We Made It!

That is the most important part of this post... we are here, in Pico, all three of us (Kevin, Zeus and myself).

The trip itself was nerve-wracking and LONG. I am going to type out the highlights as quickly as possible, because Kevin's laptop is losing steam.

On Thursday September 7th, we picked up a 10ft Uhaul in Cambridge Ontario, filled it with four pieces of luggage @ 50lbs each, two carry-on bags, and one extra large dog crate. Other than almost getting side-swiped by a little toyota supra on Hwy 401; we made it to the cargo drop off in one piece. Kevin and I felt a little rushed when it came to dropping off Zeus, we thought they would weigh him, get the waybill situated and then let us take him for a final walk but that's not what happened. As soon as we arrived, they said he had to be put into the crate and locked, ready for transport. We quickly gave him his medication that would kick-in in roughly 20 minutes and keep him pretty mellow for about 5 hours. Driving away from him, knowing he was probably worried that we would never come back, made our insides hurt. We dropped off the Uhaul at the closest location I could find to the Toronto Airport which was still a good 25 minute cab ride from the departures drop off. Luckily, we took the advice of many many people and booked ourselves a business class ticket for this particular one-way flight (why not, right?!). With that golden ticket, we were able to walk right up to the airline counter, literally unload 200lbs of baggage and walk straight through to the express lane in the security check. My carry-on was set aside for a secondary check, it had the dog's food ziplocked as well as the dogs metal bowls and an embarassing amount of tampons in a clear baggy. I almost said out loud, 'I'm moving there', just so the guard wouldn't think it's normal for me to carry over 100 tampons on vacation, but I kept my mouth shut and just avoided eye contact. The business class flight also gave us access to the airport lounge. Our first experience with this devine place was last summer, travelling with friends who used to work for Air Canada and knew what the lounge life was like; it is a wonderous world with free food, free beverages (including alcohol, just not the premium stuff) and plugs! Lots and Lots of plugs; plugs on every chair, a world filled with Battery Life!! We would have enjoyed the wait a lot more if it weren't for poor Zeus. The flight was good, much better in the comfier seats but still not the greatest, this particular airplane was older and the seats had lost most of its cushion, the monitors weren't working at all and the temperature in the cabin was much too warm. I, unlike Kevin, took some pretty heavy drowsy pills that had me knocked out within minutes of taking off; I ate my in-flight meal half asleep. When we landed we followed instructions through the passport check and then to the oversized baggage claim, trying to catch a glimpse of Zeus's crate through the massive double doors of what looked like a warehouse. We saw three dogs come out and be reunited with thier grateful families. We waited a total of 20 minutes before asking where Zeus was and I'll never forget when the woman said, 'there are no more dogs on this flight'. I would have panicked more than usual if it hadn't been for the captain of the plane coming to us at the beginning of the trip. I described the oversized crate in my best portuguese and the lady went back to chat with her people in cargo. That's when she instructed us that we needed to go pick him up in the cargo building, which was up the street and around the corner. Kevin and I were less than impressed as we counted the amount of hours that Zeus had been locked away. We had hoped to wrangle a taxi cab that could take all of our luggage PLUS Zeus's crate but none of them had the option of lowering thier back row of seats and I did not see a single pick-up truck anywhere. That's when I went inside the airport looking to rent SOMETHING - ANYTHING that could possibly give us space for at least the crate and with a rental, we could do multiple trips back and forth, if need be. First place said they have no vehicles, before I could even introduce myself or my problems. The second place was polite enough to enteratain my desperate rant about my dog before telling me they were out of vehicles. The third place is where I met Pedro. Pedro is the only person who listened and TRIED to help me. He also had no cars to rent BUT he was willing to drive one of the bigger transport vans to the cargo area, rescue the dog and then drop us off at the Port Authority to start the last leg of our journey. I told Kevin to go with Pedro whoose english was impresissve, to go get Zeus while I stood waiting for them