Everyone loves Marineland

After over 15 years and holding a grudge every time that catchy commercial comes on tv, AA successfully took Lola to Marineland. Last time Lola and her parents went on a trip (back when she was in high school) travelling through Niagara Falls from PEI, Lola's father said they could go to Marineland on their way through. The day of driving took longer than anticipated, and they went to look at the falls before arriving at the famous place. Lola was quickly taken back to the van just before entering the gate as her father didn't think it was worth the money for the short amount of time we had, plus it was raining. Ever since Lola has reminded her father and many around her how she has always wanted to go there and the closest she has been in at the entrance gate.

It was AAs plan to take Lola for her 30th birthday but it just didn't work, so he made it clear he wanted to take her for her 31st. Early this morning we headed to the airport, maybe next time we wouldn't pick 5 am flight to Toronto, but we thought it was a good idea at the time so we could get a full day in.

The flight was packed, but once we got settled it was shut eye for the both of us, to wake up just before decent, to enjoy the sunny sky's of Ontario.  Lola loves the window seat to look at the homes, infrastructure and topography of the new destinations. This time it was all the windmills out the window.

To the rental car desk, which didn't have enough cars so we were sent to another rental car place to get a vehicle.  Upgraded, so a Jeep Patriot, not the greatest vehicle but it gets us from point a to point b. A quick stop at a Denny's and Tim Hortons near by to fill the void. 

Then we made our way to Niagara Falls. The highway, QEW, was busy as always and we made it there in good time. Got to the hotel before noon, and took a chance to try and check inn. I think it helps AA s an elite member so we got a room, and on the highest floor, but facing the wrong way, but still fun to watch all the people and lights. Oh we got up graded to a king bed with in room jacuzzi, and couch so that is nice!

 

Our very own shoe polisher... For our runners and sandels...

Aa was anxious to see the falls while Lola was anxious to get to Marineland, but decided if we went to the falls more chance she would get a better lunch! Walked down Victoria to Clifton and down to the falls. What a beautiful site with the 2 water falls, and the Wonderful park to walk along. Boats, people, and history to watch and keep you entertained. We checked out the zip line that is new, but it was closed because of high winds, but not sure it is worth it. It is along the side of the bank, with a neat perspective of the falls, but I think we decided to cut it out of our itinerary. We walked all the way to where you can see the water at the top of the falls, and feel the mist. It was incredible.

On our way back to Clifton street for lunch, we stopped in the park to take some silly photos.

Ruby Tuesdays for lunch as Aa really wanted a light lunch, so soup and salad bar (2 of his favourites). Lunch was great and quick for anxious Lola. Walking back to the hotel to get into the vehicle and head to a fun place to go!

Lola was so excited to arrive, purchase tickets and actually get through the gate.  

We took it all in, here are the highlights;

- marine show where we saw daulphins, and belugas and California sea lines perform

- watched beluga whales in 2 locations, one where the beluga flirted with Lola through the tank, and the other with baby belugas

- watched the graceful killer whale swim and play and making sure Lola didn't drop anything in the tank  (which she did when she was 2, in Vancouver).

- walked the whole ground ( our legs and feet are sure sore)

- went on the dragon mountain roller coaster, Lola sure screamed but we had lots of laughs on it

- saw the non marine animals in the grounds including red deer, bison, black bears, geese and ducks, elk and regular deer

To end the day, the gift shop was browsed and aa bought Lola a beluga whale. Love it so much, and she knows her dad wouldn't have purchased that for her as a kid, so she felt pretty lucky.

After 20,000 steps, we headed back to the room to put our feet and legs up a little, we were tired. We the decided to just eat at the keg that was in our hotel, plus Lola had coupons and a gift card! 

Exhausted from a busy work week and early flight, the evening was spend with a quick stop at the grocery store for snacks, and watching Canada vs Russia World Cup of hockey game. aa had a nap during the second period. 

It was a great first day and now Lola can't be sad that she never made it to Marineland because now she has.  We weren't disappointed at all and surprised at how much green space there was.

We will see what tomorrow brings, but time for bed, as we are exhausted.

Cheers, Lola.

Got bit

Well, after some relatively flawless travel last week, I got bit on this trip. 

What should have been a quick in and out to Toronto to witness some flammability testing is now turning into a two day event with two flight changes and an unplanned hotel stay. 

Luckily I have a travel toothbrush in my computer bag. And I decided to bring gym clothes to kill time in the Toronto airport when I was going to have a few hours to kill (therefore I have another pair of socks, some shorts, underwear and a shirt I didn't know was in there). 

