Pages

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Back in the motorhome!

Yes, we slept in our motorhome last night! Felt great to be back in our own bed again, even if it's only for a few nights.

It was a long travel day yesterday as we flew from Barcelona, Spain to Montreal, Canada and then Montreal to Ottawa.

Here's the whole story...

Our flight was scheduled to leave at 12:50pm from Barcelona. We didn't leave the apartment until 10:00am, which is cutting things a little close for an international overseas flight. But we've flown a lot and have things pretty well timed so that we don't have to hang around the airport for hours on end. Not that we mind hanging around... time seems to go by quickly in the airport.

Anyhow, we walked to the main Barcelona Sants Train station to get the train to the airport. But we missed it by minutes and had to wait another half hour. Then, the train only arrives at Terminal 1 and you have to take a free shuttle bus to terminal 2. And of course the shuttle bus pulled out just as we were steps away from it. Fortunately, another one came along shortly. But it was 11:50 when we got to the checkin counter, and although we didn't have any bags to check, and we had already checked in online and had our seat assignments, the checkin agent chastised us, in a friendly sort of way.

He said that he had seen many people miss their flights because of being only a few minutes late and that we were cutting it pretty close. But, as Ruth said, 'you are only late if you miss your flight'. We didn't miss our flight, so I guess we weren't really late...we were actually right o time! We got through security, got our exit stamp in our passports, and made it to the boarding gate just as they called our section. Sounds like perfect timing to me!

Then, it was 8 hours on the Air Canada Rouge flight to Montreal. The plane departed right on time, and arrived ten minutes early.

We think that is Newfoundland below. 

Newfoundland southern coastline.

Quebec's Magdalen Islands. 
I bicycled these islands when I was 14 years old! 

Air Canada Rouge doesn't have a good reputation, but we've had no problem at all, and for the right price, we wouldn't hesitate to fly with them again. We paid $254 CAD ($195 USD) each for the one way flight. I honestly can't figure people who flew with Rouge and then complained about the tight seating or the lack of seatback entertainment. What do you expect from the discount version of Air Canada??

We arrived in Montreal to a fairly big lineup at customs, but they had a lot of officers on duty and it went by quickly. And for us, they didn't ask us a single question! They looked at the passport, scanned it, stamped it, and we were in! Almost as easy as getting in to Mexico!

Selfie in Montreal airport!

Then we had an hour wait for our puddle jumper half hour flight to Ottawa. It was a little late leaving, but no big deal.

Son in law Justin was there to pick us up at Ottawa airport, along with grandkids Cameron and Sadie. Our daughter Lindsey was working until 7:30pm.

Raining, and about 18C (65F) on arrival. That's not a bad temperature, but it's not going to last. Calling for a high of 8C (47F) on Monday. But, that's expected. After all, it is April in Canada!

Our motorhome Sherman has been parked here at Lindsey and Justin's house since last October. When we were here visiting in December, we noticed some signs of rodent activity and set a couple of traps before we left. Sure enough, we caught one of them, and although there were signs of more activity there was nothing serious. So we decided to sleep in the motorhome!

We wish we were continuing on in the motorhome, but that will have to wait until fall. Sherman will continue to remain parked here until October of this year. Another day we'll tell you about our plans for next winter season! It will include a lot of RV'ing!

And so we'll spend the next week and a half visiting with family and friends. We've already got our flight tickets booked to fly from Ottawa to Regina on the 27th.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The top rated Samsung Ultrasmart 43" TV is on deal of the day! What a deal...

Samsung UltraSmart 43" TV





22 comments:

  1. Glad you're back safely, Thanks for sharing your travels!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Kay and thank you for following along with us on our travels. :-)

      Delete
  2. Welcome home! Enjoy time with your family and friends! Thank you SO much for the last couple of months. It was FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Than you Connie and Barry! Enjoying the time already. We were put to work right away with grandchildren sitting yesterday and we had a ball with them.

      So happy you enjoyed following along on our adventures these last 3 months.

      Delete
  3. Glad you made it back safely! Enjoy your time with family and friends. Maybe y'all will even get a little bit of R & R in after all your adventures.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No time for R & R, we were put right to work yesterday watching the grandchildren while their mom and dad enjoyed a day at the spa. We will enjoy the next week and a half with our family and friends. It is going to go by fast though!

      Delete
  4. Welcome home and enjoy your time with the family until you head west again.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Being on PEI, I looked up yesterday and saw you flying over, heading home. I waved, but you might have sleeping! Lol. Thanks for your blogs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're welcome Larry, glad you are enjoying our adventures.

      No, we weren't sleeping and we wondered who that was that was waving up at us, now we know! ;-)

      Delete
  6. We arrived yesterday also. Always nice to be home.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Welcome back! We aren't quite home yet but we are almost there. It is nice to be back visiting with the family though.

      Delete
  7. Great picture of you two. You've been gone a long time. Poor Sherman being left for so long. I'm amazed you don't have more problems.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Sherry!

      Yes, poor Sherman hasn't been used since we left at the end of October and other than us sleeping in him he won't be used again until next October. He looks to be in good condition but we haven't started him up so hopefully the the mice haven't gotten at anything electrical or mechanical in him.

      Delete
  8. Yes I agree, you pay for what you get i.e. cheap tickets, no services or extras. I keep that in mind when buying anything food, tickets, accommodations, etc. I am very frugal to a point its a fault my kids tell me LOL It does always feel good to sleep in your own bed after a trip no matter how nice the trip had been.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As long as you go in knowing exactly what to expect from these discount airlines than you shouldn't be disappointed. We don't need all the bells and whistles, just a safe trip from A to B.

      Yes, it definitely feels good to be back in our own bed, too bad it isn't going to last too long though!

      Delete
  9. A few weeks ago on my flight to Bogota from D.F. I had all carry on. Got to the airport one hour before with boarding pass in hand. Some airlines are very strict and others not. Glad your home safe and sound.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Luckily it wasn't a busy airport for security like many of the American ones, if it was we would have allowed ourselves more time because we know what the lineups are like there.

      We aren't quite home yet but close enough!

      Delete
  10. Nice you got thru customs so easy!! I hate coming back thru customs when we've been gone longer then 6 months!! So many questions . And we never seem to bring back enough to make them happy!! . So where do you stay when at the campground for the summer? Thought it was in Sherman. We are also going where the temp are similar- Switzerland. Leaving the warm Italian temps and heading into day highs of 8C and nights -1c �� Enjoy your visit in Ottawa. Lyd

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Normally we don't have a problem getting through customs when we come back to Canada! There was only one time when we were given a problem with being away for a long length of time. We have never been given a problem with not bringing enough back with us. We hardly ever come back with anything, this trip it was only the Smart phone and my head scarf, that was it for our purchases.

      When we work at the campground they have a 3 bedroom, two bathroom mobile home for us to live in. We haven't lived in Sherman for the summer for the last 4 years, that is one of the reasons that we were able to do the motorhome exchange with the couple from Spain last summer.

      I expect that Switzerland will still be beautiful at this time of year, even if it is a little cooler. Enjoy your time there.

      Delete

There are more comments on our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TravelwithKevinAndRuth

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.