OMG, Are We There Yet?

1:30 AM Tuesday, Dec. 16

When the radio started playing Linda was up in her usual manner. 1:30, 3:30; not much difference I guess, just another day for her. I heard the creak of the lock on the kennel and a few seconds later Kobi wiggled up to my side of the bed. When he approaches his entire body is shaking, but then he puts his nose under the covers and pushes his head against me and stands perfectly still; leaning, licking and loving me. He really wants me to get up now, but he also wants to have his head held and his ears scratched. I roll out of bed, jump into the hot shower and our vacation begins.

It's about 4 degrees outside and if the truck hadn't been plugged in, it probably would have been a bugger to start. We let it warm up as we load our bags, say good bye to Kobi and hit the road. We arrive at the airport at about 3:20 am. The place is empty. Well, there were about three other travelers, but they were sleeping. Within a few minutes things started to wake up, airline check-in followed by the TMA security. Our first foreshadowing of what was to follow came when we checked in and our agent mentioned that the flight we were booked on was delayed because the flight crew arrived in Spokane late the prior evening and they needed to sleep in so they were rested.

Travelers filtered in to the waiting area as pre dawn moved closer to sunrise. We waited, knowing that the longer we were delayed the more flights out of Seattle we would miss. As we sat there a familiar face came over to greet us. It was a gentleman we had met last year as we traveled down and back to Mexico. Traveling from Canada to Manzanillo he was with his wife and two kids. They were on all the same flights as us and they were also concerned about how late our take off had been pushed.

8:30 AM Tuesday, Dec. 16

The flight over was uneventful, once the crew arrived. We walked directly from our arrival gate to the gate from which we were to depart. The delay in Spokane had caused us to miss our original flight out of Seattle to LAX. The Horizon check in lady had booked us seats on the next available flight out of SeaTac, but had told us to check in and pick up our boarding passes when we arrived at the gate. Linda met the first agent and the panic started. The agents expressed concern about us making the departure when we arrived in LA. They said the Horizon employee should not have let us leave Spokane that late. It would be very close making our connection, almost too close! They said we had no margin for errors and could not have any delays or we would be out of luck. We got our boarding passes and gathered with our fellow travelers from Canada. They had been told the same thing and as we talked, the minutes passed and our flight grew later and later.

Eventually we were allowed to board, found out seats and settled in. Everything was loaded and the doors were shut when the flight attendants came back in and asked a man to leave the plane. We didn't know exactly why he had to leave, but it put us further behind on our departure schedule. Once that situation was behind us we were allowed to push out of the gate. As we moved slowly away the plane came to a stop. We sat there for several minutes and our pilot came over the intercom and explained that we had gotten stuck on ice and they were in the process of getting a pusher with chains on the tires to get us going again. Our hopes grew slim as we waited to get the plane free from the icy grip.

We were now 45 minutes behind schedule of our already 1 ½ hour delay and we were just getting off the ground in Seattle. The flight captain furthered our anxiety when he came over the cabin speakers and apologized for all the delays and said that we would have clear skies, but did not have a tail wind so we would not make up any time.

We sat back and waited. At 10:30 am our Canadian friend stopped by and grimly reminded us that we were supposed to be boarding right then. We crossed our fingers and smiled.

11:15 AM Tuesday, Dec. 16

We started our decent into LAX and our hopes of making the connection flight lowered as we lost altitude. We were holding on to a slim hope that was given to us by the Seattle check in crew. We were told that there were two flights scheduled for LA at about the same time. The other flight was delayed like ours was and that flight started to take off for the south but was turned back for some reason. The people traveling to Manzanillo on that flight were forced to join our flight. This brought the number of travelers that would miss the next flight to about fifteen. They said that we had better odds of our connecting flight being held because of this. All we could do was wait and see.

As we made our final approach the flight attendant came on the system and explained that the 30 people who were booked to travel to Loreto would be able to make their flight because they had held their plane. People traveling to Puerto Vallarta would have to hurry but they would make their flight. Then finally they said the people traveling to Manzanillo would have to see the booking agent because we were re-booked. Our hearts sank. We were over an hour late and they did not hold our plane. This meant that we may not be able to get out for several days.

Dragging our bags, we walked to the ticket agent to see what we needed to do. Our vacation plans might be taking a shift for the worst. Linda caught the agent's attention and asked what the folks that missed the flight to Manzanillo were to do. She looked up and said, "They are holding your plane and you need to run to Gate 37." We took off on a full sprint. When we hit the gate the attendant was in full smile mode. "Relax" he told us, we had made the flight.

We scurried on to the plane and found our seats. As we entered the cab people cheered. I guess they had been there for about an hour waiting for us. We were so thankful! Our Canadian friends entered shortly after that and they closed the plane's door. Wow what a trip! Mexico here we come!

The flight down was painless. Our seats were next to an older gentleman traveling to stay at his condo in Manzanillo. He said he had been traveling down to this area for about 30 years and was staying for five months. We smiled as he said that his Mexican girl friend was waiting for him at the airport with a taxi. His carry on bag consisted of three expensive bottles of whisky. "I'll be there five months you know!" he said as he proudly showed Linda his stash.

3:15 PM (Pacific Time) Tuesday, Dec. 16

We arrived, landed and deplaned with no problems. It was about 84 degrees as we worked our way through the maze of customs and security people. This year's transition from passenger to visitor was amazingly painless. We usually have stories about the customs people, or better yet, the stupid gringos that think they don't have to flow with the lines of people or are totally obnoxious the entire time we are in line. This year we had none of that and were out at the taxi area within about fifteen minutes.

In the blogs of the past you have always been treated to a description of our taxi ride from the airport to Melaque that I liken to driving in a NSACAR event. This year's drive was fast, but relatively calm. Calm on Mexico roads, would be like driving 50 miles and hour through the new construction that just took place on Prairie Avenue in northern Coeur d'Alene. Every slowdown is an opportunity to pass; every topa is another obstacle that tests their shocks. We were able to communicate "Numero un, Reforma" to the driver, and then figure out that it was San Patricio, not Melaque. That was our fault; we know that there are three small cities combined into the area we stay. From south to north they are San Patricio, Melaque, and Obregon. We arrived at the beach house at about 5:45 PM and were met by Leone and our next door neighbor Larry.

6:15 PM'ish (Mexico Time) Tuesday, Dec. 16

Leone showed us the new security system and explained some of the changes. Not many, but it's nice to have a refresher course on some of the house intricacies. We walked down town and had dinner at La Bueno Gusto where waiter Hildaguo remembered us from last year and was very excited to see us. After dinner we went and bought supplies and walked home. The bed shouted our names and we turned in by 9:00 PM Mexican time.