Monday, March 30, 2009

We are in Canada!!!

Day 1
WE MADE IT!!! We have arrived! And so far WE are loving it. We woke up Saturday morning at 3:30a.m. and got ready. Raynald, Sam’s father, got to our house at 4:30a.m. and we loaded up and headed for the airport. Poor Ryan didn’t know what was going on. He was not happy being woke up so early but we figured he would go back to sleep on the way to the airport. Boy were we wrong. He stayed awake the entire time. So, once we got to the airport, we pulled up to the door and Sam and Raynald started on loading or 4 LARGE suitcases while I changed Ryan into his clothes. Since we thought he was going back to sleep we left him in his PJ’s. Once that was done, we headed inside to get checked in. I must say 5 o’clock in the morning is the best time to travel. There wasn’t hardly anybody there and it was fast. Which is nice when you are holding a 30+ pound baby. So, we got checked in and our bags were off, we went and told Raynald good bye and we headed for upstairs to go through security. WE MADE IT THROUGH! Normally, Sam is the one who gets pulled aside from everybody and practically stripped searched. But we had NO problems what so ever so it was nice. So, we went to wait at our gate and we kept showing Ryan all the planes and he was loving it. He just kept looking at the saying, “Look, the plane!” It was precious! Finally, we got to start loading the plane and it was a first for me. We actually had to go down a set of stairs and WALK to the plane outside. It didn’t have a ramp like all the other planes! I have never! I thought they only did that stuff in the movies and for the president! Anyway, we loaded the plane, had to do some seat switching b/c this was the one flight we couldn’t pick out seats and of course we didn’t have seats together. But, we got settled and we were off. Ryan did so well on the plane. Sam and I were so proud. He LOVED it! He kept saying, “GO FAST!” I guess he liked the take off. Then, when we were landing he kept saying, “We going down!” It was funny! So, we arrived in Detroit ahead of schedule. We had about a hour and a half to kill. We got off the plane and found the screen that has all the flights listed to find our next gate. WE GOT LUCKY! Our next flight was only one gate down. We were expecting a 10 mile hike with Ryan in tow. We were so happy. So, we stopped and got Ryan some chocolate milk and just went walking to get him some exercise. They had those moving sidewalks (I think that is what you call them) and Ryan loved those. He would get on and for the first half he would run and then about mid way through it he would stop and let it take him to the end. So, after we burned some energy we went to our gate and waited. We went ahead and filled out the declaration form you have to fill out for customs and we were ready to go. They started loading our flight shortly after and we were off again. We like this flight b/c we were in the very back and we had 3 empty seats behind us which was great. We moved back a seat so Ryan could play and hit the seat in front of us if he wanted too. We arrived in Montreal WAY ahead of schedule. I think it was about 45 minutes early. We unloaded and headed for customs which in this airport is another 10 mile hike from the gate. We got lucky AGAIN!!! At the top of the steps there was a golf cart that is supposed to be for handicapped people BUT they gave us a ride which was nice b/c Ryan was tired at this point and we would have had to carry him the entire time. They dropped us off right in front of customs. It was nice. We went through the line and got to by pass the big line b/c we already had the form filled out and ready. We got our passports stamped and it was on to the baggage claim. As we got downstairs to it our flight’s luggage was just starting to come out we grabbed a cart, found our bags and we were heading out to meet Patrice. Well, we came out of the doors to the pick up area and there was NO Pat! No Sophie! Nobody was there. We looked around and they were not there yet. So we waited! About 20 minutes later here they come. They had all the kids wit them and they had balloons to welcome us! So we headed to the car, loaded up and headed for their house. The weather was great. It felt like we were in Spartanburg. We played all afternoon outside! Ryan never took a nap and finally crashed at 6 and slept all night. It really turned out to be a great day. Sam and both crashed about 9 that night.

Day 2
We woke up Sunday morning and it was raining. So, we just relaxed around the house and spent time with Sebastien (Sam’s brother) and his family. They had come down from Quebec City (about 3 hours north of Montreal) to spend some time with us. They left about lunch time. Sam and I went and to grab some lunch and I ate at my first Canadian fast food restaurant, Harvey’s. It was pretty good. Then, we headed back to the house watched some TV for a few minutes and then Sam took Ryan and I for a ride to show us some of where he grew up. I got to see the house he was raised in, and some of his old friends houses and where he used to hand out. He showed me the rich part of town. Obviously you have money here if you have two things….1-a lot of land and 2-a two car garage. It is the weirdest thing I have ever seen. Everybody has 1 car garages which is not that common in Spartanburg and they don’t use them. I told Sam yesterday, “The best way I can describe what it looks like here to me is a scene from a Brady Bunch movie. I feel like I am stuck in the 70’s in a Brady Bunch movie.” Just the architecture is so different here. But, like I said land is expensive so instead of building out, you build up. Most everybody has at least a two story house….and if you count the basement a 3 story house. So, it is nothing like back home. Anyway, for dinner we went to “Old Duluth.” Not sure I a spelling it right but oh well. It was good! We had Chicken skewers (the call them something different in French but I don’t remember what it was) and shrimp with rice and salad and potato wedges and soup. And that is not to mention the bread they bring out as an appetizer. I was stuffed! But it was so worth it. We came back home and put Ryan to bed and not too long after we to bed ourselves. Tomorrow is Ryan’s 3rd Birthday!

1 comment:

  1. I am so glad you guys are having this chance to experience a different culture....you are so blessed and I pray you will continue to have an amazing time together. Be safe and know I love you!!!!!!

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