yyt

30 june 2003
it was the same coach driver who forgot to go to the airport when i went to baltimore. he seemed to remember me although i didn't acknowledge him as he kept stating to everyone entered the coach that he had to go to the airport to-day.

eight people on the coach. couldn't help thinking of melissa whose bus was being cancelled due to lack of riders. have never seen this coach with more than 10 people on it.

mitchell was a breeze no one at the unite/air canada counter. would have been through security more quickly but it seemed that i was behind a group of people heading to national and they got extra screening. was in the queue at the starbucks in 20 minutes.

at the gate , the guessing game who is canadian? smelly green money is put away , the more expensive than last year loonie - thanks george w. - brought out the plane was empty still the fall out from the s.a.r.s. scare in toronto. grabbed a globe and mail. - know that it is a conservative rag but still read it cover to cover as i do the national post but wasn't offered one.

at pearson's a chat with the immigration officer - up through security another chat with the security guard on the aesthetics of the plastic camera before heading to gate 213.

anyone who cannot see that this is a different country has no perceptive powers. no latexed gloved guards. a casual check of boarding passes, i could leave my shoes on, i could touch my bags when the guard was looking through it - the plastic cameras. the immigration officer was asian the security person was west indian. even heading to the rock still the most culturally pure province had a couple with an asian child, a tour group of eightysomething's from hamilton were on a tour of the rock.

felt like an international traveller when i asked to change my middle seat to an aisle until the united counter person in milwaukee put me in the last row. that was fine until the people beside me had a small child.

luckily there was an empty aisle seat with no one in the middle seat where i moved. the flight was all bad news good news - sorry we don't have a vegetarian snack would you like the turkey and cheese or the ham and cheese? oh found your meal.
head to the rest room only to open the door to find a woman from the hamilton group sitting on the toilet. it was then that she noticed the door latch.

woke up with the rock under me. the pilot announcing that we would be arriving shortly the time on the rock and the temperature - 9 degrees. groans all around. the albertan newfoundlanders were prepared but still shocked. the hamiltonians already thought that it would be snowing. i had brought shorts and tevas.

everyone was guessing where we were. i'm still impressed by how empty the province is. from the plane we struggled to find pockets of populations. i also forgot how much water there is on the rock - was that deer lake or grand lake down there? that looks like the refineries of come by chance, couldn't miss the trans canada. icebergs in conception bay.

then the avalon, all of a sudden houses, people, roads, over trinity bay, over conception bay and bell island, one person saying "lived there and there and there" portugal cove and the airport. the wal-mart in stravanger drive.

up to the hertz desk, with one harried woman working, she is answering three lines on the phone and i walk up.

-i have a reservation for a compact would you like my confirmation number?
she shuffles paper and cannot find anything. she takes my number and still cannot find any reservation and there are no cars.

-where did you book the car
-the states 800 number
-then it is at st. john new brunswick.
-no she stated st. john's newfoundland
i have a flash back to the conversation and can pick out everything that should have sent off red flags. she couldn't find st. john's but i then gave her the airport code -yyt - she said that i had unlimited mileage - suspicious as there is never unlimited mileage on the rock it is 100 km/day. but she assured me.

my mind raced the places i could go not having to worry about the kilometres adding up.

the counter person rang hertz reservations and found that yes there was a car awaiting me at st. john new brunswick.

i left the queue as there was quite a crowd behind me, she took care of them then said she had a car for me.

a dodge caravan - oh great doing the curves of the roads and the hills and narrow streets of st. john's in a caravan. in baltimore i was driving a mercury grand marquis - great for creating an image while parking by beemers in west street in annapolis. now i was a soccer mom. a caravan is passable in the oh so posh capital - there is even a recycling bin at the corner of prescott and duckworth within sight of the bubble - where st. john's waste pours into the harbour - but pouch cove with its surfeit of aqua chevrolet cavaliers? asked for one that was pretty dented up. she gave me a hefty discount it is less than a compact and gave me more aeroplan miles but i really didn't have a choice.

a test run - portugal cove road to rennies mill then the hills and curves of downtown. through rawlins prescott, left on duckworth and up holloway through rawlins cross again back down prescott, right on duckworth, passing the duke, to gower right on gower to queens road, rawlins cross and back to rennies mill road. it'll do.