My stay at Skyways was 100% better than last time. I had called ahead because I was afraid it would be closed by the time I arrived. Of course LA is 2 hours behind and they don’t close until 2 am so they were up and awake.
‘Just come to the foyer and ring the bell,’ the guy on the phone had said when I called.
‘Foyer?’ I was mystified. Skyways does not have a lobby or a foyer.
‘You mean come in the gate and ring the bell at the window?’
‘Oh, you have been here before? Yes, that’s right,!’ He confirmed.
He was really helpful actually.
Did you know that taxis are WAY cheaper than Uber or Lyft in LA?
The guy at the counter booked me a $12 taxi for 3:50 am after I had spent $30 getting there via Uber.
My room was in the ground floor and very nice. And…..the TV worked!
After a shower I had a fabulous sleep.
I woke at 3 naturally and washed my hair.
When my taxi arrived, I could tell right away that the driver was a Somali. It took me half the ride to work up the courage to ask him though, as I know we aren’t supposed to ask those things anymore. But when I did ask, a huge smile lit his face and we had such a lovely interaction.
He farewelled me in Somali.
I forgot to mention that my grits showed up on the customs X-ray as a big ted flag yesterday and they drug tested it,
So today, I had it out on full show.
After grabbing my last nitro iced coffee,I found my gate and then so did about 60 scouts plus all their leaders.
4:40 in the morning was a little early for such exuberance en masse.
Once we boarded, I learned I was place in the scout section, wedged between two lads, one far more boisterous that the other.
One of the scout leaders hoisted my suitcase up into the overhead luggage for me ( yes, I purchased a suitcase 😂)
There was a lot of ‘kill yourself’ and ‘stop touching me!’ floating around that area of the plane
The little fella in the window seat desperately wanted headphones so I loaned him mine.
When the air steward came by with free headones only for the scouts, I quickly swapped them out!
The trip was uneventful and I couldn’t find a single show or movie on the entertainment channels to pique my interest.
Disembarkation was loud but the scout leader grabbed my suitcase down without me getting out of my seat.
I was impressed with the attitude of the leaders and how they interacted with the teens under their care. They gave them a long leash, treated them like human beings and only reiterated gentle but clear boundaries, when things became overwhelmingly loud.
I decided as I walked out, that with a bewilderingly long layover of 12 hours, I needed to go and explore Vancouver just a little.
I caught the very easy train into the waterfront and walked around for a few hours. Passing the Disney Winder! And all the excited people ready to board her.
Vancouver is a very pretty, green and user- friendly city with many relaxed seating options and areas to relax; many of those areas have a backdrop of running water. It is beautiful.
As I wandered hadn’t seen anything like the homeless situation like there is in LA or even Denver for the first couple hours. But when I took a little detour I chanced upon a group of 7 or 8 people affected by the zombie drug. One was so contorted, his head nearly in the ground, to do that with being under the influence of drugs would have been agony. Tragic how that is how they have ended up.
My little belly really had a hankering for poutine. I know Montreal is the home of poutine, but I hoped Vancouver could show up for me.
After a little research, I found that I was close to a well- respected hole in the wall that does European fries but also good poutine.
I adulterated my order with pulled pork and extra cheese curds.
The lady took her time with each person’s order and carefully wiped off any stray gravy drips.
Mine took ages, but she had a generous layer of curds at the bottom, then chips, then gravy, more curds and then the pulled pork.
I ate in a park, near a fountain, seated on a park bench that was shaded by thick ivy. The curds (squeaky cheese) had melted beautifully in and the gravy was so flavoursome too. Some may poopoo it, but it was a delicious taste sensation.
After some more sight seeing I finished on a yummy salad at Tractor and headed to the station.
With taro bopa in hand, I purchased a 2 stop ticket back to the airport.
I wanted to use a bathroom first, and an official I asked for directions waved me off in some random direction. I had to swipe my card to access that section and set off. Way too late I realised I was headed down to a jetty/ seaplane area.
Far away.
I didn’t need the bathroom that badly. Turning around, I headed back towards the train, tapping my card for entry. But it was not the right train. I needed to go up an escalator to get that train., I was told
So up the escalators I hustled and through another ticket booth to swipe to get in.
BEEP!
Card Expired!: read the message..
What?
No travel yet and my card already used up?
No way was I paying again.
There was nothing for it. I slipped in just behind someone else who got in with a non-expired ticket.
Then I sat in the train all the way to the airport, looking for an easy target to do the same thing at the airport,
Feeling very naughty, I took a few minutes to repack my bags.
I had hours to go still until boarding..
And then a little blip occurred.
I went though security and both my bags were isolated for a closer look.
Too many liquids. Apparently the liquids have to all fit in one bag with carry on. This hadn’t been flagged before. It all seemed a bit overwhelming as I scrambled and overstretched the itty-bitty bag under the guy’s careful gaze.
‘Should I check my bag? Would that fix everything?’
Oh yes!, he replied with great relief.
I was escorted out. Bit like a walk of shame.
I wouldn’t be able to check in for several hours and none of the main areas had charging stations like every other airport I had been to. Th only place o could charge were at standing centers.
After hours of walking this did not appeal. Time to retry security. I began to pack the only liquids I would keep and had a bag of things I would relinquish with great sadness.
My boarding was flagged immediately, buzzing red at the lady scanning it. I explained I had failed my first attempt and was going again. The guy directing us sent me right instead of left this time. Again both bags flagged. I told the new security people about my little oversized liquids bag and how I would sadly throw out any extra.
They waved me on with not even a second glance. I was through!
And now I sit with tonight’s dinner- a Pinketty Drinketty and a Butterfinger in the very deserted gate.
In the whole area, there is one charging station. Just nuts.
Dory the Explorer 