Planes, Trains and Automobiles

             Well after all the anticipation and planning for this trip the journey has begun and running on as minimal energy as possible. I only received last night a total of three hours of sleep but woke up with a good amount of energy. Waking up this morning I was greeted by Ty and Gary, it was nice to see Gary get up to see me off. We made our jokes before Ty and I left and hugged Gary good bye. Then packed my gear into the back of Ty's pick up truck and then headed off to the airport.

The drive out there I reflected on the relationships at the Co-op and will truly miss it for the next four months. I really call the Co-op my home and has really had a great influence on my life. It never gets boring there and you learn something new about someone all the time. The night before Melinda left for Alberta we had a good conversation on her path of life and how she has fallen into her career that she is in now and what her life was like before it. That very conversation is what I live for in life. The experience people share about their life journey and the stories that they have is what makes life worth living.

Now I set out on my own journey in life, one that will give me many stories to tell and write about. Still though on the way to the airport with Ty it still has not hit me that I am going to South America. This would probably the lack of sleep I received last night but I am not to worried. Though what I am glad about that I will not have to experience much of the Lower Mainland weather this year. As Ty and I were driving through Richmond I got to witness how thick and lower the clouds get in the Lower Mainland. I am glad that I am living the rain behind but I was very impressed to see how low the clouds were over Richmond. They looked so low that you could throw a ball from the ground into the clouds and it would get lost in the mass of grey. Even though I am leaving the rain behind, I will now experience another extreme type of weather on the other side of the country.

At the airport I said my goodbyes to Ty and head through to security. It was very fast and did not have to get felt up by any of the security forces there or go through the X-ray machines. But I am not going to the United States and Canadians are not that paranoid. I proceeded to get a quick bite to eat at Tim Hortons, but when I got there I had to wait longer to eat then to get into the airport departure area. By the time I got up to the cash to order I only had about a half an hour before boarding. So a toasted bagel and muffin had to do.

So having lack of sleep before flying is not the best of ideas and makes flying feel terrible. Myself I cannot sleep on airplanes and I get bored very quickly. This time I was lucky to bring an ipod with head phones and was able to let the movies occupy my thoughts for the flight and not have to think the whole time. Lack of water and sleep has left me with a headache and not feeling good. Though the movie selection was good and watched the movies J. Edger and The Ides of March. I would recommend both as worthy of a watch.

After arriving in Toronto I was greeted by old man winter, but there was not much snow. The issues with Toronto in the winter is there is not enough trees around in the downtown core. With having very little plant life and a lot of cement everywhere and makes you feel very cold. But I was in a cab and on the subway most of the time. As I was taking transit down to Union Station to get on a train to head off the Ottawa, I had to chuckle that the subway was down past Osgood Station. When I was living in Toronto every time I took transit to the train station there was always a problem. The last two times I was stopped because there was a fire at one of the stations and a police incident the second. But every time I always made it on time. This time I made it on time as well with no problem, just got there very hungry.

So here is my rant on comparing trains to planes. Trains take longer to get to your destination, but they are more relaxing then a plane and I can sleep on trains. Planes get you across the country in a day compared to four days on a train, but I find planes stuffy and the air in there is terrible. Also with planes you cannot use any device that transmits wireless frequencies. Trains your get free wi-fi internet and get to use your cell phones. For me I think the Canadian Government, Via rail or a private company needs creates a maglev train system that goes across the country in have the time a regular train does. I know that it would not feasible now but I can dream.

On the train I was able to relax and get some rest. I watched The Blues Brothers and wrote part of this blog and then got some well needed sleep. It was it nice that you get to stop in all these little towns quickly by train and I think what it would have been like when going by train was the main transportation to and from the next major city. I did not get to see too much on the travel up to Ottawa because of the short days but when stopping at the station in Smith Falls it reminded me of some of the winter nights I use to enjoy when I was a kid living in this much colder province. As I looked out the window I could see the stillness of the night and I can imagine how cold it was out there. The train station was very small and there was a small neighbourhood near by. The street corner had only one street light on and it was illuminating the snow with a very orange and yellow tone. There was not much commotion out near the station, no cars out and no one walking about. It was just still with a little bit of wind that I could tell by the leafless bush next to the train as it was swaying slightly. Nights like this I remember when I lived in Ontario where even though it was only 9 o'clock it felt like it was late night early morning.

After the lovely reminder of my childhood the train was off again and I could not wait to get to Ottawa. When I finally arrived my aunt was waiting for me at the train station. It it was good to see her and got into the new rental car she was driving. Usually she is driving cars that I would say are borderline to being allowed on the road. It is good for her to have some luxury sometimes. When i got to the house it was good the see the new porch that my cousins installed for her. Before you had to enter though the back via ramp because the foundation was getting a facelift. I got inside and then started to down some well needed water. Here I get a relief from people heckling me to fill up the Brita water filters, there is none here so now I will not have the typical image of me at the dinner table with two empty pitchers of water in front of me. After a delicious pizza and a story about how my aunt got the rental car it was off the bed.