Zipping to Calgary
May 25, 2003 | 9:19 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2001
Location: YOW
Posts: 414
Zipping to Calgary
First posted trip report, comments welcome.
Had a "you pay only the taxes" flight on ZIP (3J, which uses AC supplies old CP 737s with loud paint jobs, and except for my last flight, young, very attractive flight crews - sorry to the guys on YWG YOW, you did a good job, but Amanda on YOW YYC was much friendlier).
To the report then:
Friday May 23rd, 0500, wake up at an ungodly hour, after finally falling asleep to CNN at 0200. Get dressed, having showered the night before, grab a Diet Coke, and go downstairs to meet the cab. Takes about 7 minutes to get to the airport, but it took me 25 to get dressed - I'm not that swift in the morning.
Check in at the Zip counter in YOW at 0540 - well get in line. One person ahead of me, but he was checking 5 extra Rubbermaid bins, and it took a while. Would have used the kiosk, but they had to check my ID at the counter. A much longer line formed behind me.
Try to go thru security, forgetting of course that the foil in cigarette pacs sets off the metal detector. Back out. Smokes get x-rayed. Lots of fun. Once thru security, have to buy a $2.00 muffin to get access to the smoking section. Flight boards at 0630, and the crew, as mentioned before, was great. The only thing I don't like about flying these days is no access to the flight deck. The view from the jump seat is always better.
Push at 0653, and after a long seeming taxi, at 0702 those words run through my mind: "OK Challenger, go to throttle up". Strange, I know, but it always happens, and we're airborne. I love sitting just behind the wings so I can watch the slats. I think if I can associate the actual action with the noise, I feel more secure.
Talk to Amanda during the flight, since I saw her in the smoking section in YOW, and inquire about deplaning in YWG to grab a butt. Normally, you have to take all your stuff with you, but if you tell a crew member you'll be right back, and don't care if anything is stolen from your bags, they'll let you scurry out. Back on the plane after a lung break, and off to YYC.
Get there at 1030 MDT, and head down to the bus stop. I avoid cabs if I can. Get to the SI Eau Claire in Downtown YYC, room not ready, but they take my bag. Get directions by bus to the Big Rock Brewery, cause I want to buy a T-Shirt for someone I work with. We won't talk about that, except to say I was 2 and a half hours on the bus, and made it after the store was closed. D'oh!
Get back to the hotel at 1730, the day shot, but the room is ready, it's fantastic, and my bag is already in it. Go upstairs, to the tenth floor, not my first choice, I prefer 8 or lower, due to fire department ladder truck heights, but that again is just me. Have a nap.
Go for dinner an a beer at the pub downstairs. I don't like staying on high hotel floors, but have an Alberta steak for dinner during the current Mad Cow scare? Why not? I like beef, and brain melt won't deter me. Talk to the concierge on my way back to my romm, and I forgot to get his name, but I'm gonna call the hotel manager from work tomorrow to get it, and William, if you read reports too, you're getting an email once I get the name. I mentioned the Big Rock T-Shirt, and how I was dissapointed that I couldn't buy one, and he called about 5 downtown bars to see if they had any promo stuff that they'd sell to me. That's why I love Starwood. Went to the Calgary Tower, not bad, not great either. Got back to the hotel around 2200, midnight for me, and went to bed.
24 May, 0800. Wake up, go for breakfast, check out and lug all my stuff by bus and train back to the airport. Check into the Delta, cause I have an early flight on Sunday. Again, store luggage.
Today's attraction, the Zoo!
Not as good as I would have hoped, although it wasn't the zoo's fault. Just my luck, Friday during rush hour, a Peacock walked out of the zoo, along the overpass to the C-Train station, got spooked, and landed on the highway next to it. I read in the paper they found a leg. Needless to say, the zoo wasn't a happy place.
Back to the Delta, and dinner at Montanna's at the airport. The one strange thing about the DE YYC is that the pool is in an atrium, visible from half the rooms, and the restraunt, and the lobby. That weirded me out. The Delta is an older hotel, and I don't think they've switched their HVAC system from winter yet, cause I was roasting in the hallways. The room was nice, though, but no suite. My only complaint/concern is that the TV is only viewable from the extreme left side of the bed, at least in the room I was in.
Sunday Morning 25 May.
Wake up early, check out, check in with ZIP. Have a sandwich at Tim Horton's, and wait for the 0935 flight to YWG. Uneventful flight, and I've already mentioned my flying odities, so I won't repeat them, although of note is the FA, who when I wandered to the back just before descent began, lloke at me and said "Wow, you can move! You were out like a light! Do you always sleep on planes?" Yes I do, just not during take off or landing. Apparently, we'd had some turbulence on the way to YWG. I woldn't have known.
Connect in YWG, just enough time to grab a butt, and board the new plane. Gratifying to see, in 14D, right in front of me, riding in Y, Hon. Rey Pagtakhan a Canadian MP, not riding in J and talking to the "normals" during the flight.
Uneventful flight back home to YOW, meet my Dad in the arrivals area, get a ride back to my place, watch a gopher tearing up a pizza box in the recycle bin, and feed the fat boy when I get back inside.
