Our bus ride from Jaco was uneventful. We even had a reasonable departure time, 9am. My bag was getting overfull but I could still hoist it onto my back and into the bottom of the bus.
When we got to San Jose, we just went back to Elvis Hotel, a known entity. We didn't want another Pecos Bill (hooker hotel) incident since we were pretty tired.
We took a cab from the bus station and we greeted by Nano the cat at the hotel door. I'm sure that cat, who is not allowed outside, has smelled the whole world on guests' bags. He is obsessed with sniffing luggage.
Once we unloaded our stuff, we walked to the other side of town, near our first hotel, to find the Artisan's Market where we had first seen some beautiful wooden cutting boards. I didn't take a picture but here is what they look like. Don't look if you think you might get a Christmas present from me (I bought five). They use the various types of hardwood available in the country. The 'purple heart' is the best.
I was having some tummy trouble. My innards probably recognized we were in San Jose and had a flash back to that Japanese dinner. Any way, thanks to the Jade Museum next door to the market and their tourist-level baño.
Back to the hotel to do a final pack. In the end, Val's bag weighed 25 lbs, mine was 42. WE decided to take a cab to the airport even though it would cost us each an extra $10. Worth it not to have to hold our bags on our laps on a crowed bus for an hour or more.
We got to the airport early and our flight left on time. We arrived in Houston and had to go through customs/security. That went well with an hour to spare so we ate at the Noodle place that was directly across from our gate. It was fine, but airport expensive.
We arrived in San Francisco at midnight and our flight to Vancouver didn't leave until 6:30. I had used my 'winter coat' (a hoodie) to wrap my wood bowls and had forgotten to take it out of my bag before I checked it so I only had a t-shirt and a light rain shell. The airport was freezing! No sleep for me. Val and I wandered around a bit. It is creepy to be in a huge, basically empty airport. It was definitely a scene from EVERY zombie movie. There were a few scattered people sleeping on the benches. I was just waiting for them to rise and attack. As it turned out, the only ones who had to worry about that were the poor employees of the first coffee shop to open. The line up was 20 deep by 6:02.
Here are a couple pictures of the empty airport (it is a nice airport).
And here is the same spots sullied by our tired selves.
When we checked in in San Jose, the United desk person couldn't give us boarding passes for San Francisco. She said she couldn't even book our seats. United had let us check-in online 24 hours before our flight but we couldn't do that with Air Canada. Either because it wasn't 24 hours before, or because they usually don't let you check-in online in a foreign country.
Anyway, our United lady just told us to pop over to Air Canada desk and do it there. which we did. But when we got there, I discovered that she had already given me my boarding pass for the Air Canada flight even though she told Val she couldn't possibly do that. Whatever, Val checked in with Air Canada and all was well in the world.
Except that Val realized we didn't know if our bags had been sent to Vancouver or San Franscisco. We asked Air Canada lady. Vancouver. We asked when we got to San Franscico, they are going to Vancouver. So, we felt pretty confident - our bags would be in Vancouver.
Guess what? Our bags weren't in Vancouver. We filled out the lost bag forms and still managed to get on the bus to catch the 11am ferry. The Air Canada lost luggage guy was very nice. I may have to stop bashing AC. they were also the only legs of our flight with free movies (I watched Bridget Jones's Baby on the way down and The Accountant on the way back).
Apparently, they had lost them in completely separate ways. The delivered Val's bag to here that very day at about 8pm. I got mine on Sunday, two days later around noon. It was kind of nice not to have to deal with them on the ferry to be honest. I may get used to home delivery.
So, all's well that ends well. Except for this:
What the hell, Victoria!! I expected to return to Spring with blooming daffodils and cherry blossoms.
But I did get to sleep in my own cozy bed and kitty was happy to have her heat source back.
Thanks for reading.
When we got to San Jose, we just went back to Elvis Hotel, a known entity. We didn't want another Pecos Bill (hooker hotel) incident since we were pretty tired.
We took a cab from the bus station and we greeted by Nano the cat at the hotel door. I'm sure that cat, who is not allowed outside, has smelled the whole world on guests' bags. He is obsessed with sniffing luggage.
Once we unloaded our stuff, we walked to the other side of town, near our first hotel, to find the Artisan's Market where we had first seen some beautiful wooden cutting boards. I didn't take a picture but here is what they look like. Don't look if you think you might get a Christmas present from me (I bought five). They use the various types of hardwood available in the country. The 'purple heart' is the best.
 |
| You can only imagine what 5 of these weigh. If you cannot imagine, let me tell you - A LOT. My poor pack/back. |
I was having some tummy trouble. My innards probably recognized we were in San Jose and had a flash back to that Japanese dinner. Any way, thanks to the Jade Museum next door to the market and their tourist-level baño.
Back to the hotel to do a final pack. In the end, Val's bag weighed 25 lbs, mine was 42. WE decided to take a cab to the airport even though it would cost us each an extra $10. Worth it not to have to hold our bags on our laps on a crowed bus for an hour or more.
We got to the airport early and our flight left on time. We arrived in Houston and had to go through customs/security. That went well with an hour to spare so we ate at the Noodle place that was directly across from our gate. It was fine, but airport expensive.
We arrived in San Francisco at midnight and our flight to Vancouver didn't leave until 6:30. I had used my 'winter coat' (a hoodie) to wrap my wood bowls and had forgotten to take it out of my bag before I checked it so I only had a t-shirt and a light rain shell. The airport was freezing! No sleep for me. Val and I wandered around a bit. It is creepy to be in a huge, basically empty airport. It was definitely a scene from EVERY zombie movie. There were a few scattered people sleeping on the benches. I was just waiting for them to rise and attack. As it turned out, the only ones who had to worry about that were the poor employees of the first coffee shop to open. The line up was 20 deep by 6:02.
Here are a couple pictures of the empty airport (it is a nice airport).
 |
| San Francisco Airport |
 |
| the eerie San Francisco Airport at 2:30am |
And here is the same spots sullied by our tired selves.
 |
| Just waiting for the zombies |
 |
| Val |
When we checked in in San Jose, the United desk person couldn't give us boarding passes for San Francisco. She said she couldn't even book our seats. United had let us check-in online 24 hours before our flight but we couldn't do that with Air Canada. Either because it wasn't 24 hours before, or because they usually don't let you check-in online in a foreign country.
Anyway, our United lady just told us to pop over to Air Canada desk and do it there. which we did. But when we got there, I discovered that she had already given me my boarding pass for the Air Canada flight even though she told Val she couldn't possibly do that. Whatever, Val checked in with Air Canada and all was well in the world.
Except that Val realized we didn't know if our bags had been sent to Vancouver or San Franscisco. We asked Air Canada lady. Vancouver. We asked when we got to San Franscico, they are going to Vancouver. So, we felt pretty confident - our bags would be in Vancouver.
Guess what? Our bags weren't in Vancouver. We filled out the lost bag forms and still managed to get on the bus to catch the 11am ferry. The Air Canada lost luggage guy was very nice. I may have to stop bashing AC. they were also the only legs of our flight with free movies (I watched Bridget Jones's Baby on the way down and The Accountant on the way back).
Apparently, they had lost them in completely separate ways. The delivered Val's bag to here that very day at about 8pm. I got mine on Sunday, two days later around noon. It was kind of nice not to have to deal with them on the ferry to be honest. I may get used to home delivery.
So, all's well that ends well. Except for this:
 |
| http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/surprise-snowfall-in-victoria-leads-to-cancelled-flights-slow-traffic-1.10520613 |
But I did get to sleep in my own cozy bed and kitty was happy to have her heat source back.
Thanks for reading.
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