Well, we made our "usual" reservation for a nice March sojourn in Mexico with our friend Claudette. Unfortunately, her plans took a dramatic detour with unexpected surgery, and she was not cleared to travel with us. Boohoo!!
But lacking an airline-acceptable reason for Linda and me to get our airfare refunded, we soldiered on. We'd found an offer for a night at a hotel just minutes from O'Hare, plus two weeks free parking ... the package was cheaper than taking cabs or limos! We arrived there around 8PM and placed a wakeup call for 3:30 AM ... to catch the 4:30 shuttle to the airport, for our 6:30 AM flight. A pretty ugly way to start a pleasure trip, but we made our deadlines and got checked in for an on-time flight to Houston.
A bit of a layover there, we munched Linda's sandwiches and bought a couple bags of chips to make ourselves legitimate in the food court. Visiting the ladies' room, there was an amusing scene as several women were waiting for companions who were yet inside. Newcomers assumed there was a big line ... there was a lot of good-natured explaining going on.
At Houston, the change of plane included a dramatic size downgrade -- to a 3-across plane. Naturally our carry-ons were gate-checked, and we were a little anxious about the flight as there were several families on board. Notably, parents with three kids from maybe K - 3rd grade. However, they were a delightful model of how things CAN be! The kids, as would be expected, tended to veer into boredom or frustration from time to time. But both dad and mom effectively and positively re-oriented them to good behavior right away. It was awesome (not to mention pleasant!).
We had spoken with the hotel to arrange transportation from the airport. They said they'd have a driver there with our name on a placard, and confirmed the flight arrival time. I stressed that we'd have to get through immigration and customs, but they seemed to brush that off. This seemed odd, as last year in Puerto Vallarta we were in a crowd of hundreds of mostly hunky-and-tanned beach bums, and it took quite a while to clear.
WELL. Guess we could have taken a clue from the plane size ... the entire line was about 4 folks at any given moment. We got picked for bag inspection, where our stash of Spice House blends drew some attention, and Linda had her two fresh apples confiscated. Light duty, overall!
Having been up since very early, we decided NOT to go grocery shopping but rather treat ourselves to the Italian-themed buffet in the main restaurant. Lots of good food (including a fine osso buco!) and a talented mariachi trio ... just the right thing to wrap up a long day.
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