Okay, I have a confession to make. Ice carvers get cold. That’s right, we don’t have ice in our veins. The first fifteen minutes in the studio (a nice name for the freezer) can be a real test of our calling. There’s the routine arm flailing method and other stuff that has to do with getting our core body temperature up but really, we can complain like everyone else about the cold.
So when an opportunity arose to spend a week in Cancun with my sister and brother in law it didn’t take too much persuading from the kids to arrange a vacation in the tropics. Son number three is an Air Canada pilot so it was a no brainer to fly stand by. Of course we would minimize our chances of missing flights by flying to Montreal the day before so the last leg, the real important one to sun and 28 degrees would go smooth. Lots of open seats and few cons (standbys) in line guaranteed our sure arrival in Cancun.
Not so. Two hours early at the airport in Montreal and the first hard to swallow surprise. There were available seats for Valerie and I but a load imbalance that shut us out of the flight. I should have known looking at all those happy families boarding. Too much luggage. Now what? We called off our shuttle to the resort in Cancun and headed back to the hotel. No, not the same hotel. That one was too far from a restaurant and it was cold outside, really cold. And we were there without even Vancouver winter clothes. We almost froze to death just finding our first supper what felt like miles running along the edge of the airport freeway. No, this time I called ahead to make sure the new hotel would have a restaurant on site. Smart eh?
Well, the new hotel, a Travelodge under new management, had a restaurant but it was closed because it was the weekend. “But you said…” Right, they said everything in French and I missed 90% of it. Or maybe I heard only what I wanted to hear. So we had to find food on foot again… even further in the cold and wind along the airport freeway. Back in our room we had to crank the thermostat up to 30 so we could get it warm enough to take off our jackets. Time to order in pizza for supper. Let the delivery guy brave the cold.
Day three and we are desperate to escape the cold. First only one seat open. Then at the last minute a cancellation at the departure counter and we are on board. Sunshine and warm temperatures, here come the ice carvers.