with all the luggage outside at arrivals. THANK GOD Kevin could connect to wifi at the Cargo area because he messaged me and said they will not release Zeus until the customs documents were signed and since the waybill was only in my name - only I could sign it!! I looked at my phone (which was down to 36% battery) and prayed to any God that was listening to please cut us a break. I had to skip to the front of the taxi cab line to desperately beg every family that was waiting there to let me go next so I could get to our dog who has been in a crate for over 13 hours. They were all gracious and possibly scared that I would freak out if they said no. First cab was a four-door sedan - no go. Second one was a decent sized minivan and since all I had was luggage, I figured this would be it but the old man gave me a hard time, he said it was illegal for him to put baggage on the seats themselves. The only way he would help me is if all the bags fit in the trunk. The only ones that did not were our backpacks and our carry-ons but I made it work and showed him that they fit on the floor - no bags were on his seats 😳. I was relieved to see Kevin and instantly enraged that they wouldn't even let Kevin take zeus out of the crate to give the dog a chance to relieve himself. As soon as I arrived, a woman met me at the cab and started talking about getting my signature, she didn't even ask for my name or ID to prove that I was the person on the waybill. I did as I was asked and when Zeus came out of the crate; I could not hold back the happy tears. Kev gave me a thumbs up that he was good, as I watched from an office window. After I paid some fees, I asked if there was any place I could get water, hoping they would at least offer some tap water for poor Zeus or a vending machine with bottled drinks. They said there was a cafe up the street. I left Kevin and Zeus outside the cargo area and rushed to get water for all of us. It was such a relief that we were all together again that I couldn't possibly be mad at the way things had gone the last 90 stressful minutes. As promised, Pedro came back and he was great. He got one of the cargo guys to help us figure out the best way to get the crate into the back of the van. I told him we could do two trips (of course we would pay him) since he can't put the luggage on the seats. He looked at me like I had two heads and less than half a brain. He said, 'who told you that?'😡 Once all the bags were in, plus Zeus, the only room left for Kevin and I was in the front seat. I was the lucky one in the middle; squashed between my husband and a kind stranger. The drive was at least 20 minutes and the chit-chat was free flowing. When we got to the Port, I asked what amount we owed Pedro and he wouldn't give me a straight answer so we left him what we thought was a generous amount for the inconvenience and his kindness. Needless to say, Pedro is our newest friend. As he drove away, I walked up to the Port Authority building and noticed a sign on the window, clearly stating that on Friday's they open at 14h25. The time we had on our dying cell phones was 10h50. We waited outside, in the sunshine, for 3 hours and 35 minutes to pass. ***SIDE NOTE: I am lauguing at myself right now for saying that this was the less detailed version of events, obviously I lied and if anyone is still reading; you are welcome to stop now 😂. More and more people started to arrive and join us in our wait outside of the building. One group of guys had a smaller, yappier dog and they said they called yesterday and were told the ferry this afternoon was not allowing anymore pets, but that he was welcome to try speaking to the Port directly. This caused my stomach to turn, I really wanted to plan for the 'what if', maybe try finding a place to sleep for the night that would allow dogs but our phones were dying and there was a very weak internet signal outside the building. Someone must have seen us sitting outside and took pity on us, they opened the doors an hour before the ticket counter was supposed to be open. We were able to drag everything inside and get to an electrical outlet. I charged mine first and Kevin, who had NOT slept on the flight started to really feel the hours. He attempted to close his eyes and I sat updating friends and family that we had landed and that we were safe. The ticket counter opened and I was second in line. The guy gave me the tickets, no problem. The cost to bring Zeus, all of our luggage and the two of us on the 8 hour voyage was $43.10 (in Euros). This was the moment the hunger struck. Knowing we had secured the last part of the trip and it was all back on track, we needed to eat something. The restaurant above the Port Authority - in the same building - was the easy