Day 11, Sep 4, 2017:
We left Vancouver early. This is the home we stayed at... nice neighborhood.
We avoided the
toll road, had a pleasant drive and reached Revelstoke by 3pm. We had
passed by the Enchanted forest. We wanted to keep our bags at our
hotel and then go there.
Three valley Gap
We parked the car at our lovely hotel, Three valley lake chateau. Son went in to check in but rooms were not
yet ready. I sent him in back again to say we'll keep our bags in our
alloted room and return after it's cleaned. The reception girl said
that will not be possible. I got out of the car for taking some pics
of the picturesque place.
CAR KEY LOST!
We bought a couple of souvenirs at the shop
there and then tried to get back into the car. Son could not find the
key!
We searched everywhere... we had just
walked some 100 m on either side and we discovered the key missing in
under 10 minutes.
We always take full insurance and road
side assistance for $5/day also. Son called the number and they sent
a guy to open the car in 90 minutes. We could take out all our bags and stuff but
had to leave the car unlocked.
The road side assistance guys said only
our rental can help with what to do now. The rental was closed as it
was Labor day. We left message with the reception, souvenir shop
people, near by Ghost town desk to call us if some one turned in our
key. Son was leaving messages for local mechanics for help.
The Ghost town was open till 8pm. We
could have easily visited it but were too stressed with the key loss.
Three valley lake Chateau:
The chateau was a magical setting. The lobby was full of antiques. Our
room had an AMAZING view of the gardens and the lake framed by
towering mountains.. We tried to enjoy it and slept off hoping
we'll get the key in the morning.
Day 12, Sep 5, 2017:
Revelstoke to Calgary:
Calgary is one hour ahead of the time
zone in British Columbia. Son was on phone with the rental office as
soon as they opened. We had hoped they'll help us get the car started
so that we cab drive it back. They said the car has to be towed and
the tow truck will give us a ride back. Again son had to call the
road side assistance for towing. They take 90 minutes to arrive...
that is their normal time for response. We had a 7.15pm flight to
catch from Calgary airport to Toronto.
Tow truck arrived. They had their own
agenda clubbing 2 more tows along with ours. This guy Steve took us
up to their yard and collected some stuff; lots of vehicles awaiting
junking there. Well it had NOT been our agenda to visit a tow truck
yard !! tried to keep the mind blank and handle the moment.
From there the owner John drove us to
Golden. At Golden, Steve was waiting. They transferred our car,
another car also to another truck, hitched a camper also to it. Then
Steve told us”This is not a pickup or a racing car, but i'll do my
best to reach you guys to the airport on time“
The sky was so full of smoke when we
started from Revelstoke and remained that way till we reached
Calgary! The truck belched a lot of fumes adding to the smoke in the
atmosphere and the noise was deafening. The rental had asked us to
drop the car at the Nissan office and they'll send some one to sign
off. Steve drove with the utmost skill. He told us he'll drop us at
the airport, then take the cars to their destination. Only that way
can we make it on time. We talked to the rental and they said
whatever the tow guys decided was fine with them!!
As we reached Calgary son guided Steve
with his phone and we reached the airport by 5.30! We thanked Steve
profusely, We made it to the flight. It was delayed and took off only
at 8.30 but they do close boarding per original schedule.
Now Toronto is 2 hours ahead of
Calgary. The flight was some 4 hour duration, so we reached Toronto
at 2.30 am local time! We had booked Best Western plus, Dixie road
for stay. They were supposed to send a shuttle to pick us up. We rang
them up and then waited, waited and waited some more at the
designated spot.... other hotel shuttles made 2 and even 3 rounds.
They told us we had to make a call... as if we didn't!! There were 3
Britishers waiting for the same shuttle. In fact they had been there
before us!! at last after an hour, the shuttle turned up, we reached
the hotel by 4am!
I had had a bad fall and we had had to cancel a holiday we had planned at Costa Rica during the week of July 4th. I was about to collapse with all the strain of the day! The shuttle wait had been perched on a rod!
They kept us waiting an hour the next
day too for the shuttle back to the airport for picking up our rental
car to go to Niagara falls!! they do not know the value of customers
time!!
WE WILL NOT RECOMMEND BEST WESTERN PLUS
TORONTO AIRPORT to family and friends!! Such a pity as the room is
quite good!
On Sep 17th, a week after we
had returned to Houston from our Canadian vacation, son got a call
from Three valley Chateau hotel... some one had found our car key in
the parking lot and handed it to the reception, 12 days after we had
lost it! Son rang up the rental to know if they wanted the key posted
to them. They said the car had been rekeyed, so no need!
The tow company owner had remarked that
rentals should hide a spare key in the car to be used in such
situations... such an expensive proposition to pay for the car to be
towed.
I had read that a family was left
stranded in New Zealand and the tow company refused to give them a
ride back to civilization … supposedly it's insurance issues. That
family had been helped by passersby. We were thankful we were given a
ride in the tow truck and Canadian rules allow that; also if the key
had to be lost, it was not after one of our hikes. It was right in
front of our hotel where we had a safe shelter for the night. Son is
just zapped how the key got lost this instance when he has pocketed
it safely thousands of times... he's a careful guy, has become more
meticulous now!
On the drive back we had planned on
board walks Giant cedar trail Revelstoke national park etc. Along
with the missed Enchanted Forest, Ghost town we'll hopefully enjoy
these on a future visit!
Next post with Niagara falls report is at:
Next post with Niagara falls report is at:
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