Day 31 Leaving Quebec > Montreal > Los Angeles.

Thankfully a great night’s sleep and Lachie woke at 6:30. But today we woke to heavy snow falling and more snow on the ground and in the trees than I had seen previously. The snow ploughs were going up and down at a great pace. Even the footpaths got scraped.

Sarah drove Lachie to Day Care and Tim to work. It was a sad time to say goodbye to Tim and especially Lachie. The heavy snow made the roads very slow. I stayed at home, while Amelia slept. I washed clothes and the linen, finished packing and then when Sarah was still coming home Amelia woke up, not too impressed that her milk supply was not available. Sarah came home 20 minutes later and fed Amelia. I made my dinner- Fairly sure there will be no GF on the flight. Then I checked the airline. No trouble accessing my check-in process today, so I checked in and paid for my checked in bag. First issue of the day was that the flight times had been changed, so it was really lucky that I checked. Both flights were earlier than ticketed. However instead of the original two hour connection, it was going to be VERY tight.

I went for a very fast walk across to the Plains. Nearly didn’t get there. I wore Sarah’s boots, because I didn’t want to get mine out of my bag and get them wet. The only way they would fit was by leaving my slippers on.  (Sarah has much bigger feet) Once outside I walked to the corner and had a “surprise” when a huge lump of snow fell off one off the nearby trees and landed on me. The next “experience” was the cars splashing the dirty water, as they passed, while I was waiting for the lights to change. The plains were covered completely in snow. It was very pretty.

Back home to have lunch, then we drove to the airport, passing so many snow ploughs in all different sizes. On the highway they had a series of four across all the lanes, all ploughing at the same time to ensure the road was clear and there were no banks of snow. The airport was completely covered, but their big snow ploughs were keeping the runways clear.

I was able to change my seat of the second flight to an aisle, checked in my bag and said a very sad goodbye to Sarah and Amelia. I was crying through the entire security check. Once through I got a cup of tea, changed my last Canadian dollars into US dollars and sat for a short time watching the snow ploughs. I was sure we were going to be delayed because the plane came in late. However they cleared it quickly and we sat down on time and waited while they de-iced the plane. Some sort of green spray over the top. We took off after sitting on the tarmac for 25 minutes for the short flight to Montreal. The delay was going to make the connecting time even tighter. From the air you could see snow everywhere in Quebec, but once we came down through the clouds it was only wet in Montreal.

HUGE problem for me at Montreal. We landed on the tarmac and I walked quickly across into the domestic building at 3:45. My plane was due to board at 4: 05! I literally ran non- stop, through to the international section, through to US customs and security, thinking the whole time “it will have left”. But God was on my side and as I ran out of customs I heard my name being paged and the gate was thankfully very close! Ran to the desk, showed my pass, ran down the gangplank onto the plane – nearly knocking over some guy finishing his phone conversation on the corner. Thankfully I didn’t have to do the walk of shame. There were still people putting up bags and coats. I was sweating profusely as I found my seat and sat down at 4:25. Got to be a record. After my marathon, we then sat on the tarmac for another 25 minutes before taking off!

Now all the signs are DONE and you can find it.

Watched Florence Foster Jenkins, then listened to the original version of the Producers, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes while I was organising my photos and typing up my diary. Only got two cups of tea on the flight, but at least they started bring around water after they had done the meals. Of course there was no GF. So I ate my sandwiches and all my snacks. Then they turned off all the lights. 8:00 Quebec time. Once I had finished writing my diary I took off my boots, stretched out across the seats and had a snooze. Still thinking of those I had left behind, especially Lachie- wondering if it was sausages again tonight? I miss them all, but know how lucky I am to have had the opportunity to stay with them and share this special time.

The plane landed in LA at 7:35 pm new time (10:30 pm Q time) straight off and down the stairs to collect bag and guess what it was there in less than 5 mins! Went down to Starbucks, juggling two bags but desperate for a cuppa for the long wait. I hate that LAX has no secure Wifi and my blasted phone has not yet connected to America, so I can’t even contact Susan or send a message. She was flying in from Washington on AA. As I sat I read my book. Just as Susan arrived at 10:30 LA time, I had reached the last five pages. So she arrived as tears were streaming down my face. Good welcome! I was able to go to the toilet while she waited with the bags (tricky when you are by yourself). We caught the bus to pick up her car and then drove home arriving here about midnight. Bed at 12:30 am = 3:30 Q time!