Into the night… and the next day…

Brooke needed two coffees just to get started….

 

So, we arrived safely in Columbia. I bet you didn't know we were going there......neither did we. Our flight was a bit of a crazy one from Miami to what was supposed to be Quito. The flights from Calgary to Dallas and Dallas to Miami were uneventful (though one cool thing was that we ate at the same restaurant in Dallas that we did on the way down to Costa Rica last year).

 

 
Cory at the Dallas Airport

 

From Miami, things got interesting. Most everyone in line at the airport was crowded around the boarding desk at the gate - all with massive carry on suitcases. Everyone had two to three carry on items that were clearly beyond normal in size. Almost everyone had huge roller-board carry-ons and additional backpacks etc. Everyone was Spanish speaking and looked like perhaps they were heading home to Ecuador for Christmas so I figured this was just a cultural thing.

Once everyone was on the plane (good luck finding room in the overhead bins - the poor stewardesses) an event occurred that ended with the police coming aboard and escorting a little old lady off the plane. Rumour had it that the little old lady said something slightly crass to the flight attendant because she was unhappy about something. So, the flight attendant had the captain kick her off. We sat for an hour and a half waiting for this to resolve.

The captain bellowed over the speakers that "this was my decision and my decision alone to deal with a particular passenger". He then later said that anyone who challenged his decision could leave the plane too. Confrontation seems to be an United Statsian pass time. Note that United Statsian is the proper term for a person from the United States.

Eventually, there was a sigh of relief as the plane pulled back from the gate and we began our journey. Brooke and I got a few winks and watched a few shows on the laptop though we were still very tired from leaving the house at 4:30am.

 

 
Brooke and I relaxing at the Columbian airport  in Cali while
everyone else was manic about getting to their hotel rooms.

 

After we passed the time in which we should have landed in Quito, the captain mumbled something about wind speed and that we were circling over Quito. Eventually we had to proceed to our alternate landing location in Cali, Columbia. We landed at a very small airport that was, for all intents and purposes, closed. It was by now 2:00 am. I do understand that at altitude it is very hard to get the slow speed lift you need to land a plane and the plane we were on was a very old American Airlines Boeing 757. It was probably due for replacement 10 years ago.

We never did customs and we never got our luggage but they seemed to have a plan - amazingly.

It took them hours to sort out the hotel and get us in cabs to somewhere. The cab ride was an hour long - yes an hour!  But we ended up in our room, which turned out to be awesome, though we couldn't enjoy it we were so tired. It was now nearly 5am.

 

This hotel was attached to a huge mall and had all the makings of a wonderful place, however, as with all south america, the finishing details are always missing.

 

What a neat roof!

 

 

 

 

We finally left for Quito the following day at 3:30pm flying straight there upon which the pilot flew right past the airport,  raising questions from the passengers about what the hell was going on.  Apparently, he couldn’t make the landing on the initial approach. We landed eventually, safely I might add, and all was well in the world.

We’ve checked into this beautiful little hotel that is more like a B&B. We’ve got our own balcony and a quaint little room.

Confucius say:  expect the unexpected when traveling.

Preparing for a Big One.

 

We spent last night in Banff and when we left on Saturday aft to go there, I almost didn’t bring a jacket it was so nice. Over night the snow began to fall and by the time the next morning rolled around, there was blowing snow and cars in the ditch.

What didn’t help was that I was tired and a little bit hung over from the night before.  We had our company Christmas party at the Rimrock – still one of my favourite hotels in the world.

We made it back and I wasted tons of time doing silly little things before finally making an effort to pack. What makes the task of packing daunting is the series of climates we’re going to be experienceing – it’ll be real climate change.  We’re going to likely see snow like this (photos below), and Sun like Hawaii. We’re also going to have time in big cities where we’ll want to dress nicely for a night out, and we’ll want to bum around taking it easy in our casual wear. Then there’s the gear – rain coats for one kind of water and wet suits for another kind!

We’ll here’s the start of our Ecuadorian blog. I hope you all enjoy it. I’ll try to post wonderful photos and a few cool stories. Hopefully at least one person enjoys it (besides me and probably my mom).

Car after car going slowly down the highway

 

Still positive…..

 

Almost packed….

 

Our technology bags….(cameras and such)

CBass Visits the Home of the Seahawks!

		Seattle Inspires VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

So many of the sights in Seattle are colourful and dramatic. They have a flare for public art that is somewhat special. Most public art in most places is formal and more monument oriented. Here they are experiments. The best example is the globe water fountain. It was a remarkable experience watching the children playing. The water was accompanied by a soundtrack that elicited euphoria of anticipation. As the water was about to begin the kids began to squeal in excitement.

The public art is perhaps an attempt to make up for the complete lack of pretty waterfront that the city should have. It’s a bit like industry poured into the sea and forgot to leave a nice little area for the humans to enjoy.

In my search (of my brain) to think about what might be something to remark about on this trips last two days, I would say that it is simply a trip, a time away from home. Perhaps the remarkable thing is the simplicity of the city and it’s general pleasantness. In all truth, we find it hard to believe that this is the city that spawned Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Jimmy Hendrix, Starbucks, Microsoft….. I guess it speaks to the industrial nature of the city that it actually creates things – reminds me of home – as opposed to cities that are far more creative and inspiring but produce next to nothing because there is no open canvas for things to accumulate a presence.

One thing I can say is special here, is the Space Needle. It was finished in 1961 and it still is an impressive structure. It was built outside the downtown core and therefore has unobstructed views – something Calgary’s tower is in need of. It is still as relevant to the city today as it was at the time of completion for the worlds fair in ‘61.