Thanks for reading, if anyone did, and on request, I'll supply the horror story of my train ride from YOW(XDS) to YHZ(the code eludes me right now).
MC
Had a "you pay only the taxes" flight on ZIP (3J, which uses AC supplies old CP 737s with loud paint jobs, and except for my last flight, young, very attractive flight crews - sorry to the guys on YWG YOW, you did a good job, but Amanda on YOW YYC was much friendlier).
To the report then:
Friday May 23rd, 0500, wake up at an ungodly hour, after finally falling asleep to CNN at 0200. Get dressed, having showered the night before, grab a Diet Coke, and go downstairs to meet the cab. Takes about 7 minutes to get to the airport, but it took me 25 to get dressed - I'm not that swift in the morning.
Check in at the Zip counter in YOW at 0540 - well get in line. One person ahead of me, but he was checking 5 extra Rubbermaid bins, and it took a while. Would have used the kiosk, but they had to check my ID at the counter. A much longer line formed behind me.
Try to go thru security, forgetting of course that the foil in cigarette pacs sets off the metal detector. Back out. Smokes get x-rayed. Lots of fun. Once thru security, have to buy a $2.00 muffin to get access to the smoking section. Flight boards at 0630, and the crew, as mentioned before, was great. The only thing I don't like about flying these days is no access to the flight deck. The view from the jump seat is always better.
Push at 0653, and after a long seeming taxi, at 0702 those words run through my mind: "OK Challenger, go to throttle up". Strange, I know, but it always happens, and we're airborne. I love sitting just behind the wings so I can watch the slats. I think if I can associate the actual action with the noise, I feel more secure.
Talk to Amanda during the flight, since I saw her in the smoking section in YOW, and inquire about deplaning in YWG to grab a butt. Normally, you have to take all your stuff with you, but if you tell a crew member you'll be right back, and don't care if anything is stolen from your bags, they'll let you scurry out. Back on the plane after a lung break, and off to YYC.
Get there at 1030 MDT, and head down to the bus stop. I avoid cabs if I can. Get to the SI Eau Claire in Downtown YYC, room not ready, but they take my bag. Get directions by bus to the Big Rock Brewery, cause I want to buy a T-Shirt for someone I work with. We won't talk about that, except to say I was 2 and a half hours on the bus, and made it after the store was closed. D'oh!
Get back to the hotel at 1730, the day shot, but the room is ready, it's fantastic, and my bag is already in it. Go upstairs, to the tenth floor, not my first choice, I prefer 8 or lower, due to fire department ladder truck heights, but that again is just me. Have a nap.
Go for dinner an a beer at the pub downstairs. I don't like staying on high hotel floors, but have an Alberta steak for dinner during the current Mad Cow scare? Why not? I like beef, and brain melt won't deter me. Talk to the concierge on my way back to my romm, and I forgot to get his name, but I'm gonna call the hotel manager from work tomorrow to get it, and William, if you read reports too, you're getting an email once I get the name. I mentioned the Big Rock T-Shirt, and how I was dissapointed that I couldn't buy one, and he called about 5 downtown bars to see if they had any promo stuff that they'd sell to me. That's why I love Starwood. Went to the Calgary Tower, not bad, not great either. Got back to the hotel around 2200, midnight for me, and went to bed.
24 May, 0800. Wake up, go for breakfast, check out and lug all my stuff by bus and train back to the airport. Check into the Delta, cause I have an early flight on Sunday. Again, store luggage.
Today's attraction, the Zoo!
Not as good as I would have hoped, although it wasn't the zoo's fault. Just my luck, Friday during rush hour, a Peacock walked out of the zoo, along the overpass to the C-Train station, got spooked, and landed on the highway next to it. I read in the paper they found a leg. Needless to say, the zoo wasn't a happy place.
Back to the Delta, and dinner at Montanna's at the airport. The one strange thing about the DE YYC is that the pool is in an atrium, visible from half the rooms, and the restraunt, and the lobby. That weirded me out. The Delta is an older hotel, and I don't think they've switched their HVAC system from winter yet, cause I was roasting in the hallways. The room was nice, though, but no suite. My only complaint/concern is that the TV is only viewable from the extreme left side of the bed, at least in the room I was in.
Sunday Morning 25 May.
Wake up early, check out, check in with ZIP. Have a sandwich at Tim Horton's, and wait for the 0935 flight to YWG. Uneventful flight, and I've already mentioned my flying odities, so I won't repeat them, although of note is the FA, who when I wandered to the back just before descent began, lloke at me and said "Wow, you can move! You were out like a light! Do you always sleep on planes?" Yes I do, just not during take off or landing. Apparently, we'd had some turbulence on the way to YWG. I woldn't have known.
Connect in YWG, just enough time to grab a butt, and board the new plane. Gratifying to see, in 14D, right in front of me, riding in Y, Hon. Rey Pagtakhan a Canadian MP, not riding in J and talking to the "normals" during the flight.
Uneventful flight back home to YOW, meet my Dad in the arrivals area, get a ride back to my place, watch a gopher tearing up a pizza box in the recycle bin, and feed the fat boy when I get back inside.
Thanks for reading, if anyone did, and on request, I'll supply the horror story of my train ride from YOW(XDS) to YHZ(the code eludes me right now).
MC
