Chicago to Ottawa

You would think it would be fairly simple to get from Chicago to Ottawa. And it should be, but for us it was an all day affair.

We used our Air Miles account for this leg of the trip, so all we had to pay was the taxes at $78 each for the one way flight. But using Air Miles means you are limited to the airline that Air Miles chooses to use, and a limited choice of routes. We had to use Air Canada, which would not have been our first choice. Turns out that Air Canada does not fly direct to Ottawa from Chicago, so you have to change planes in either Toronto or Montreal. We chose Toronto.

Left the hotel at 7:00am and it was easy to take the bus to the train station and the blue line train to Chicago's O'Hare airport. Approximately the 3rd busiest airport in the world. To put that in perspective, Toronto's Pearson International doesn't even rank in the top 25.

One of the reasons we don't like to use Air Canada (and there are a few) is that the people who work for the airline never seem happy to be there. Today was different though. At the check in, the person who helped us was really good. As he was booking our seats I mentioned that it was our 28th wedding anniversary and asked if they had any empty seats in business class. He said they weren't allowed to do those kind of favors any more, but that he was happy to be able to put us at the emergency exit so that we would have extra legroom. Bonus! Because with my long legs, it's always a little cramped in an airplane.

28 years ago yesterday.

Our plane was a little late arriving but they were quick to get it ready and we left pretty much right on time. The flight was uneventful, but once again the people on the plane were really good. It was kind of humorous listening to the one attendant try and say things in French. On a Chicago to Toronto flight there is little likelyhood of anyone speaking French, but Air Canada has a ridiculous policy of having to say things in both official languages no matter where the flight is going to or coming from. In this situation, it was almost embarrassing because I could have done a better job and my French is beyond terrible. 

At O'Hare, our plane to Toronto.

Legs stretched right out! Nice!

Got into Toronto and through customs with no problems. But then even if you have a connecting flight and you only have carry on bags, you have to exit through the checked luggage area and re-enter later which means you have to go through security again. A total waste of time and not an efficient system.

Nice view of Toronto skyline flying in...too bad the window was so dirty.

Had a two hour wait in Toronto for our flight to Ottawa. It was a little late leaving, and a little late arriving in Ottawa. Scheduled to arrive at 4:10, and didn't pull up to the gate until almost 4:30pm. Ruth's Dad was outside waiting for us, and then we picked up our son Alex along the way. He was at the test for the first actuarial exam and he passed! Each exam requires about 400 hours of study time, so he was totally happy that he passed. Good for him! 

It was another forty minutes drive to Ruth's Dad's house where we are staying for the next month. But we'll be showing you some of Ottawa, Canada's capital city over that time so we still plan on getting out and doing things. Then, it will be off to London, England.

View of the Canadian Mississippi River outside Ruth's Dad's house.

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Happy Mother's Day to all you Mom's out there!