Bombardier Dash 7 twin prop from Quebec City to Montreal.
Beoing 737 from Montreal to Toronto.
The real story is that thunderstorms hit in Toronto and they had to shut down the airport for about an hour for safety. So, our flight was delayed on arriving to Montreal by about an hour. Then, upon arrival in Toronto, we sat for about an hour waiting for a spot at the terminal to disembark. So, a 1 hour flight became 3. We finally got to the car at about 8 pm, rather than 5 as planned. Next surprise - we parked at the wrong lot according to our discount ticket, and we were supposed to pay $104 for parking, rather than the $35 we had thought. I basically threw myself on the mercy of the cashier, "How about we split the difference and I pay $75?" "No sir, I'm sorry, this is not the price the Economy lot is farther down the road." I replied, with disgust, "It's a lousy way to end a family holiday." To save face he did not admit out loud that he would help us, but in fact he only charged us $75. "Thank-you," I said with relief. And off we went to look for some supper.
Do you think we could find a fast food place anywhere near the airport, such as McD's? Nope. Just Subway. We kept on going towards Malton. Surely there is a fast food restaurant along here somewhere, I thought. Sure enough, we see a Wendy's. I try to stop in time for the driveway, but missed the first lane and sailed past the little divider island. I would normally have no problem entering a driveway going the wrong way, because it's not an issue. But, wouldn't you know, there's a car just pulling into the lane as we veer off Dixon Road, braking hard. She brakes, I brake. We sit hood to hood looking at each other. I would have to back up into traffic on Dixon Road. She would have to back up into an empty parking lot. It's obvious who should move, I'm thinking. She just sits and honks, and looks disgusted. Then, we look around and we notice there are - no lie - about 50 people sitting around the Wendy's parking lot and on the boulevard, as if there was some kind of corporate barbecue or biker picnic going on. This is really spooky, I'm thinking. What have we barged into? All of these people are staring at us in our obvious goof-up! I sit there, refusing to try to back out into traffic on a four lane airport artery. I gesture for her to back up. After a few tense seconds, she finally got the idea to back up a few feet and I whipped past her into the parking lot.
What about all those people? Totally freaked by all the people sitting around, the bride was saying we should just forget it now and go home. I continue into the parking lot. "It's okay, there's no problem. We're here; let's eat!" So we park the car and look around, still trying to figure out what the heck is the big event that has got all these people sitting around aimlessly. Is there some parade about to go by? Then it hits me. I look across the street and see the end of the main airport runway. This parking lot is the last public place before planes hit the runway. These people are plane-spotting! My kind of people! I'm in! I refuse to go into the restaurant until I see the next bird buzz a hundred feet overhead.
What a thrill! If there were a downburst and a plane lost it just before touchdown, this restaurant and the entire property would be obliterated in the impact.
Here is the location of the Wendy's. You can see the runway.
Here's a picture someone took at the same spot. You can get the idea.
Well, we wouldn't have ended up doing the plane-spotting if the plane had been on time. It just goes to show that the unscripted, unplanned parts of the trip are usually the most interesting.
We had a great time in Quebec. There is no such thing as a snobby francophone. If any of our hosts were holding grudges about having to speak English, they kept it private and they always tried to use English when they found out we were from Ontario. They could usually tell within hearing one or two words that we were English.