My gym shorts, socks, shoes and unknown shirt are now coming in handy, letting my other clothes air out. 

The hotel front desk has mini toothpaste (and probably a toothbrush if I needed). Deodorant is in my gym bag. About the only thing missing is some gel to keep this Coolidge fro under control. Oh well, I don't really care. And luckily I shaved this meaning so I'm good for one day. 

I have a phone charger in my computer bag just in case I need it at work. Well, now I need it in a hotel so this is handy. 

It's been a while since I've been stranded somewhere. Too bad it wasn't Tucson or Wichita where I had a car. And a full bag of clothes. 

Oh well, as the French say "C'est la vie" - that's life. For some I guess. Others, like Lola, probably wouldn't be so calm and chill. She claims she would be ok killing time in the Toronto airport, shopping and going to the gym. I'd like to see that ;).  

On the plus side, I got to see some testing today that I probably wouldn't have otherwise. I just can't be the official witness for a test I have never seen done and am by no means an expert. However, if I do receive delegation for this type of testing, I would be one of only a handful that would have it - the guy who is going to witness with me (tomorrow I hope), another in our company plus probably 2-3 within Bombardier. 

Now, it's time to grab dinner in the hotel. In my gym clothes. Luckily I don't feel the most under dressed here. The guy in a white shirt and baseball hat, the guy in the football jersey and the guy in sweat labeys and a fleece vest and long sleeved shirt are right here with me. 

Ps. Lola said I didn't have pictures. My apologies...

AA before he was dripping with sweat

They can't refuse to serve me if I'm wearing a shirt and shoes, right?

Some random group of guys in the restaurant

Mmm

The return of AA

What a (short) week. With travel, it goes by much faster. 

Tuesday started like any other short week - trouble getting up after a good long weekend, driving to work, meetings and seeing everyone's Facebook light up with back to school photos. A little disappointed there wasn't one of mom but that's fine I guess. 

That was about the end of a normal week. The rest was filled with airplanes and work - and work on airplanes. 

Tuesday afternoon was a positioning day, putting me into Wichita for an interior evaluation planned for Wednesday afternoon. I guess I could have travelled Wednesday morning but I wanted to visit a flammability test lab that we have been working with recently. 

Flights were routine. A 30 mins delay out of Winnipeg simply meant that I had 30 mins less wait time in Minneapolis. So only 15 mins wait time in the terminal, enough time to go to the washroom before the next flight. 

Somewhere over Manitoba 

Rainy Minneapolis/St. Paul

The plains of Kansas

Arrival in Wichita was on time - shortly after 4pm.  After a short 20 mins drive from the airport to the hotel downtown (in rush hour nonetheless), my travel day was done.  It was weird being at the hotel with lots of daylight left. 

I hit the gym and then made my way out for dinner to Wichita Brewing Company. 

It was too bad I had to drive.  The $2 beer special was very good and tempting. And it was real beer, none of that light beer stuff. 

After dinner and a short 15 mins drive back to the hotel, it was time to get some work done. Then at 10pm talk to Lola and then bedtime. 

Wednesday was quite the day. A short 30 mins drive was made to visit the test lab in Maize KS. The building was probably four times the size of the garage on Hanlan - very small scale feel but lots of capability. Definitely a small private run company with very capable people. I had a good visit with the engineering manager and program manager - they showed me their test equipment and we talked shop. Turns out the engineering manager worked for Bombardier in Tucson and knows lots of the guys I do. Small world. 

After our meeting, I went back to the hotel and got back to work. At around 2pm I got word that the inspection would be at 7 in the evening. Then at 2:45, I got an invite to dinner with some of the folks at Bombardier. 

Work, work, work, gym. Drive to Bombardier and then caught a ride with everyone (Derek, Mike and Julie) to dinner at Scotch and Sirloin.  

As we sat down, Derek kept talking about the last time he was st the restaurant and one guy order "the Ernie" - a huge cut of prime rib. The guy couldn't finish it. We laughed and joked that someone should order it today. We were all too chicken. 

The waitress sold Derek and I on "the tomahawk" - a very tender bone in ribeye from a small cow. She continued to gesture with her hands, a piece that would be the size of a large dessert plate. 

We ate an appetizer and told many stories. After 40 mins of waiting, the waitress mentioned that our food is almost ready, Derek's medium well took some time. We should have clued in here. 

