July 18th, Part 1
I woke up just before we went under Lions Gate Bridge. It was 4:45am as we passed under.
Once we passed under, I went back to bed until 7am.
I time lapsed our arrival from the bridge to Canada Place.
It was pretty funny and very cool that when we opened up our curtains, we saw CANADA!
While Kira and I got ready and I packed up the last of our stuff, Rob went up to Cabanas for his final breakfast. They had closed the outside deck sadly.
It was about 20 minutes after Rob got back that they called our tag, Green Tink, so off we went. This was 8:27am.
We headed down to the baggage claim area.
We went through Canada Customs, where they asked us if we had bought anything and they were very specific, they wanted to know everything we had purchased. Oddly enough, no one asked to see our passports.
We followed the signs for Taxis where someone directed us to wait at a certain number. I specified that we needed a van. We were at #13 by 8:42am.
Looking back at the doors we just came out of.
At 8:48am, we loaded all of our luggage into the taxi.
Man, I'm going to miss Vancouver!
We were at the airport and had unloaded our luggage by 9:17am, it was $40 plus tip.
They don't have a dedicated Nexus line so it took awhile to get through security, they were definitely understaffed.
Kira and Rob got their Timmy's fix.
I found a breakfast sandwich elsewhere, to munch on.
Heading to our gate, there is a massively long hallway FILLED with Disney figurines. It started with all of the Mickeys, then turned into Donald's, then Goofy's and so on and so on. That is quite the collection, YVR!
We found our gate, and eventually our plane showed up.
Just as we were about to board our plane, I noticed a tickle in my throat. I hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the night before, I was really hoping that's all it was, At home, when I get a bad sleep, I sometimes wake up with that same tickle and it usually goes away as the day goes by.
Rob was excited because we got to fly for the first time on a Dreamliner 787. He told me I was going to love it. I did not.
We took off 30 minutes late, at 2pm. I love how Mount Baker was sticking out above the clouds.
And then other mountains too! <3
This was the reason I didn't care for the Dreamliner...funky new windows. They didn't have a pull-down shade. That little button on the bottom was supposed to tint the windows but it wasn't working. Rob asked one of the flight attendants and she didn't even know how to work them. Turns out, they hadn't reset them yet so none of them were working. This was a pain because it was hot and very bright and no one could do anything about it. If you were trying to watch a movie on the screen, good luck, you couldn't see it! Just before we landed in Calgary, the windows were reset and I pressed the button to make it as dark as possible and it was only partially shaded. So, there was no way you could get it dark all the way, just a little less bright. And then, as luck would have it, as I was playing with the window, seeing how dark it could get, the windows reset again and I couldn't get it back to the non tinted version.
So glad it was only a 70-minute flight!
It had been raining all day long and stopped just as we landed.
It was a super long walk to the luggage carousel, all three bags made it safely and then Rob went and got our car from Park2Go while we waited for him.
I had been texting with my brother, he was dropping off our Boo for us so we unloaded the car quickly and then I waited at the door.
I always miss her so much. It's the only bad part of a vacation for me.
The best part of any vacation is going back home to your own bed, your own shower and kitchen and most importantly, your dog!
That night, I ended up getting a fever, chills, sweats and my throat was really sore! The next day, Kira felt off, she said she was extremely fatigued and her muscles were really sore. We both tested positive on the at-home covid tests and five days later, Rob also tested positive.
Kira was better after a week and was testing negative.
It took me three full weeks to recover but I was testing negative a few days after Kira. Rob was sick for two weeks and tested negative at the end of that second week.
As much as the covid part sucked, it was worth it because that was the best cruise I've ever taken, the best cruise Kira has ever taken and Rob's second favourite cruise, right behind the 10-night Southern Caribbean on the Fantasy in 2017. If he wasn't so cold all the time, it would have been his favourite.
And it turns out that I will be on the Wonder again after all, in only a few weeks.
This time I am going with two really good friends and I am so excited for them to experience what I just experienced. Minus the covid, I hope.
I will not be writing a trip report but I will post some photos on my TA FB page.
So that's it for this one, folks. Thanks so much for following along on this adventure with us. I appreciate all of the comments and the likes.
Until next time, Adios Amoebas!