Getting there is half the fun

Saturday morning, April 12, 2008 - 4:40 am was the time to arrive. Thirty three students, 3 teachers, and 3 parents all ready to go! It all was going pretty well. We got our boarding passes, we got through US customs, and we got through security (except for Mrs. Kennedy and Mr. Haley both of whom got searched!). And by 6:00 am we were all safely in the US boarding area.

Mr. Bagshaw then lined them up and they took a number for the count off - 1 through 33. The first couple took a while to get through - the 20's for some reason were pretty quiet!



Then we got in the plane and in our seats - we backed away ready to go - but the engine would not start. So, we had to get off the plane and go through Canada customs then sit around while Horizon Air tried to figure out what to do with us. The most exciting thing that happened was that a teddy bear got thrown up and landed on one of the lights in the terminal about 10 m up - but the cleaning guy came by and was able to knock it down to a cheering crowd. It ended up they could get us to Vancouver on Air Canada that afternoon then to Honololulu the next day. That was actually some luck to be able to get 39 people on the same flight!



More waiting in the airport in Edmonton. Mrs. Corbett was taking it easy till we got on the plane. Finally, we got on Air Canada (about 2:00 pm finally after 10 hours at the airport) then flew to Vancouver. But the day was not over - our hotel did not want to take the airline vouchers! But it got resolved and finally we were in the Comfort Inn. We went for Italian food across the street - it was great - huge servings (some that were bigger than some of the students :))




Everything went pretty smoothly from there. We got to the airport before the sun and did the whole thing again. Thank god Mrs. Corbett and Mrs. Kennedy spent a couple of hours printing off our boarding passes at the hotel as that saved a lot of time. About 8 hours later we made it to Honolulu! Now, the story can begin - next post.