Sorry we lied to you!

But we were planning a surprise, and we couldn't let the cat out of the bag!

Yes, as it says above in the "Where are Kevin and Ruth now?" line... we are in Ottawa right now.

We had bought the tickets about three weeks ago and we figured we would surprise the family. So we didn't tell anyone about it. But of course as the day got closer, we had to sort of fib here on the blog!

So while we posted here that we overnighted near Harris, Saskatchewan.... we actually overnighted at Saskatoon airport in order to get up for our 5:55am flight to Ottawa yesterday!

We really did stop at Harris for lunch, at it would have been a fine overnight spot. But instead, we kept on going into the city and stopped at the Victoria City Park to go for a walk along the river.

Sherman, parked for the afternoon at Victoria Park, Saskatoon.

Heading for downtown Saskatoon. Tuesday was a beautiful day!

Ruth, on the pedestrian bridge.

We stayed at Victoria Park until after supper, and then drove to the airport about 8 kms (5 miles) away. I had checked out the various long term parking options, and they advertised seven "oversized" long term spots, one of which was going to cost us $98 CAD ($77 USD) for the week.

But when we got there, we found that they are doing a bunch of construction and those spots are gone. And the parking guy was no help at all. And the main lot was close to full so it's not like we could try to take up more than one spot.

We continued through to the terminal, following the temporary signs that said "Overflow long term parking". They led us to a grassy area at the side of the road where they had erected some barriers and made a temporary parking lot. There were a few vehicles in there, and lots of room for Sherman. We got ourselves parked up in the back, and I'm sure Sherman is fine there for a week. Interestingly, it seems there is no charge!

Thanks for the bottle Jo and Steve... Wayne Gretzky makes a good bottle of wine!

We were up at 3:30am. Silly o'clock!

Got our bags packed, and walked over to the terminal. 

We wanted to use of the last of those Air Canada coupons that we were given when we were bumped last spring. They were due to expire in June, so we figured we would make a quick trip to Ottawa to visit the family before our drive up to the Arctic Ocean. We still had to pay the taxes, but there was enough left to pay for the one way ticket from Saskatoon to Ottawa. Then, we had enough Air Miles to pay for one of us to return on Westjet. And enough Visa points for the second flight to return.

In total, it cost $156 CAD for the both of us to fly roundtrip Saskatoon to Ottawa. Not bad.

The first flight was Saskatoon to Winnipeg.

Little puddlejumper for the one hour flight from Saskatoon to Winnipeg.

Then a one hour wait in Winnipeg for our fight to Ottawa.

We boarded the plane, and were happy to learn that we were seated in an exit row! They normally try to sell these seats for an extra $25 because they are extra leg room, but we had not checked in until we arrived at the airport for our flights. This risks not being sat together, but it also gives you the opportunity for these seats if they have not been sold to anybody, so we lucked out!

Lots of leg room!

On the way to Ottawa.

Uneventful flight, and we both managed to have a snooze.

Arrived at Ottawa (with a two hour time change, and a two hour flight) and it was around 1;00pm. We had a car rental booked downtown at 2:00pm so we took the city bus from the airport to downtown. $3.50 CAD ($2.75 USD). Ottawa has the most expensive public bus system in North America.

I had booked the car and got a lucky deal through Priceline. $135 CAD ($106 USD) for the week.

We then headed over to surprise our son Alex. We parked at the World Exchange Center downtown and paid $5.00 CAD ($3.95 USD) for an hour. Walked across the road to his office and got the receptionist to call him because there was a "client" in the waiting room!

He walks around the corner, looks at us, and says "oh, surprise". He reads the blog every day and thought it was odd that we were headed to Saskatoon. He's really busy at work right now and could only spend a few minutes with us, but we'll see him again before we leave.

Then we drove over to my mom's apartment and surprised her. Simply knocked on the door. She answers it, and with a surprised look on her face says "What are you doing here?!" Too funny.

Had a quick visit with her, and then it was off to our daughter's place south of the city. We parked around the corner, and we weren't even sure they were home. Walked up to the side door, and I spotted some movement inside. Granddaughter Sadie saw me through the window and said "Grandpa?" Lindsey was there too, but she was expecting her husband Justin, and thought Sadie was just being silly. She turned around and saw us... it was fun!

Fun to spend some time with the kids.

Here's Sadie on the zip line that Justin built for them...

Cameron (age 7) on the monkey bars.

Sadie (4 1/2)

Ruth and our daughter Lindsey.

Lindsey, Chester, and Justin

Kids on the trampoline with their dad!

So, we're here in Ottawa for a quick one week visit. Sorry to make you wait another week for our Yukon adventure, but a visit with family was in order!

Today, we're headed up to Arnprior to visit with Ruth's dad.

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