I am sitting at the Quebec City airport now, awaiting to board my flight up North to the Isle de Madeleine in the gulf of St. Lawrence in Northern Canada.  I almost didn't make this flight.  Yesterday, I departed New York for Chicago, where I would change planes for a flight to Quebec City.  Why did I choose such a long route?  The ticket price was less than half price this way, despite carrying me three times longer on a plane...go figure.  The trip went well, but suddenly, to my surprise, as my plane was about to take off on the runway in Chicago for Quebec City, I realized I left my goretex North Face jacket and winter fleece at the gate in the seat where I sat earlier.  The idea of flying into Norther Canada to photograph Harp Seals out on a floating ice pack without a coat in February seemed beyond dangerous.  All I had in my suitcase were pullovers and thermal underwear.  I thought to myself...might there be a store at the airport in Quebec?

Imagine my deep concern when I looked out of my plane window as we were landing in Quebec City, and saw what looked like a blizzard....with the city blanketed in snow.  I thought...Ouch....this is going to be challenging.  It was after 10pm, and I would soon discover that this small airport had no such stores, and for the most part, nothing would be open anyway at this hour.  I knew I had till my 10am flight the next day to solve my problem.  As I waited in the immigration line, I looked at all the other passengers in line wearing their big thick winter coats...and I was just in a tee shirt and a dress shirt.  I eyed this one guy wearing this big polar down jacket and thought...that is what I need....just go up to him and offer $400 for it. But I made my way through immigration, got my bag, and after asking one of the authorities for suggestions on how to find a coat, I realized I was going to have to look elsewhere.  

Meanwhile, have you ever tried to call an airlines' lost and found department?  I was told it is basically impossible, but after an hour or so trying, was given a web form to fill out, an email address, and a phone number to leave a message....and was assured no response would be forthcoming unless they found it.  Thus, seeing the situation getting more helpless, I hailed a taxi to the Comfort Inn by the airport to catch up on the six hours of sleep I would hopefully get.  It was at the hotel where the late night clerk suggested the Walmart, which would open at 8am, might be my only option.  So that became the plan.  As my alarm went off at 6:30am, I looked out the window and discovered it had been snowing all night.  I thought....can a taxi even drive in this stuff?  But sure enough, that is what I did....hailing a taxi to Walmart, purchasing a fleece with an outer shell jacket, and making it to the airport in time for my 10am departure.