5C's Que Pasa

Yesterday morning we flew to Vancouver to attend Katie’s memorial service. Our good friend Inger came and stayed with the girls the entire time.

Due to staff shortages at airports as well as all over the world it was recommended to get to security two hours before departure. We did so and were immediately put thru to the head of the line. Why? Perhaps because we were dressed up, Colin had long pants ( yes he did ) and a jacket or perhaps because I was a WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard member. We had lots of time to relax however my issue with claustrophobia and wearing a mask was wearing on me a bit.

I did some wandering around and found this right next to the washrooms. An area especially for service dogs to relieve themselves or small pets traveling in under the seat carriers. Gramma Katie would have definitely approved of this. There even was a dog dish for water.

Colin took this lovely photo of Mount Baker as we approached Vancouver. That is the Fraser River working its way to the ocean.

I asked Colin who was sitting by the window to take a closer shot of Mount Baker. He said that the plane was vibrating too much. So I took his new SE ( special edition ) Second Generation from his hands and snapped this!

I had rented an Alamo car for our short time in Vancouver. First we waited in a line for 40 minutes – there were only two staff members working as they were short staffed. I also noticed while we waited that those who had already gone through the line were sitting and impatiently waiting for their car rental to a actually appear, the one that they had paid for. Some waited as long as had been in line, perhaps longer. So when it was finally our turn, I made a point of mentioning that we were in Vancouver for a special memorial service and that we were short of time. The lady was very sympathetic and said she would put us ahead of everyone else. She called the supervisor and then asked if we would take a pick-up truck, ummm no!!  Within five minutes we got a lovely medium size car. It appears that there is not enough staff to check in the returns and get them ready for the next customer. Our car had a huge dent in the front right fender and inside damage on the passenger door. Colin took photos just in case.

None of the above happened. The windshield was dirty and there was bird poop on a few windows. This was our first time flying since before Covid and I was was ready. We had new fresh masks and dozens of Sani wipes. So when it became apparent that this rental car had not been cleaned never mind sanitized as promised I started to sanitize all the surfaces including the key fob and inside handles to open the doors.

We finally got out of the airport, so much traffic. It has been a long time since we were in that area of Vancouver/Tsawwassen/Ladner and there were many changes including all new roads, new homes being built and new off ramps, etc. We loved living there when we did but with all the changes we are happy to remain in our tranquil home on the lake.

We arrived at the church rather early so we waited a bit before we went inside. A very lovely church that we had never seen before. Katie was born in Yugoslavia and met Louie in 1948 after WW11 in a refugee camp in Austria. They met at a dance, I love that, something I never knew. As an aside they got married in 1953, the year I was born. The Lutheran Church sponsored Katie’s parents and they immigrated to Ohio. Katie and Louie kept up their long distance romance alive with almost daily letters. Eventually Katie moved to Calgary, Alberta and they married. From there they moved to Tsawwassen, BC. There is a reason that I am sharing this story.

A very very special thank you to Karoline, Katie’s daughter for sending me ( unasked ) this photo. While we waited in the sanctuary we both noticed this exceptional stained glass window and were drawn to it. I really wanted to take a photo of  it but thought that it might be disrespectful, so when I received this photo I was elated. Most especially  because during Karoline’s eulogy she mentioned how important the Lutheran Church was to the family. Gramma Katie’s mother had donated this spectacular window to the church. Katie spoke to us at the church yesterday.

The service was lovely and the three hymns sung reached deep into my heart. Of course I cried and cried even more. Katie had planned every word of her service and even the reception. Karoline’s eulogy was the exception and she shared some special moments of Katie’s life. Karoline, you did a fabulous job of honouring your mother. Thank you Katie for the wine at the reception. Oh how Katie and I loved our wine. It was so heartfelt to spend time with Louie but he had so many others to speak with. We had moments with each of the family members and we learned even a few more things about Katie. Kim told us that our girls rated above us in the love department. I agree and that was as it should be. Barry told me a few things that I didn’t know, things that Katie had shared with him about us. All so very special. And then Karoline gifted us with a keepsake that keeps Katie in our heart in our home. More on that another time. Not ready to share yet. Suddenly Louie was alone and we got some precious time with him. We love him so much. He asked us to kiss the girls for Katie when we got home last evening. I told him that we would but also we would kiss them for him. The most difficult thing we did was to leave Louie and leave for the airport. I am crying as I write this. Gary thank you for the advice about the tunnel.

