The plan was pretty simple to come home from Canmore Sunday evening. Heidi and I shared a rental car and got to the airport about 3 hours before my flight, as she was leaving before me. No problem, as I had to repack my bag (I only had a carry-on and stuffed everything in pretty quickly as we were leaving the condo), and wanted to spend some time reading my book.
I strolled through security and over to my departure gate, where I found a comfy chair to hole up in for a while. The time passed as I read my book, and then my flight was announced as delayed due to a late flight attendant. About 45 minutes late, we started boarding.
The flight from Calgary to Victoria was pretty uneventful. The direct flight was short, only scheduled to be around 90 minutes. When we started the approach to the airport, the Captain came on the PA, saying that they were going to circle overhead for a while to see if the fog would lift. This went on for about 20 minutes, then the call was made to return to Calgary as Victoria (and Vancouver and the other nearby coastal airports) was too foggy to land at.
This provoked quite a ruckus in the cabin. The woman behind me started crying, and screamed "who's going to tell my family I'm not coming!?", and the man in front of me started shouting that it was some sort of conspiracy. Clearly I was seated in the weirdo section. The flight attendants did their best to calm the people down that were freaking out. But really, what can you do about weather? You may as well recline your seat again and keep reading.
It was close to midnight when we got back to Calgary, and as soon as we were on the runway I called Jason to let him know (which he'd already figured out of course), and sent a text to my boss. Luckily I was one of the first in line to get my new flight info (thank you, carry-on only and not checking a bag!), which was for the afternoon. Here's where things get good - Westjet is one of the few airlines that actually comp a hotel for weather delays, and they gave me a couple of meal vouchers as well. Sweet!
Monday I was back at the airport by noon for my 1 p.m. flight to Victoria. It wasn't a direct flight this time, but I had a quick layover in Kelowna. My first flight left a little late, but when I arrived in Kelowna my connection to Victoria was delayed for over 2 hours. I knew there was a risk of fog again as the sun went down, so I started wondering if I'd make it home that evening or if this was deja vu! The Kelowna airport is tiny, I'd finished my book and a couple of magazines I'd picked up earlier, so thank you digital devices for keeping me entertained. It seemed like forever, but then I was onto the airplane and almost an hour later landed in Victoria. Almost 24 hours late, but I was back home to the warm, moist coastal air. Who knew getting home would be such an adventure!
Ha- that's crazy you guys flew all the way there and then back! I'm glad they got you a hotel and some meal vouchers.
ReplyDeleteHome sweet home!