4:00pm, Pacific Time - Home in Whitehorse, YT
Well, I'm finally home....Today has not been that great a day to tell you the honest truth.
Earlier this morning, around 5:45, Wally (the person whom I'm staying with) wakes up and turns on the lights. I'm rustled out of my peaceful slumber and ask for another 5 minutes. Ten minutes go by and I get ready for my trip out of Seattle to Vancouver, BC on board the Mount Baker International, stopping in Edmonds, Everett, Mount Vernon, Bellingham and finally, Vancouver BC. Getting to the train station wasn't a problem...I arrived with plenty of time to check in (funny thing about Seattle, it's one of only stations that assigns seats before the passengers even get a chance to look at the train.), and everything seemed to be going well...until (oh come on now, why do you think I would build this up so much if it's going to be routine??) there were announcements regarding the possibility of slight delays because of minor mud slides north of Seattle...At that point, I'm sitting in the station saying "Oh S---...This is NOT what I want now!" You see, my connection with my flight is tight to begin with...an hour and twenty minutes is all I'm scheduled to have in Vancouver...That includes getting off the train, to the airport, checked in, sitting down in my seat, and the plane departing from the gate...The train's supposed to arrive at 11:40am, and the flight home is due to depart at 1pm. NOT a lot of time under optimum circumstances, and hearing of "slight" delays certainly knotted my stomach quite tightly...of course, when asked the station agent said "I have no idea how long 'slight' is. There'll be a lot of red lights, single track conditions... I'm sorry, but that's the way things are." The conversation I had with a World of Vacations agent was coming back to me and quite clearly too. She said that I could possibly be 20 minutes late in getting into Vancouver and still have enough time to properly check myself in. (She also listed directions from Pacific Central Station to the Airport...at which point I asked if she was in Vancouver...She was. I was dutifully impressed with how helpful she was...) I'm beginning to wonder at that point whether I should take a flight up to Vancouver aboard Horizon Air or something similar to that...I decide that I'll hopefully be able to make it, and if not, a call home to see if I could scrounge up enough money for airfare would have to be made...The tickets were not refundable (duh) and not changable (which really ticked me off, because that meant that the hotel room and time in Vancouver that I wanted would not happen, and I'd be paying for a room that I couldn't use). It also meant that if I was late getting into Vancouver because of train delays, I would literally be stuck... Now you can see why I'm so nervous at that point...
Anyhow, boarding of the train goes alright, except we're a couple minutes late in boarding the train...I was assigned Car 34, seat 17...Before you think that this train is huge, it's not. They start the numbering at 30. That being said, the train was still a bit on the large side...two engines, and what appeared to be two trainsets, all combined into one. Normally, the Talgo trains don't need much as they're quite small and seem dinky compared to the F40PH engine pulling it. When I boarded the car, I thought I was going to be one of the first to board...turns out that they had boarded a group of people going to Vancouver, probably to see the Riverdance Show. Surprisingly the train was quite full, and I was glad that the train was a tad on the smaller side, as they have seating configurations similar to the Metroliners, that is, a single seat, the aisle, and two seats together. Fortunately, I had a single seat. Unfortunately, because I was so nervous and scared that I wouldn't make my flight, I didn't really get a chance to look around the train a lot. Oh well. Back to the story...
Departure from Seattle happened a few minutes late, and we haven't cleared the city limits before we have to stop at a red light and wait for a train to finish passing by on the track next to us. Of course, more worrying and fretting. After that train passes by, we sit there for a long time and eventually start moving, crossing over to the other set of rails. A decent speed is definitely not reached, and we're forced to stop at least three more times before reaching Everett. I now know why that section of trackage has been double-tracked...it's amazing how much traffic is on that bit of Burlington Northern road. Again, later on, we stop for a couple more trains, one of them being the westbound Empire Builder. It was only an hour and a bit late, compared to the 12 hours late that our train was a day earlier.
