Calgary/Banff Trip, Flight Home

Our last morning wasn't terribly early. I think Hugh walked back to the bakery, maybe some went to the Tim Horton's inside the grocery store. We cleaned up and got ready to leave. We had to be at the airport around noon; Megan's flight was 45 minutes before ours (she was flying straight back to Thunder Bay). 

On the way there, I took a photo of a traffic light, as we didn't understand why there's two red/two green lights for the left turn lane. They are both red, or both green at the same time.

We got gas, and found the car rental return. We were worried because someone had scratched the front bumper, probably in Banff. It was less than the 2" circle, and the fine print also said painted bumpers didn't count, but we were still worried. 

Then we headed into the Calgary airport. We had a huddle to determine what we were doing. We wanted to eat at Chili's as that's not very common at all here. There was one in the A section, and one in the D section. Megan was flying out of the A section, and her flight was earlier. There was some concern that if we went through security in different sections, could we join back up? Could we all go through the same security? 

An airport volunteer, a fantastic friendly older lady, noticed us and came over. She confirmed we could do either and that you can get through all sections when past the security! She even took us straight to a security gate that had no line! She was awesome. I don't know if they're there all the time, or just for the Stampede (she was wearing a cowboy hat), but it was very helpful to talk to a real person!

At the security, I got selected this time for the in depth screening. Of course, things went so quickly that my water bottle was full. About 400mL (a cup and a half). I was thirsty, so I started drinking while the agent was swabbing everything. I got really close to the bottom and I asked if that was good enough, and she said no! This was a lot of water to chug!!

We got through security pretty quickly this time, and went to find the Chili's in A section. We got there, and it was tiny! I think there was only 1 table for more than 2 people. We stood there discussing it for a bit, and a staff member noticed and asked us if we needed a table for all of us. She recommended walking down to D section because it was a much bigger spot. She said it's a good walk, but we'd probably stand and wait at her location for even longer. So we trucked it down to the one in A section.

Definitely worth the trek, even though service was a bit slow. We had a great lunch, expensive because of drinks LOL (oh, the joys of adult children!), and Megan left while we were waiting for the bill. She had to hike back to A section. We were just going to C section.

We got back to our section finally, and a minute later, Megan comes walking up. She got a little mixed up at one point on her way back LOL. So we said good bye again.

We had quite a wait for our flight. I was still having coughing issues, and it sucked. Finally it was our turn to load. I had a window and Rob had the middle, next to a large lady on the aisle. He wasn't happy, but that's travel!

It was looking pretty stormy out! I hate take off/landing in storms. It didn't rain thankfully.

Edge of Calgary. 

I loved this area of rivers! I think it was southern Saskatchewan. All the little valleys! So cool!

And then the patchwork of the Prairies! Bright green-yellow is canola.

That's a mine, the turquoise blue "lake".

Sault Ste Marie. Interesting to compare it to my earlier flight at a lower altitude.

The sun started setting, and was so bright!

Coming in to Toronto from the north-west. It's cool to see areas that are still dark in an otherwise bright city!

We landed and it took awhile to get to the gate for some reason. They switched gates and there was no crew, I think. Finally, after about 45 minutes, we got off. It was nice to not have to pick up luggage, and we zoomed our way to the connector train to the Valiant parking lot. Then we started walking across the lot and we realized, we didn't know exactly where we had parked! LOL!!! We knew it was under the train, near a pillar, but in the dark, that was hard to determine. Usually we park towards the back, but after walking halfway back we realized we were actually near the side/front.

It was a pretty easy drive home on the 407. We never used to take the 407 to the airport, but two years ago I got Rob a transponder for his truck so he could take it to go dirtbiking. Now, that section is free but the section to the airport, we still have to pay for. 

I wish we could have spent more time in Banff/Canmore. I think we made good use of our time, considering the hassles of the shuttles and transportation though. We all survived, and I went to the walk in clinic the next day. The doctor there suggested maybe it was asthma, and prescribed me a course of antibiotics, a high strength (opioid) cough syrup, and two puffers. I started to feel better about a week later. I still have some bad days, particularly with intense exercise, or if it's a bad air day.