Halley-Canada Day 6 (Lets Go Home)

Thursday, September 10, 2009

We knew this day would come but that didn’t mean we looked forward to it. We were headed home.

Morning came early. Maybe it’s the May in us all, but we were anxious to be ready for the plane flights and certainly did not want to be late.

Once again, sunrise did not disappoint us. It was a fitting postcard picture to bid us farewell.

So much on my mind, I failed to write down what we had for breakfast. Sharon was still away from the Camp but I know breakfast was just as big and delicious as if she were there (and I had another round of banana bread – I do remember that).

We gave our gratuity to Mac the Guide – he already had another boat of fisherman to take out on the river this morning. We also passed out at few gifts to the ladies in the lodge. They certainly catered to our fishing, eating, and thirst needs the entire trip.

Our adopted daughter for the week Tara was leaving the Camp tomorrow (Friday). She was headed back to Kenora to finish her senior year of high school. She was a sweet heart to us.

Tara hurried us out of the dining hall as she found out the float plane was leaving Minaki. She drove the 4-wheeler to our cabin and picked up our luggage. We then walked to the plane dock.

At 8:00, Tara had us on the dock and waiting. The plane arrived within minutes. We were ready to go and Tara volunteered to snap a few pictures of us.

Jamie the Pilot was back. He loaded our luggage in the float plane and got us seated. See ya Tara – thanks for the memories of this trip…and we were off.

It is a great experience, float planes. The take-offs and landings are incredibly smooth and “soft”…or maybe Jamie the Pilot is just that good.

We were on the road to Winnipeg by 8:30. It would be a 3-hour car drive to our next plane ride.

Along the way, Dad and TR were introduced to my take-a-picture-of-any-interesting-thing photography. Roadway pictures were taken as they are a bit different than what is seen in the States. It was a relaxing drive to Winnipeg.

Sorry gang, the picture placement from this point forward will not make much since with the story line. I wanted to get a few more pictures in the post before the end so just enjoy the photos as if you’re looking at a photo album or something.

We arrived in Winnipeg way early (for our 4pm flight), so we stopped at the Harley dealership on the edge of town to shop for a few shirts.

We intended to eat a Canadian lunch in downtown but our GPS route drove us by no restaurants (other than those we could get back home). We decided to get to the airport, check in the rental car and ourselves, and just hang out for a few hours in the airport. Glad we did that…for this reason:

No ticket agents were at the counter and Dad and TR needed to check bags. We went ahead and got our boarding passes through the computer kiosk.

After going to a couple wrong security check points, we finally were politely escorted by airport security to a tucked-back, international gate. We walked up and there sat the US Customs agents. We had to do US Customs in Canada. Not a problem, just different from typical international travel.

We did our declaration paperwork, got through the Customs officers, and were directed to Canada Fish and Wildlife officers. Those guys were extremely friendly and wanted to check our passports and show proof of purchasing a Canadian fishing license. Dad and I furnished ours – TR couldn’t…but they let him through anyway.

Next stop was luggage check. Dad and TR needed to check their bags – I was going to carry-on. Since there was no ticket agent outside all the security points, they didn’t have baggage checks. So off goes the security lady to get two tags. Those were applied and sent on the conveyor to who knows exactly where. Now came the metal detector and x-ray of carry-on bags.

TR went first. He was determined not to be a criminal by the x-ray or metal detector.

Then Dad. He was profiled by the metal detector as a suspicious kind of guy. So he got the wand by a cop-an-attitude security guy. Dad’s wallet set the wand to beeping (he was told to hold it in his hand which he did). Mr. Copped-Attitude had Dad hand over his wallet and he proceeded to go through each and every compartment of the wallet. Now when you get wanded at the airport, they ask you to raise and extend your arms to the side. Dad handed this guy his wallet and he barked back “keep your arms up”. Dad obliged. After a few more empty-the-pockets, roll-down-the-socks, and then run those personal items through the x-ray, Dad was cleared. I was next up.

My carry-on (luggage) bag was red-lighted through the x-ray machine; I set off the metal detector. I was 0 for 2 (at least Dad was 1-1). What is going on here? Word of caution to US fishermen returning from Canada: don’t try to carry-on fishing lures in your bag - airport security do not like those dangerous little hooks. I ended up having to check my bag (or throw my lure investment away). The wand-cop then gave me the once and twice over, stopping at my chest pocket with rapid beeping. “What’s in your pocket sir?” “My cash”, I replied. “Please remove it from your pocket and hand it to me”. I reached in and handed it to him. He barked at me “keep your arms out” (tough to do when he also wants you to reach into a chest pocket). After checking each bill, he finally green lighted me. Good grief. Glad we got to the airport early.

We headed up the escalator to the terminal looking forward to perhaps a light meal and relaxation. We also realized the security we went through was probably a bit more intense because the next day was September 11th. We then were fine with all we just went through.

We waited around, we talked, we finally got on our plane to Minneapolis. No problems. In Minneapolis, we split up. Dad and TR headed for their connection in one terminal, I went to another. It was a big hug in the middle of the airport, several thank yous and after 5 days together, we separated and went our own way.  Have I mentioned…it was a wonderful trip and geez did we catch a bunch of fish.

Hope you guys enjoyed the posts. We are now done with this series of rub-your-nose-in-it stories. The intent was not to do that believe me. I sure had fun reliving the trip one more time. Perhaps between the stories, photos, and videos, all of you can experience a part of the trip, a few of us can relive it when we want/need to. Till next time we meet at Halley’s Camp. Love you guys and lets go wet a line!