a couple more granola bars and an orange and gave them to him. His eyes just lit up. Our girls peeled the orange for him and he ate like there was no tomorrow.
Since there were more than 200 people on this flight to check in...and that had to switch their luggage around so that they had no illegal items in their carry-ons...INCLUDING US...it took loner than anticipated to get through to the other side. (We had to get rid of our water, diet coke and iced tea. No biggie...but some people were MAD about this and threw major tantrums about it.)
Needless to say...we got through security at 12:30 in the morning. By then, MacKenzie was looking quite pale. She was getting sick from not having dinner. So we went right to Tim Horton's and got sandwiches, milk and water. We then walked to the opposite end of the airport to where we would get on the plane. Kaitlyn, MacKenzie and Emi had time to eat and drink their milk and nap for a bit before we boarded.
Remember the plane was suppose to leave at 11:15. But since it took so long to check everyone in...VIA Rail had to get permission for this flight to take off because Pearson Airport had grounded all flights after 11:30 PM due to the weather. More delays.
We boarded the plane finally around 2:30 in the morning. Actually a better description would be that we were squeezed in this airplane just like sardines in a can! It was hilarious to see grown people climbing over the arm rests to get into their seats and not being able to have their knees together. The back of the seat in front of a person was only a hand's distance from their own nose! There were only TWO people on the plane that could EASILY walk down the aisle and into their seats...the 4-year-old and our Emi (almost 7...but the size of a 3/4 year old! They fit perfectly! Even our twins couldn't fit their legs in easily. So much for chartered flights!
I really didn't think it would be that bad since the flight was supposed to be 1 hour and 15 minutes.
HOWEVER...we sat on the runway for more than 2 hours before taking off. Yup...we were trapped sardines. We were all exhausted sardines.
Emi fell asleep before we took off as did MacKenzie. Kaitlyn stayed awake with me.
About 4:30...we took off. It was bumpy at first but once through the bad weather...very smooth. 5 AM in the morning the flight attendants come through the cabin selling alcohol and giving everyone HOT CHICKEN SANDWICHES (for free). We passed...
We landed around 6 AM. We all got our luggage again and then boarded another bus to go to the hotel that VIA Rail was putting us up in. We went to the Radison there in Winnipeg...lovely hotel. We were ONCE AGAIN last in line to check in. By now it is 8 in the morning. I had slept for about 30 minutes on the plane, if that.
When I got the envelopes for our room...I noticed that they had put us in two separate rooms ON TWO SEPARATE FLOORS. Hmmmm...I said to the clerk that we needed one room for all of us...and it didn't matter if it was one bed with two cots or a pull out couch or two beds...but ONE ROOM.....or....two rooms with a door between.
He said that he didn't have anything for us and then asked WHAT WAS THE BIG DEAL about two rooms on two different floors. I explained to him that our twins were only 11 years old. He said, "GIVE ME A BREAK LADY...THOSE GIRLS AREN'T 11." I motioned to the VIA RAIL agent to please come and help me. He had MAJOR WORDS with the desk clerk, I provided ID for Kaitlyn, MacKenzie and Emi proving they were 11, 11 and 6.
The head manager of the Radisson came out and wanted to know what the problem was. We explained and she gave the clerk a dirty look and told him, "UNACCEPTABLE."
We finally were put into two rooms with three beds and a pass through door. Perfect. 9:30 in the morning...WE HIT THE BEDS AND SLEPT UNTIL 5 PM.
Got up...had a light lunch and then at 10 PM went down for dinner. VIA RAIL paid for all of our meals and the hotel. We watched a movie...went to bed. Got up at 7 AM on Christmas Day and went down for breakfast, returned to our room, got a bellman to take care of our luggage and we were off on the bus again around 9:30 AM..this time to the VIA Rail Station. The train was to leave at noon.
Noon came and went. We were still sitting in the train station. We finally boarded at 2:30 in the afternoon...after sitting for 5 hours in a very drafty station.
The train...one that they had pulled out of long term storage for emergency use only. It was so old that it still had ashtrays on all of the seats. There were two cars for economy class....not anywhere as comfortable as the train we took to Ottawa so we were quite thankful that we would only be on the train for 11 hours. Four bathrooms on the two cars....only one worked.
As it was December 25th the CN line had NO TRAINS on their tracks. They gave permission to VIA to use their tracks which enabled VIA to make up several hours on the late departure. THANKFULLY....my husband arrived in Saskatoon with our van 45 minutes early...because we arrived at the same time! What luck!!
We were going to stay in Saskatoon for a few nights but we all voted to GO HOME! So...van loaded, girls in, movies on....we left for home arriving there 3 hours later...tired...but happy to be there!
Our girls got ready for bed right away. Morley and I stayed up for a little bit longer as we needed to unload the van and then we took a few minutes and put a few presents for our girls from Santa and us in the living room.
We all slept in really late but of course it was Emi who came in and announced to everyone that Santa had been there!
All in all....a great trip! Our granddaughter as I had mentioned before arrived on the evening that we got there! Mia...said hello to the world around 10 PM that night so we had the entire time we were in Ottawa to get to know her. She's sweet, very quiet, and of course was the center of our attention. She's still sleeping through the night which our daughter and her husband are most thankful for! Not sure when they will be here to visit. It's so cold...-30's with the windchill right now.
If you would like to see a couple of pictures...take a look at my eBay store front located here:
http://stores.ebay.com/Simply-Country-Scrapbooking
The first photo is of our three youngest daughters, Kaitlyn, MacKenzie and Emi and of our two granddaughters, Sara and Mia.
The second photo....is of Mia. It's her hospital photo.
So...we've taken the bus to Ottawa. This time it was the train. Even though we kept our sense of humor and our patience....NEXT TIME...WEST JET!
Maybe one day we'll move there. One never knows!
Have a good one!
Susan
momoftwingles2
