Aug 11 Back to Mill Bay!

We (make that I) got up at 5:30 to hit the shower. Shannon grudgingly got in the shower next and then by the time Shayla was finished it was 6:45. It was nice actually being ready on time without rushing, and without having to pack anything because we followed the plan of not using our backpacks, just the day packs for a change of clothes. 

We walked the 100m or so to the airport and after making one or two wrong turns ended up checking our baggage downstairs. Our backpacks were fine, but our day packs were all over the limit. With my laptop and camera removed we were all less than a kg over so she let us through and we made our way up to security for the departures. 

Of course security went smoothly but not as quickly as in Dublin. We had arrived at the airport at 7 am for a 10 am flight, which is the requirement for an international flight, but when we got to the gate we found our flight had already been delayed 40 minutes. Then a half hour later they changed it to 70 minutes. But the time didn't really end up bothering us. We had a quick bite to eat for breakfast and sat at the gate watching the planes coming and going. 

We finally started boarding about 10:50 and by 11:20 we were in the air (80 minutes late). Estimated flight time was 8:45. That's a pretty long flight but both of the girls had bought books to read in the airport and the inflight entertainment system was actually pretty good. The only real issue with the flight is the sardine effect of being squeezed tightly into the airplane 9 seats across. 

When we hit Vancouver airport we breezed through as fast as the luggage carousel would allow and Laurel was waiting there for us with Thomas, Leanne and Nana. 

We piled all the luggage into the Suburban and headed for the ferry, making a few wrong turns along the way because of some dumb plan by the GPS Laurel borrowed to get around Vancouver. When we shut it off we got back on the highway and headed straight for the ferries, arriving literally 4 minutes before the 2 pm sailing and getting on as the 3rd to last vehicle. 

The only thing left to do was combat the Victoria rush hour traffic (which apparently starts well before 4pm) so we didn't get home until after 5pm. 

The End!