3:57AM and we were both awake. 3 minutes later and the alarms started going off. Maybe we might be rested enough to make this a less torturous day than originally anticipated. Our flight was to depart in less than 3 hours, so best to get our things together and out the door ASAP. By 4:50 we were out the door and an Uber had us on the way to the airport before 5.

5AM traffic was not so bad. 10 minutes to the airport where we stepped out and into the airport with ease. Not much excitement through this leg of the journey as everything was going according to plan. We found the counter, had an agent give us real boarding passes in exchange for our hotel printed versions, then made our way through security to find some breakfast. American has been known to not offer any meals on their flights to Latin American countries, unless they are directly competing with a Latin American airline. Instead of relying on cookies for breakfast, we splurged and spent the rest of our Costa Rican cash on two breakfast sandwiches, a fruit bowl and bottle of water…$30CAD. They wanted $4USD for a bottle of water! Atrocious pricing at this airport and probably a long time before we are back.

We boarded and the flight actually departed a little early. Surprising how sometimes enough people can get their acts together quick enough to warrant an early plan departure, especially in a country where time seems to have a little less respect than elsewhere in the world. A full flight, the captain came on the intercom and indicated we had to change runways because our overall load was a bit more than expected. We departed, we cleared the mountains and had smooth skies all the way to Dallas.

On landing, we were 20 minutes early as well. We got off the plane and had 5 hours to kill, so we figured we would check out Terminal D for a little while. Open air, maybe some arty sculptures we could browse and a different selection of restaurants than what we saw in Terminal A on our way down. We had a look at a few places to eat, then settled on a spot with a burrito on the menu. As we sit down, Candice’s brother comes over to say hi. Here is a guy that lives in Bermuda full time. He too just happened to be having lunch in the same place and was 10 minutes away from having to run to his flight. Amazing how these little coincidences happen. We caught up as much as we could over the course of 10 minutes…then let him run off to his flight.

We hung out at that corner table. Melanie with some blue coconut margarita thing and me with a beer. We got chatting with the waitress, a soccer mom by the sounds of it, who just enjoys serving. We appreciated the service with a smile and enthusiasm because a couple months without seemed to be a bit much. We really will appreciated well priced food and the excellent table service Vancouver offers.

A couple hours spent sitting and sipping drinks worked well to eat up that layover, but we still had a few hours to burn up. A train ride to our terminal and some wandering amongst the shops helped. We found our way to the correct terminal, then to our gate and did some people watching. Airports are good to see who also might be flying. The remaining 90 minutes passed and we boarded the plane.

A gentlemen sat down next to us, David. Apparently he was flying back from a 5 day fishing trip down to Jaco. He spent much of the flight pouring over land lease documents and on asking what he was into…mineral exploration was the response. Apparently he is in the process of assessing and developing a couple properties to then sell off to a larger operation. He successfully sold off his stake in an operation a couple decades ago…spent the money…now figures he can do it again but this time respecting the money a little more. He figures 8-9 million in the bank should be sufficient because 1-2 just gets spent too quickly. To each his own.

We arrived back at YVR unscathed. A soft landing and alert from the pilot that we were entering 10 degrees, dark and cold. The airport, beautiful…but empty. Being not even 8PM, it seems there should be more people and flights departing from this lovely airport. Not tonight. We made our way through customs and home in a taxi.

So, it seems there should have been a bit of excitement that could have created something more interesting to write about, but when travel plans go all according to plan…there really isnt much to add. Excitement comes from the random, the unexpected events that arise. Now that we are home in the familiarity of our own little place there will be much less to write about for the next few months.

Unless anyone needs some more bad advice…anyone??