After departing Everett, our trip starts going normally. Also, after getting out of that corridor, we're now down to a single track. But, thankfully we don't have the kind of traffic, or problems that there were before Everett. Just after our departure from Mount Vernon, our train really decides to show us what it can do. We travelled at what could certainly be called 79mph. And at that speed and the level you're at when you're in the train, you really do see what 79mph is! The makeup of the Talgo trainset makes for quite an interesting sound and feeling. Because they have a single axle between the coaches, there are far less wheels to go "clickity-clack" over the gaps between the rails. In fact, it was quieter than most trains I was on. I suppose it also was the reason why the train swayed from side to side like it did... You also didn't feel any turns either, as the Talgo technology decided to tilt the train a bit through the turns. Must admit, they really don't put the technology to use as the train still slows down for the curves...
Passed through Bellingham a while after passing through Mount Vernon...This would be our last American stop, and it was after this stop that I start wondering how late we're going to be in getting into Vancouver. In Bellingham I decide to take a peek through the train and out onto the platform and see if I can see Aarene...She lives in Bellingham, and she didn't stick around in Seattle last night, so I was wondering if she'd be there waving at me...(she e-mailed me the day after saying that she pondered going to the train station to see my train in, but she slept through it...No worries as I was far too nervous about my upcoming connection to really do anything.) I also looked for the southernmost port of call for the Alaska Marine Highway System...If one wants to go to take their vehicle to Alaska without going through Canada, this is the only way to do it...Board a ferry, travel straight through to Ketchikan, Alaska, and then hop off the ferry anywhere you wish...
After leaving Bellingham the train crew came through the train passing out the customs forms...I filled mine out, hoping that it wouldn't cause me any problems with the customs people in Vancouver. I also started trying to figure out how to get myself through the train station as quickly as humanly possible. Amazingly enough we were across the border in very little time, but from White Rock all the way into the station it took quite a bit of time...Was a scenic trip in though... Travelling at a slower speed mere meters away from the beach and a couple more meters and there's the saltwater of Juan De Fuca strait (well, the bay between Point Roberts and White Rock). We also passed by a massive rock painted white...I suppose the city's namesake...
A little while later and crossing over the Fraser River and a few swamps in the Delta area, we were travelling along the northern edge of Deep Creek until we arrived at the station. Here too we were supposed to back into the station, but given our delay, they decided to just drive straight in and then let us off. Thankfully, I was standing in the right point so that I could get off the train and get through customs as quickly as possible. Wasting minutes is something I didn't want to do...Because as I found out later on, every second counted! Tip for anyone who needs to get off the train and out of the station as quickly as possible should see one of the attendants or the conductor, and let them know why...They'll tell you to bring your baggage (provided you didn't check any of it) to a certain doorway, usually the one at the back of the first car.) to a certain doorway, park it there and then make sure you're present at that doorway when the conductor swings the stairway out the train. That will make sure you're at the front of the line!
Of course, the customs agents weren't at the station when we were there, so we spent a few minutes waiting (and agonizing minutes for me...I think I brought on my first ulcer there...) for them to show up. Of course, the very tall green chain link fence was keeping us contained, but when the agents showed up, they walked through a gate in the fence...and the fence was unlocked! One of them said "betcha didn't know this was unlocked!". Of course, I'm standing there just dumbfounded at this... Anyhow, he opens the doors to the station, I hand him my form, and he looks at my luggage (I've got a suitcase, my laptop in it's carrying case and my backpack hanging on my shoulder) and asks "that it?" I reply yes, and he says "Okay, you can go now" I'm thinking 'what? that's it?' and then snap out of it and pick everything up and race for the door. On my way out I take a quick peek behind me and look at how beautiful the train station is...And then I'm through the door and give the first cab a look and start walking briskly towards it...He gets out to open the trunk and I ask him "how much time to get to the airport?" he says about 20 minutes. I look at my watch - 12:38pm...Remember, my flight departs from the gate at 1:00pm... I say fine...But you're gonna have to step on it. I toss my suitcase into the trunk and we take off in great haste. As we're passing over the river to get onto the island, the driver is reaching over to the glovebox and I see the credit card swiper...I pull it out, take the slip from him, and then put the credit card and everything else necessary into it and swipe the card...I fill in the date, and all the other particulars except for the price (because the trip isn't over yet!) and put the swiper back into the glovebox. We pull up to the Canadian Departures area and fill out the price and give him a dollar or two for a tip, and then sign it. I then tear off the top sheet thinking that this one's mine, but turns out the second one is...Oops. But hand it all over to him...Time is 12:56pm. I pull my suitcase out of the trunk and wish him a good day and thanks for getting me here in what I hope is enough time.
