The Long Trek Home

Tuesday we started the long trek home. After leaving the Villa we headed to the St Jean Airport to catch our 10:30 a.m. flight and we left lots of time to spare.

We met Nurse Brigitte at the airport where she assisted in administering the daily dose of Lovenox to Brenda. Thanks Brigitte for all your assistance and help over the last 13 days, it was truly appreciated and helped us both deal with an unexpected turn of events on a vacation.

We checked in early and so they got us out on an earlier flight. Getting on the Twin Otter was a bit of a challenge but thanks to the crew and other passengers Brenda finally got a seat at the back of the plane. The challenge was getting her up the stairs on one leg. The stairs of course are part of the fuselage and they bounce as you climb them since they are attached with a cable. You can see what I mean in the attached picture.

One final thing it was good we got an earlier flight out of St. Bart’s since the plane immediately after us had a mechanical issue and got stranded on the St. Bart’s runway and they had to close the airport for a period of time.

Anyway, we arrived into St Maarten with lots of time to spare. Checked in with Westjet 3 hrs. prior and were able to get front row (bulkhead) seats which gave Brenda a little more leg room. Once in Toronto we were met at the ramp by a Toronto Airport wheel chair assist person who helped us get through Customs and Immigration quickly and we checked into the Sheraton Gateway at the airport. It was super convenient and we will definitely stay here again.

The next morning we were up early and discovered that our flight was cancelled/rescheduled for a little later. Anyway after a late departure and stop over in Calgary we ended up in Vancouver at 3:30 p.m.; about 2 hrs late from our original travel plans. Overall the service by Westjet was outstanding and we would fly again with them to the Caribbean.

Since we were both itching to get home we hit the road and arrived in Kamloops shortly after 9:00 p.m. I’ve got to say Brenda was a trooper and never once complained about her foot even though it was getting extremely swollen by the end of the long day. It’s good to be home.