My Little Episode In Calgary

About 20 minutes outside of Calgary on my flight from Ottawa through Calgary to Vancouver the pilot comes on and informs us that due to a storm we have to circle the airport for a bit to give them time to clear a runway. Soon after this announcement I can start to hear these weird tuck tuck, tack tack tack sounds as the plane flies through what sounds like hail. The turbulence starts right at the same moment as we start banking radically and flying through the hail. We bank, and bank, and bank some more with the strange tick tick, tuck tack sounds of ice hitting the plane as we fly through it and the turbulence picking up.
The pilot then proceeds to take the back wheels down harder and louder than I have ever heard in my life. One woman yelled out from the shock of it. Once we come to a bumpy stop I am facing the prospect of taking off on a snowy icey runway, flying through a hail storm over the rockies then landing with this same pilot in Vancouver.
Fuck that and fuck this. I got off the plane in Calgary and told them to get my baggage out from underneath the aircraft. Once my bags were off the plane and in my possession I had exactly 25 minutes to get to the bus station to catch the last overnight Greyhound to Vancouver from Calgary. The drive is normally about 30 minutes and it was haling in Calgary at the time. I decided to go for it anyway. With the Mission Impossible theme song in my head I sprinted through the airport, bags in tow, did my best Jack Black guitar solo slide to a stop in front of a cab and we were off. Actually, I just burst out the airport doors and offered the first cab I saw a $10 tip if he could get me to the bus station in 15 minutes. We slip slided across greater Calgary to the downtown core where I then went running into the bus station and was able to catch the night bus to good old Van. ON TERRA FIRMA!
The view on that drive through the rockies is unreal.