Our time in Canada has come to an end. We woke up one morning, and had to put on pants and sweaters. This would not do, so we made our last round of farewells, packed up our kit bags to overflowing, and got a lift to the airport from my mom at 0430 (yes, in the morning!). We went to check in, which went without a hitch, but it was close. One bag weighed 48.6 lbs and the other weighed 49.8 lbs. We paid for the two bags, got our boarding passes and walked away with our Value Village rolling carry-ons holding all the REALLY heavy stuff.

We arrived at security, feeling confident at we would be able to get through no problem. All our travel size shampoo and conditioner were placed an airline passenger security device (zip lock baggy) and all sharp items (Greig’s Leatherman multi-tool) without lighter (see last year’s blog) was in the checked in luggage. We were go to go until after stepping through the metal detector and we were asked to step off to the side. They had found our electric drill and electric palm sander. You were not allowed to take these on the plane. They would not even function unless they were plugged in. What possible damage could we do with an unplugged palm sander?

I took one of the carry-on bags back to get checked in (for which I paid a pretty penny), while Greig had a nice chat with one of the security guards. Apparently, you are not allowed to take large tools on board (a palm sander is a large tool?), but you can bring small hand tools on, like screwdrivers. You have got to be kidding me! It’s OK to bring a screwdriver, which even with my limited abilities, could do some serious damage to someone, but I can’t bring a palm sander?

With our load lightened by one carry-on, we boarded the plane on time and arrived in Philly for a two hour layover. We followed the signs to the USO and enjoyed a hot breakfast, and the very pleasant company of a US marine and his dog, who were on their way home. The US certainly knows how to treat their military and veterans right. Thank you so much for the hospitality.

Next leg to Miami was also on time, and went off smoothly. We arrived, had some lunch, boarded the plane at 1435 and there we sat for two and half hours! Here comes the rant…. As we sat on the plane watching the rain and lightening, and listening to the thunder directly above us, the uncovered luggage trains sat on the runway getting absolutely soaked. This went on for almost two hours. I felt really sorry for those people when they finally got their luggage. On the plane we were treated to a really cool fog show, and not much else. No drinks, no snacks, not even any water. Finally we took off at 1700, better late than never. Instead of arriving at 1900, now we were going to arrive at 2130, well over the dinner hour. Unfortunately we were sat at the back of the plane, and once the flight attendant got to us there was no more food to purchase. We did however get a complimentary halloween sized bag of chips to share. You would think that knowing what time the passengers boarded, and what time they were going to land, the airline could foresee that there may be a higher than normal demand for the purchased food, and load it accordingly. They had two and a half hours on the ground to do it, unfortunately they didn’t. End rant.

Although tired and hungry, we finally landed at 2130. We were back in Grenada after being away for three months.