The most Dreadful Day of My Trip to Alberta...Going Home

And finally that day came and I wasn't looking forward to it.  The day I had to leave the serenity of the mountains of Kananaskis Country and return to the bustling city airport in Calgary to catch a flight home to Cape Breton. 

I tried to sleep in that morning because I knew I would be awake for a while attempting to get home but that didn't happen.  I was up at the crack of dawn.  The plan was to drive my sister to work, pick her up at 3:30, come home and eat and head to Calgary right after so we could get there in enough time to check into a hotel near the airport and relax and get a bit of sleep so I could catch my early flight and my sister could be rested enough to drive to work the next morning.  Little did I know that that plan would go out the window by mid-day.

I had the news on in the car while doing my normal morning coffee run and the news out of Calgary that day wasn't good.  A major water line break was wreaking havoc on the city.  Traffic delays and water restrictions were quickly becoming an issue.  We decided it was best to wait until later in the evening to head out just before dark to avoid the city's rush hour traffic. 

I spent that afternoon packing and enjoying the peaceful mountain environment.  After supper, we watched a movie and relaxed before setting out for the city.  We didn't get checked into the hotel until after 10 PM. By time we grabbed something to eat and got ready for bed, it was near midnight.  

I barely managed to get a mere three hours sleep before my alarm sounded.  I was up and ready to go by 3:45.  Fortunately, flight check-in was right across the street and my gate was not far from there so 15 minutes was plenty to make it through security two hours before my flight. 

I'd like to say the trip home went smoothly but if I said that, I would be lying because it was anything but smooth.  Long story short: my ticket was wrong.  It said it would take 24 hours to get from Calgary to Montreal.  I had issues finding someone to help me.  It took so long to find someone that I missed the opportunity to get breakfast and ended up having no food, except for the tiny bag of pretzels Air Canada so generously includes in the $1300.00 ticket price, we were delayed 1.5 hours on the tarmac with a equipment malfunction and delayed again in Sydney when there was no one available to assist on the ground. 

I walked off that plane exhausted, hungry, thirsty and cranky and to make matters worse, my ears popped so bad, they didn't pop back to normal upon landing so I was also deaf. It was nice to be home but I was already missing the Rocky Mountains.