I race into the airport and see no lineups anywhere (thank god!)...I see a couple agents, but those counters are for Toronto...I see two more agents, but they're for business class...at last I spot an agent who isn't restricting herself...I race up to the counter and say "I'm going to Whitehorse...can you get me on the flight??" and hand her my ticket. She types up a few things and says "Nope...gate's closed..." She looks and notices this is the last flight for today. I put my head down on the counter and mumble an obscenity...She then picks up the phone and calls down to the gate and asks if it's too late to send one passenger to the gate...they reply yes...I'm exstatic at this point! The agent then processes my ticket and then tells me "Okay, your suitcase will definitely not get on this flight. Be sure to see the baggage agent when you get there to make arrangements for picking it up. Your seat is 17A, at Gate 30. Go." I thank her as I run off. At this point, I realize I've gotta pay the Airport Improvement Fee...I pull out a five dollar canadian bill and slap it down on the counter and say I'm going to Whitehorse...and then run off. She pulls me back to tell me to take my receipt. I grab it and then hand it to the person taking the reciepts. I then pull all my stuff off and put it on the Xray machine, and then walk through the metal detector...thankfully I don't beep. I grab stuff as quickly as possible and then run like I've never run before for the gate... Nobody in that area could've missed me as I was pounding the ground so hard...I see the signs saying Gate 30 is ahead, but I don't realize it's right underneath that sign...I skid to a stop and rush up to the counter where they're boarding the last of the passengers...one of the gate agents asks one of the passengers if they heard anyone running for the gate and then they see me rush up and ask if I'm the one...I reply yes (out of breath I might add) and hand her my boarding pass and ticket... I then walk quickly down the jetway to my airplane and walk in...I find my seat (after asking the person in the aisle seat if he could get up so I could get in) and sit down and realize that I MADE IT!!! I'm out of breath, I'm sweating under my coat, and I'm still pumped full of adrenaline...My suitcase isn't gonna be on my flight but I don't care...as long as my butt is in that seat, I'm fine!
Now you're probably thinking that this is the end of the travelogue...Except for one minor problem...Once we're out of Vancouver and probably 15-20 minutes north, the captain asks everyone to sit down and fasten their seatbelts after we hit a bump...This was the starting of 20-30 minutes of sheer HELL. We hit a very major amount of clear air turbulence, and the plane bounced ALL over...we twisted left, rolled right, pitched up, fell down and basically did the funky chicken for a good 20 minutes!...For once in my life I was a white knuckle flyer...I knew I was gonna come out of this okay physically, but emotionally, I was stressed out to the supreme. One way of preventing yourself from getting too hurt from these types of events is to literally MASH yourself into the wall and pull yourself into your seat using your arms with whatever strength you've got. This way you move with the airplane and you don't get knocked around and bruised... The worst part about this entire turbulence thing was the few female passengers in the back of the airplane who screamed every time the plane took a major fall. If they didn't scream I'm sure a lot of us would've felt a lot better! It's a really interesting psychological experience when you hear other people screaming when you're in that type of environment...because screams typically happen while something terrible is happening and most often is the last thing people hear before dying...thankfully I knew that we were still far too high up to have any problems and that the pilots were doing their best to get us through this as quickly as possible (they increased the throttle through this to try and power our way through the turbulence), so I knew we were going to get to Whitehorse without too many problems...But it definitely didn't help hearing them from the back of the plane.
Sure enough, the turbulence did end, but we were all on pins and needles thinking that it was just a calm spot before more turbulence...Only after about 20-30 minutes did we actually relax somewhat...
Anyhow, landing in Whitehorse was fine (except for the fact there was far too much snow on the ground compared to what I was used to...), and my mom picked me up just after I decided to head for home (another advantage of not having my suitcase was that I didn't need to wait with the rest of the people for luggage to come up from the belly of the 737 we flew in on...
The next morning I decided to walk down to the airport (thankfully I live in subdivision closest to the airport) and pick up my suitcase which was on that plane.
Well folks...Been a slice. If you've actually read the entire travelogue from the beginning, you deserve a prize...But I don't have one for ya. Sorry.
Have fun!