The tunnel was our downfall. Even though we had lived in Tsawwassen and knew the area we both had forgotten about the dreaded tunnel which goes under the Fraser River to Vancouver. Gary, Kim, Barry, all told us to use the HOV lane but cautioned us that it might take an hour or more to get to the airport. The minutes were passing swiftly, we were so happy to get an extra 10 -15 minutes alone with Louie. Louie thought that we were spending the night and was surprised that we were leaving so quickly. We had a baby sitter at home looking after our girls. Leaving was the most difficult part of the day. We had no choice.

Eight lanes converging into one heading toward the airport and Vancouver. Another new to us approach to the highway heading to the airport. We were in the HOV lane and suddenly it disappeared. I think that we were supposed to take the Ladner exit which would have diverted us back into the HOV  lane via the overpass. Honestly I never saw any signage. So we were in one of the eight merging lines as we watched the HOV lane zoom past. But it also eventually merged with our solitary lane. We lost some precious moments.

Colin is a great driver and we got to the airport. However we had to stop and fill the rental car tank ( $10.00 ) at the airport Petro Can. Line up in all the lanes. Finally Colin moved ahead and backed into a pump. Done. Off to return our rental. The fellow checking us in only cared about the fact that we had filled the fuel tank. He told us how busy and short staffed they were, especially on a Monday. He was rushing our car to the next person in line for a car. No cleaning of course.

Rush, rush to security, again we were sent to the front of the line. Did we look that old or was it our clothing? Only two people ahead of us. We needed a second tray for the keepsake that we had been given. Interesting system at Vancouver Airport ( YVR ). You put all your things in a bin and as the person doing the X-ray screening watches, they have the choice to send your bin to an off chute line for special inspection.

There was a long delay and the conveyor belt stopped for over eight minutes. They went through every corner of this suitcase in detail, including holding up the dirty underwear for all to see. Finally it was our turn. The keepsake package had been wrapped with love and care. We told the agent that it was a very special keepsake and she said that she had to open it. She cut the string and the tape. I refused to look as I did not really know what the keepsake was. I knew what I hoped it was. So fifteen minutes later we were finally free to go.

Through our Scotiabank Visa card we have Premium Lounge privileges, six per year each. We have a personal Visa card and a business card. We certainly enjoyed those while we traveled Europe the two years before Covid. Of course traveling business class added to our adventures. So glad that we used up all of our points. Swiss Air and Turkish airlines are the very best. So here we are in the Vancouver Lounge. We scored with some fabulous vegetarian pasta and some excellent Pinot Grigio for me  and Merlot for Colin. All top BC wines of course. We left the lounge with 20 minutes to the flight closing. We had been told that it was only five minutes away. Perhaps for a much much younger person, this was my first time out since my fall. Until yesterday I had barely put three thousand steps on my pedometer since July 26th. Yesterday I did 7567 steps. It seems that airports are all about walking and walking.

Colin took this shortly before we landed, interesting lighting.

Turns out that we had been flying into a red alert thunderstorm warning. Shortly after landing we coasted  to a stop. Because of the red alert we could not move anywhere. The pilot shut down the engines and we sat in a hot plane for about thirty minutes. Hmmm, so there we were, in a metal box in the middle of a runaway. Colin fell asleep  😯  He was hot in his heavy clothes. Meanwhile I was texting Inger who was at our place with the twins, telling me how bad the storm was. Turns out we had over 1.03 inches or rain in a very short period of time.

These are photos taken by the public while were were sitting on the runway.

We were relieved to finally get to the gate. The highway home was full of water and lots of hydroplaning. A bit tense driving those ten minutes home.

The girls were  beyond happy to see us. Inger told us that they had been very good pups while we were away. The longest we have left them was 3.5 hours. They were with Inger whom they love, for just over 13 hours.

I leave you with something the minister shared with us that had been said at the Queen Mother’s funeral in 2002. So very perfect and intensely felt.

April 1, 2009.