More time waiting and then Julie asked our waitress if she could make the solid sphere of ice normally reserved for Scott. The waitress happily obliged, bringing a copper contraption and 4" block of ice. She lifted the lid off and placed the block of ice over the bottom part of the spherical mould. She then placed the upper part of the contraption and thus upper part of the sphere on top and let it do its thing. 

Because copper dissipates heat so rapidly, it only takes 3 mins to form the ice sphere (can't call it an ice cube for obvious reasons). It was quite amazing, I was in awe for the whole 3 mins watching the upper part of the mould slowly lower and water pool in the bottom of the contraption. 

Then, our food came. Derek's jaw hit the table, almost literally. The entire dining room went quiet and everyone stared. Our tomahawks were on platters normally reserved for the meat from a fully carved 30 lbs turkey. What did we do! There was enough meat on one plate to feed our entire table, never mind two plates of the same plus Mike's 16 oz tenderloin and Julie's 8 oz sirloin. 

I'm smiling now...

That's about 2" thick

This was me calling it quits

Stuffed

The steak was really good. Just way too much for a family of 3. 

After many laughs about the size of our meal, we went back to Bombardier. Julie gave me a quick tour over to the Flight Test Center where I got to go inside one of the C Series flight test airplanes, outfitted with instrumentation and equipment consoles. Quite possibly the coolest thing I have seen in a really long time. 

Then it was time to get some work done. As usual, the plane wasn't ready but I gave some instructions so we could finish the bare minimum that night. The rest I could do by looking at dwgs. 

I got back to the hotel at 10:15 and needed to finish a few things. Then a quick chat with Lola and I was out. 

5:45 came fast. The drive to the airport was another 15 mins, this time in pouring rain. 

Inside Wichita airport

Departure was on time. Arrival in Dallas was routine. Breakfast in Dallas and then onto Tucson, arriving about 10 mins later than planned. 

After getting off the plane, I made my way to the Thrifty rental car shuttle to get my rental. At the off airport rental counter, I gave the lady my name and she punched it into the computer. She then asked for my confirmation number. That's weird, I've never been asked for my confirmation number...

Well, turns out my confirmation number was for Avis - located at the airport. Boy I felt dumb. Luckily it was a 2 mins drive back to the airport. 

With my car (Dodge Durango) I went to the hotel, got an early checkin and got some work done. Then, I grabbed a quick bite to eat from Eegees and went to Bombardier. 

This plane was ready. Found a few issues so definitely worth the trip. 

I then spent the next 2 hrs walking around visiting with people from my medevac days - it was good to catchup. 

After saying my goodbyes, I went back to the hotel and hit the pool for a bit. Then I made my way to Guadalajara Grill for dinner with Jason. We had a great visit, and enjoyed some great Mexican food. I over ate.  

Now, it feels like 12:30 because that is what time it is at home. However here in the 520 area code, it is only 10:30. Might as well finish my beer and head to my room for a good nights sleep. 5:45 is going to come too quickly again before my 740 flight...

London

I didn't do a very good job keeping my readers informed during this trip. Sorry. It was a busy trip, especially just before vacation this coming week (yay)!  So here is a recap of activities in chronological order. 

Monday

Monday was a travel day. I left Winnipeg mid morning and arrived in London (Ontario) by 5 pm. Got a cool rental car and then made my way to the hotel. 

Once checked in, I got through some emails and then walked to find somewhere to have supper. And a beer. Or two. Talked to Lola then bed. 

Tuesday

Left the hotel at around 8 and went to Tim's to grab some breakfast and a coffee for the road. Then I made the 45 mins drive north to the customers facility to meet with the Chinese. In fact, two of the three guys were the same guys I met with in China!  Here's a sneaky incognito picture I snapped:

Tuesday was spent mostly with the Chinese going through the modifications and project status. 

Afterwards, I made the drive back to London and hit up the gym for a short run and some weights. Without two sports activities each week (ie. Hockey and baseball) I'm getting stiff in my old age and need to keep active. 

After the gym, I walked about 20 mins to a place for dinner. I thought the blue jays game would be on but again I was in the eastern time zone and the jays were playing in Houston, so it was an hour later than I thought. After dinner and walk back through a park, I got through some emails to try to keep up with things. Another FaceTime session with Lola and then bed. 

The tower sights of downtown London 

Wednesday

The first part of the day was spent on the aircraft, doing some testing in preparation for flight testing. Then it was spent again with the Chinese, going through our certification data. And then back to the aircraft to finish testing. Flight testing is planned for Thursday so we needed to finish up. 

After work, I decided to take a drive to Ontario's West Shore. I ended up in a quaint beach town called Grand Bend. If you didn't know it, you would think you were in Southern California. 

