Canada 2025, Part I: Night Moves

[written three days before trip]

So here we are, everyone. It's finally time, and we are set to alight off to the Great White North™ for a falltime adventure.

It's been 90 degrees or above every day and will be while we're gone, until at least the 8th or so. In the midwest we call this "second summer," which comes shortly before "actual fall." It's an actual thing. 

This year, second summer is dragging on for weeks at a time. It's September 30 as I write this, and aside from a few days right after we returned from North Carolina, you'd think it was June or July. I made the joke at work last night that to get actual fall-like weather, we have to leave the country. 

Canada is actually unseasonably warm as well this year, with highs hitting the mid-70s where we'll be in Nova Scotia. While we're there the highs are supposed to be anywhere between 60 and 71, with lows anywhere between 50 and 40. Brisk. Fall-like. The way early October is supposed to feel. But, of course, that plays hell with our wardrobes too.

I am of the mindset that anything I don't have to take with me, I won't. Will I be able to wear shorts most days? Well, according to the forecast, yeah. So, delete a pair or two of sweatpants. Daisy is wearing jeans to the "casual wedding" of her cousin. Will I need socks every day? Psh, no, not if it's warm enough to wear shorts -- I'll wear my sandals instead. More t-shirts, two hoodies, a few pairs of shorts and like two pairs of pants should be fine for me. So between now and when we fly out, I need to do yet another overhaul of my suitcase to maximize space and pare down to what I actually need while up there. 

Daisy hasn't even started packing yet. She took Thursday and Friday off (we fly out very early Saturday morning and will be getting our Uber around 3am or so) and plans to pack and clean the house during that time off, preparing everything before we leave. Until then she's working 12-hour shifts every day in order to "flex off" that time without using any unnecessary PTO. It's brutal on her.

I have been trying to take care of at least 1-2 tasks every day, but I also realize that the bulk of what I need to do will also be done on Thursday and Friday, because...I don't have any other time to do it either. I work 11-hour overnight shifts and therefore I am either sleeping or working throughout this week leading into the trip, with few hours to spare. I can do a load of laundry, wash the cat fountain, unpack some boxes, do a grocery order, etc -- but only 1-2 of those tasks every day because there's just not more time or energy. 

We still have to book the Uber for Friday overnight into Saturday. Daisy doesn't know what time to do it. I told her the flight lifts off at 6am, and we know the terminals don't open before 4, so..3:15ish would be a good option to give us a little wiggle room and some time to get to the airport and get our bags checked in before we go through security. She said no to that.

"Okay, uh, so what time would you suggest then?" I asked.

"I don't know," she replied. "Aren't you supposed to be there three hours early for international flights?"

"This isn't an international flight," I said. "It's a domestic one, from Omaha to Philadelphia. It shouldn't be any different than any other time we'd get on a plane." 

The flight into Philly should go without incident. Hopefully. It's once we get there that everything ramps up and we have to be pinpoint-on-the-ball about everything. We have a 55-minute layover in Philadelphia. That includes the time it will take to get us off the first plane and to the terminal for the second plane into Halifax. I've never flown into Philly; I am not familiar with it nor do I know how large the airport is. Generally, in cities where there are major sports teams (and Philly has all four -- 76ers, Flyers, Phillies, and Eagles) the airports are gigantic and difficult to navigate. 

We just have to get on the damn plane. If we can get on the damn plane, nothing else matters. I am actually rooting for a delay on the flight from Philly to Halifax because it will give us more time. Even a half-hour delay would make everything go more smoothly. 

The parents, when they visited Canada a few months ago, took the same route and the same flights we did, and missed the flight out of Philly due to delays. They were stuck there for some time before the next flight would get them out of the states. I don't want to be put in that situation when we'll already be tired and have many miles to go before we sleep. So sure, delay the Philly flight by a bit please, no worries, we'll be fine. 

Once we get from Philly to on the ground in Halifax, we will have to go through customs. Customs in Halifax is uncomplicated and unbothered; you basically talk to a guy who waves you through after you answer a few questions, you scan your passport on a machine, and then you're released into the wilds of Canada. We've done this before and have never had any issues, so I don't anticipate issues this time around either. But, of course, you never know. Canada does not like us Americans anymore, if you'll recall. 

Once released into the larger airport, I will exchange my cash at the cash exchange counter, we will get the rental car in the basement of the airport, and then cruise off towards the family homestead -- stopping in a town called Antigonish along the way to hit up the Walmart and Atlantic Superstore for groceries/bare necessities to live on for a few days. If all goes well, we'll be in town for the night before dark. Maybe we'll even have time for me to get a poutine at the truckstop next to our lodgings.

They still make the best poutine I've had in all of my travels:

And I mean consistently the best, too. 

We will be tired, we will be sweaty, we will be uncomfortably and likely cranky, but we will be there. Eventually.