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Passage to a far shore
Nothing makes me appreciate living in the County more than spending two hours on the 401 between Oshawa and the airport. Yup, I’ll take a slow-moving farm vehicle or a big yellow school bus any day over the stop-and-go in Toronto.
So, we’re in Vancouver. Our home away from home. The trip from our driveway to the apartment in Vancouver took about 13 hours. Many of those hours were spent inching along in commuter traffic then going through security at the airport and sitting in the lounge waiting to board a plane. At one point on the 401, we covered less than five kilometres in just over an hour. That kind of speed made LOML and I laugh that our five- and ten-kilometre race times were far better. Early in the morning, an accident occurred at the 401 and 427, closing four lanes of traffic. By the time we were near that area, the traffic was still backed up. Now I can hear many of you asking, “Why didn’t she fly from Ottawa or use the 407?” If you know me, and many of you do, you’d know those routes have been tried. Flying from Ottawa is a more expensive flight and there’s something about going backward to go forward. The 407 is a frightening experience during the morning commute. In distance travel, there doesn’t seem to be a guarantee of smooth passage, whichever route you so carefully choose to take.
Since we had more than enough time to make small talk, we yapped about the detours, confusion and congestion in downtown Picton. Certainly, it isn’t on the same scale as crosstown traffic in Toronto, but it is as frustrating. We talked about how ridiculous it was to see so many 2,000- pound vehicles inching along with a single, 150-pound passenger. No two ways about it—if it weren’t such a pathetic sight, it would have been laughable. So many cars and so few people. But this is an issue in small-town Ontario, too.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there’s a better way to get from here to there than LOML and I luxuriating in one vehicle. Yup, I’m sure there is a better way. Not going to visit our children isn’t an option. Our children don’t live in the County. Our children have families and jobs and travelling to see them is what we do. LOML and I are mostly retired and have the time to spend sitting in the car waiting for a break in traffic. We have discussed alternatives to the drive part of the trip. It’s too far to walk with luggage. Cycling has been discussed, but I’m not sure about the mountain part of the trip. We discussed taking a limo to the airport, but how does that make the whole trip any better or, for us, cheaper? The confusion and complication of ride sharing isn’t worth it to us. To that end, this trip out, we made some interesting choices.
First, we decided to limit the amount of luggage we were going to bring. In fact, we opted to only bring carry-on luggage and managed to stay within the weight and size restrictions set out by the airline. Additionally, we told our VAN-kid he didn’t have to meet us at the airport. The drive from his home in East Hastings to the airport takes about an hour each way. The distance is part of the problem, but the congestion on Vancouver roads is the biggest issue. So, public transit it was.
The kid laughed at our idea. I do believe he felt we’d mess it up because we’re old farts. Truthfully, we manoeuvred our way from the airport to downtown Vancouver without incident. We then spent 10 minutes on the wrong side of Hastings Street waiting, in the rain, for a bus that never would have arrived at that spot. We managed to cross the road without injury then hopped onto the number 16 and headed home, a bit soggy from the rain.
I’d like to say it was good parenting but it was probably curiosity that made our son meet us at the bus stop. We were soggy from the rain, tired from the trip and looking forward to holding back on the wrongside- of-the-road part of the trip. Home, we are.
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