Come On In!

I was reading the local, weekly, paper a few weeks ago and saw an advertisement for Doors Open. Basically places across the Region open their doors and you can get into places you might not otherwise get a chance to see. Today, the airport had their doors open and I knew we had to go. Honestly, it was as much for me as for Sam. And I invited our partners in crime from last week. What 3 or 4 year old doesn't like cool machines?!

First of all we grabbed these two kids off the baggage carousel and then we were ready to go! How often do you get to take photos like this without anyone yelling at you?

We had a quick visit with the customs agent and got to see all sorts of things people have tried to sneak into the country. These weren't just things confiscated at this airport but from a few airports and land border crossings which are nearby. Then we got to waltz through security and over to the lounge where we waited for... the shuttle bus to arrive. While we waited we got to watch an awesome, private airshow of a pilot doing all sorts of (nausea inducing!) stunts. As you can tell from the pictures, I was pretty excited. Also, you can tell that it was pretty windy today :)

Then we were on the shuttle bus, which was just a city bus. Rachel even managed to ring "the bell" once. I mean, all she had to do was press that yellow strip which is right at her head and within easy reach.

Here's the pilot and plane which gave us a great view.

We got out at the Operations Centre where the main attractions were a super-duper heavy duty firetruck and a BBQ. First of all we got to see the firetruck in action. I have video of it which I will upload at some point and sadly, all the pictures I took of it in action were with the camera off. In my defense I was looking into the sun and couldn't tell my screen was black. sigh. But you can see evidence on the ground of it having sprayed water. I know, it's not as exciting.

We also got to watch firefighters in action.



These were just some pictures I liked from the Operations Centre.

Then we ate. Sadly, they had no veggie burgers but I was really hungry (somehow I never got around to toasting and eating a bagel this morning so all I had for breakfast was a yogurt) so I asked if they could improvise a BBQd grilled cheese! It was actually not bad. Ha ha ha!

And then it was back on the bus where we had to wait to cross the runway because three planes needed to land and two needed to take off. This airport is the tenth busiest in Canada because of all the training flights and you could sure tell which pilots were more experienced. (On a side note we discovered you can take an introductory flight lesson for $100 so I know what I want for my next birthday. And no, I am not at all kidding about that.) Then we headed to the aprons to explore an old Canadian Forces plane and the Flight School



And since last week Dave has been intrigued with...interesting... warning signs so this next part of the post is just for him. You're welcome honey! (Click on any one picture to see it bigger.)

Then we ate some cake since the Flight Centre was celebrating a birthday. And who doesn't want cake? And free coffee?

After that we watched a plane get parked in the hangar, the big garage door opening and closing, and decided to call it a day.

We had a really great time and I'm so glad we got to check out the airport. Maybe next year we'll be able to go to some of the other sites as well. I did see there was a local garden on the list :)