Once back at the hotel, I ordered in some pizza and then got to work - I had a lot to catch up on knowing that Thursday is going to be busy with flight testing. 

I didn't talk to Lola this day, she was busy waiting out the storm at the bomber game with some free tickets she got from one of her contractors. Luckily she was in a suite so it was a little more bearable. 

Thursday - Flight Test Day

The morning started with a pre flight briefing with the flight crew and operations people, so that everyone understood the plan for the day, the purpose of the tests and roles/responsibilities. As this was essentially my first time doing this myself, it was a little nerve racking. 

Once flight plans were filed, it was time to bring the aircraft outside to do preflight checks. 

Once all preflight checks were completed, it was time for the shakedown flight with only the flight crew and maintenance engineer. As the airplane was rocketing down the runway, my blood pressure was rising - hoping there would be no issues as the aircraft has been down for over 14 months. But, no issues.  Wheels up and it was gone for 30 mins. 

Once back, the plane was fuelled up and we quickly ate lunch then it was time for our test - smoke detection and penetration. 

Onboard and ready to go!

Testing didn't start out as we hoped. The profile was to climb to 10,000 ft and remain unpressurized for some detection tests. We did the test but didn't get detection within the required 1 min. Since we were using a theatrical smoke generator, I suspected it was because the smoke was more dense and less hot than real smoke. We tried again. And again. And again. After about 45 mins without success, I made the decision that we continue on with the test program and climb to 35,000 ft. 

Once at altitude, we started with a smoke detection test again. This time, success. What gives? Well the temperature at 35,000 feet is much cooler than on the ground which was 32*C and high humidity.  So I suspect the temperature and humidity in the baggage compartment was an issue with our test equipment. 

We continued on with the test plan, successfully. Running low on fuel, we had to cut the test short and return. Another flight will be performed Friday. 

After the testing, the customer was taking the Chinese out for dinner at The Keg and invited me along. It was a good time until I got back to find a parking ticket on my car. I thought I had 30 more mins before time ran out but was wrong. I guess that is what happens when you are buying time on the meter when talking to a customer on the phone explaining why something hasn't been done yet. Maybe I'll expense the ticket to the customer... Not likely. I guess some of my per diem will go towards paying this. 

Once at the hotel, more catchup was needed. Working until about 10:30 then talk to Lola and bed. Friday was going to be busy - flight test at 8am so need to be there by 7; two telephone meetings with customers and somehow find time to spend with the Chinese to walk them through more data. 

Friday

5:30 am came quick. With the Tiguan packed, I made my way to Tim's only to find out that the one in the offices attached to my hotel was not yet opened. So I went to the Starbucks in the hotel to grab a coffee. I wasn't looking to make a 45 min drive without coffee. 

Eating left over pizza for breakfast while on the way, the drive was peaceful and not very much traffic. 

Arriving at the customers facility at 7, I hung around making sure that things were getting ready and answering questions. At 8 we loaded up and then took off by 8:30. This time we went to 35,000 ft for the detection tests. They were successful. Then we descended to 25,000 for a test point and then down to 10,000 for the rest. 

Once done, we could relax for a bit as the flight crew needed to do a functional check of the air driven generator (ADG) that is used if you loose all electrical power on the aircraft. The ADG is like a small propeller that is deployed from the belly of the aircraft and gets driven by the air rushing by. 

So, this was a perfect time to stare outside the windows and take in the scenery. 

You can see the ADG on the LH side of the nose (is technically aircraft RH side)

Once on the ground, thumbs up were given. The customer was relieved. Now they wanted me to spend the rest of the day with the Chinese. I had to cancel one meeting and then push another to later in the day. 

After going through meeting minutes and having fruitful technical discussions, the Chinese were satisfied for the purpose of their trip. The purpose which I wasn't really briefed on or entirely prepared for but made do. 

After one more meeting, it was time to go to the airport. 

After dropping the keys in the return box, I made my way to security. The airport was pretty empty. Looking at the screen, I then realized why - several flights to Toronto were canceled, mine included. However I was booked on a later flight to Toronto and then on to Winnipeg. Instead of getting home at 10:45, that was approximately the time I was now departing from Toronto - getting home at around 12:30 am. 

The flights were routine, couldn't sleep much so I watched a movie instead.  

What a week, ending with a 20 hrs work day. Now, one more thing to take care of for work before packing for camping in riding mountain Sunday to Wednesday. Hopefully the cell coverage isn't very good in the campground...