Mission 2014 – Travel Day
Friday morning in Edmonton, our alarm ran at 2:15 AM. We checked into the Quito Radisson Hotel at 2:15 AM Saturday. A 22 hour travel day!
Highlight of the day: While we were lined up to check in at the Edmonton International Airport, Barb Moreau passed around a shopping bag filled with cookies baked by her mom, Terry Humphry. Terry has been baking treats for the CAMTA teams for years now. The cookie bag made repeat appearances throughout our day of travel, never seeming to diminish.
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| Andy Escalona scores an early morning cookie |
The Edmonton contingent spent an extra hour on the ground before taking off because the plane's “starter' was broken. Visions of them nosing a second plane up to ours and stringing booster cables between the two to jump-start our aircraft! However the repair was done, we arrived in Houston on schedule, despite the delay.
Two flights, 4.5 and 5.5 hours long, and not even a free pretzel!
Once we clear Customs, most of the team boards two buses for the hour-long trip to the hotel. For a few of the men, the night is not quite over. They follow a large, open truck stacked with about 100 CAMTA hockey bags and bins of equipment to the Tierra Nueva Hospital, where they will unload the truck.
We are welcomed at the Quito Radisson with a buffet of fresh fruit and juice and cookies.