Saturday, November 17, 2007

A great nights sleep was just the ticket for us. We awoke early and looked out the window. Snow was on the ground
Waking to snow is something of a tradition for us in Canada. Kristie and I have visited Canada five times and it has snowed every time.

After the free breakfast we remembered from before Kris and I packed and started our drive back to the U.S. It was exciting, yet sad too, because the vacations end is close.

We reached the border at Saint Stephen and figured we had one last chance to eat at a Tim Hortons before we crossed.

Then we drove to the checkpoint. The Border Guard on the U.S side was very no nonsense, but never rude.. He looked at BOTH our drivers license and our passports. With a very serious face he ask the usual questions, where we were from, how long we were gone, did we buy drugs, cigarettes, or alcohol. ( NO TO ALL THOSE ) Then he ask if we had any purchases over $ 500 dollars and I replied no. Did we buy gifts ? I blurted out that we just bought a few trinkets. CLICK ! Just like a light switch his whole demeanor changed. He lightened-up and grinned then laughingly said. You can go..Have a nice day. I think the word "trinkets" is the magic border word or something.

The ride back to Bangor was interesting. It was a different route than our trip northward. But just as scenic. As we neared Bangor and some of the surrounding towns we had visited a week earlier we noticed just how drastically the leaves had changed. They were now well past peak and a lot had fallen. In one week. Amazing.

Once back at the Airport Sheraton we relaxed an hour or so. Then we headed out do our last sites and to eat our final meal this vacation. We really were not very hungry. So where did we end up? We found a stateside Tim Hortons across the river in Brewer. Honestly we never failed to get great food from them. I am holding out for a franchise around here one day.

After dinner we returned the rental car. We had logged something over 1400 miles plus taken several ferry rides. It was a good car and a fun ride.

Back at the Hotel we repacked and tried to sleep early. Our flight departed at 6:30 so we had to set alarms for 4am.

We checked out and walked the 150 or so feet to check-in and security. Bangor is a smaller airport than GSP so I expected security to be almost instant. What I did not expect was that 5 flight all depart between 6 and 7 in the morning and each one was packed with snowbirds galore.
I think every one on our flight other than us was heading ultimately to Florida for the winter. It was an amusing sight.
We had great flights and another cup of Seattle's Best in Atlanta. Forget Starbucks, I like Seattle's Best much better.

While waiting to board Kristie and I saw a lady smuggling a dog in her purse. A cute little thing with a ribbon in it's hair. What I want to know is how he got through the X-ray machine unnoticed.

We arrived back at the car and got home with no trouble, heading home. One of the flight crew on our hotel shuttle mentioned rotisserie chicken and that planed the idea with us. So we stopped off at Bloome and got one for our dinner.

It was a great trip and a lot of fun. Wonder where we'll wind up next?

1 comment:

Rita Loca said...

Thanks for your prayers for our friends.