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Exploring the Escalante
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In a welcome change of pace, we did not have a red-eye return flight to Ottawa. Our flight left at a very reasonable 11:40am. Lots of time to sleep in a little, for breakfast, and to return our car rental.
Look, our private plane!
Our bags - capably guarded!
Our flight arrives - Late!
Massive Traffic
America West A319
Leaving Las Vegas
Unfortunately, I found our experience on the return flight to be less than satisfactory. Our Air Canada flight was quite late in arriving in Las Vegas; Once on the plane, we were again delayed by a problem in one of the bathrooms. That, coupled with some excessive air traffic at the Las Vegas airport, meant that we were several hours late getting into the air. The staff made no attempt whatsoever to try and throw us a small bone for all of this inconvenience - even their brief over-the-intercom apology sounded like a tired and rote affair. Perhaps let us have the overpriced, under-quality sandwiches for free? They even managed to disappoint with empty soap dispensers in the bathrooms. When we arrived in Montreal for our connector flight, we were then delayed again by the lack of availability for someone to guide our plane to the jetway. Didn't anyone call ahead? "Very disappointed with the level of service", I growled to the staff at the head of the plane as we all exited. I don't think they heard - they were conversing amongst themselves and did not seem particularly focused on passengers. Not Very Happy, Air Canada!

On a positive note, the staff at the Montreal airport just managed (along with a lot of running on our part - we were very late, you see) to get us on the connecting flight to Ottawa on Air Canada Jazz, and the staff on that flight seemed much more accommodating. Isn't Air Canada Jazz a completely separately managed entity now? If so, it certainly comes across that way!
Video Clip: Late for our connector!
So, you've managed to reach the end of my narrative! To those of you with which I had the honour to travel: Thank you for being such great travel companions. We had a really good, matched group - skill, capability, and temperament-wise.

For a long time I'd wanted to spend a week and explore the mysterious and remote Escalante - and it did not disappoint! The Escalante area is most definitely a superb place for anyone looking for an off-the-beaten-path, filled-with-hidden-gems, pristine-and-wild piece of desert. 'nuff said!
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