The long-awaited day is here, and Miranda has flown off into the sunset to start her trip to Ireland through the University. It’s been many weeks of preparing, and hopefully nothing has been forgotten.
The flight was for 8:10 tonight, but the trip organizers asked that everyone be at the airport by 5:00. I guess they wanted extra time to get through security and customs. Everyone was ready to go by 4:25, including Pip. We checked that there were no cats stowed away in the suitcase.
Ian drove to the airport. I was shotgun, masked because I’ve been suffering from a cold all week. We parked in the short-term lot and then made our way to the D gates where Miranda had to go. She had some tears at our goodbyes (understandable) and we left to let her collect herself before joining her group.
Ian suggested that we could do some planespotting, and I suggested McDonald’s on Country Hills, so we did both things. We went to McD’s and had some supper and a couple McFlurries to finish, and then we drove to the south end of the main runway at YYC. We’d seen planes taking off to the north, so we could watch them landing from the south. We found a great spot, and Ian was taking video of the planes.
One thing led to another, and we decided that we were going to watch Miranda’s jet take off. We drove around to the north end of the runway and found a pretty good spot to watch from. But then, Murphy’s Law struck. Just as Miranda was texting that her plane was pushing back, Ian spotted a plane landing from the north. We watched and saw planes taxiing to the north end of the runway; they had turned the approach direction around, and we were now at the wrong end of the runway!
We quickly returned to the car, and drove around to the east side of the runway, near the south end, and found a spot. It turned out great. A little further away, but a really nice view of the takeoff with Nose Hill, the Rocky Mountains and even Downtown Calgary in the background.
We’re sad to see her go, but hopeful that she will have a great time and learn and experience lots.
Updated
Miranda has made it to Ireland.