choice. I went upstairs to get us whatever they had to offer that was edible. The waiter told me they were closed, they close from 2pm till 4pm. He went into the kitchen and said all he could serve me is soup. I said I'll take it. He must have seen my disappointment and returned again from the kitchen to say, he could fix us (he, himself since there was no cook), battered fried chicken legs, plain white rice, some french fries and a bit of salad. This sounded like heaven, I asked him for two plates of that please. I left him a kind tip and rushed downstairs to eat with Kev. We got a few bites into the chicken and found it pretty pink in the center, closest to the bone. We stopped eating it and kept to the rice and fries instead. Roughly 15 minutes later it was time to board the boat and we found out that Zeus had to go back in the crate😓. They did not allow for the dogs be with the seated passengers for safety reasons. We gave Zeus the medicaiton AGAIN, same as we had for the plane and if I'm being completely honest, neither one of us believed he would get back into that thing but he did! He was placed in the part of the boat that held the vehicles and we watched them chaulk the wheels of the crate and strap him to the back corner of the cargo area. When we went upstairs to take a seat, I wanted to sit outside, just above where Zeus was. We couldn't see him but if he barked; we would hear him. There was a vehicle in cargo that had either a defective or super sensitive car alarm. The sound was deafening, we hated that Zeus was sitting in the same space with that annoying echoing noise. It took a good half hour for them to shut that thing up. As the sun hit our faces and the sea air filled our lungs, we watched with smiles when dolphins swam alongside the boat. I couldn't get my phone out fast enough for photos but the sight was beautiful. I was soaking it all in until the waves started to crash water in the sides of the cargo floor below us. The swells were growing and since my phone was on my lap, I recorded 30 seconds of it until I felt like I was on a roller coaster. That's when I saw one of the crew members handing out these plastic circles with baggies attached. I took one and held on for dear life. The man sitting beside me, two seats from my right, threw up all over the floor around his shoes. Kevin asked me if I wanted to go inside, I said yes and we started making our way into the cabin. I got threw the doorway and had to turn back around. As soon as I sat back in my original seat, I held back for as long as I could until the force of my stomach won the battle. My head was throbbing and my nasal sinuses were burning. I was exhausted and tried leaning over my backpack in the seat next to me, just to close my eyes for a few seconds. I managed to get a bit of sleep. I saw that the sun had set further in the sky and Kevin said he was getting pretty cold but he could wait longer, if I wanted to stay outside. I gathered my energy and said I could try, I turned my body around, opposite the flow of the waves and that's when I needed the second barf bag. Lucky for me, when they hand out the fresh bags, they take back the used ones. I hadn't noticed the couple that sat two rows behind us but they couldn't help noticing us (or me). The kind lady walked over and gave me one of her sea-sickness pills. She said to NOT take it until the boat stopped at its next port or I may throw it up too. First thing we did when the ferry made its first stop was move inside, out of the cold evening air and as soon as I sat down, my third 'wave' of sickness hit but this time, there was nothing left but bile. I thought I was going to die. I have never felt so helpless, so desperate for the ground to stop moving. To make matters worse we had 4 hours left on this vessel from hell. I took the pill that the lady gave me and I closed my eyes with my head rested against the seat back in front of me. I only awoke when the boat stopped at the second port and from there we only had 45minutes left before we arrived in Pico. I didn't feel great and my mouth tasted like road kill (probably smelt like it too) but at least the vomitting had ended and I felt hope again. When the boat stopped, I was the last one off. I did not trust the movement. Kevin had gone to check on Zeus who was FINE!! No mess at all. I was so impressed; the dog did better than I did!

It has been just over 2 full days now on dry land and I can look out on the ocean, recount the horror, and even laugh (a little) at my plight but when I see fried chicken, I can still taste the burn in my nostrils 🤢.

Zeus after the flight; happy to be reunited with us 🥹

Introducing the newest member of the Pet Population in Sao Roque do Pico!

These two make it all worth it...