My apologies to expectant readers, yesterday was a long day of travel, and I opted to get some sleep, and so I did not get our travel day blogged and posted. I was able to keep the families of the travelers up to date on each leg of our journey. Thanks for your readership and your prayers for our team. Many of you have been praying, encouraging, and giving to this trip, and we appreciate your love and support!
We had an early 6:00 AM meet-up time at Cleveland Airport for an 8:05 AM flight. That would give us the recommended 2 hours before the flight cushion. It is always good to have a little wiggle room. My buddy, Ben, was driving me up to the airport when I received a text, “Hey Brad, I forgot my passport. I’m going to be late. Sorry.” Thankfully, it was still pretty early, and I guessed they would still arrive at 6:15 AM. I responded, acknowledging how these things happen. Last year, I had to turn around to get my passport. We had a 2-hour cushion.
While we were waiting, we started getting the rest of the team checked in and dropping off the luggage. A couple of travelers with new passports did not sign them, but that was a quick fix. My group and Simeon’s group were able to get checked in, David’s group had some problems, but it looked like he had it under control. Just as we finished, the late traveler arrived at the perfect timing. We could just use the kiosk, and then all of us could depart together. ERROR! Something was wrong with the passport and ticket.
How many years have I been leading trips, buying plane tickets, and planning travel experiences? Guess what? I failed to check with the traveler about the way her name was spelled on her passport. International travel requires the name on the ticket to match the exact name on the passport. Good thing we were still in Cleveland and America. The Delta representative, Teresa, was working on it, but it was taking a while. I instructed the rest of the team to go through security, and we would meet them at the gate. This meant that we did not get a pre-trip group picture before our first flight.
Some time had passed. I checked the Delta app and saw that her name had been updated! I shared the good news with Teresa, and she quickly told me to exit the app. If I accessed the itinerary in the app, I could mess up the transfer of information for the name correction. However, I thought we must be almost done. I turned around and saw our team marching behind us. The TSA security line they went to had been at a standstill the entire time we were waiting for the name change.
I try not to let my anxieties get the best of me, but now it is 7:15 AM, and we are still at the counter, and I have no idea if the other security gate will be faster or not. Boarding was going to start at 7:35 AM, and we had no idea how long it would be. I was trying to stay positive and encouraging, while also apologizing for not double-checking the name before purchasing the tickets. I cannot tell you how many little prayers I prayed and asked God to move mountains for us during the waiting time. He answered! We got the all clear and confirmation that the round trip itinerary was completely updated, and we shouldn’t have to worry about it anymore. Praise God!
The two of us hustled to the security gate and found it almost empty. We basically walked up and right through without any problems. We were so fast that we caught up to a few of our teammates who had paused for a bathroom break after getting through security. We arrived, finally altogether, at the gate with time to spare. God is good!
Our flight from Cleveland to Atlanta went smoothly. However, as we gathered just off the plane, Simeon realized he forgot his phone on the plane. He tried to go back down but was told he could not go back on the plane without an escort. Thankfully, the cleaning crew had found it and walked out with it. No problem at all.
We had a nice 3-hour layover in Atlanta. It was a good time to regather, get a meal, and get to our gate. I was hoping for smooth sailing the rest of the way. However, our flight to Mexico City was delayed, which cut into our 2-hour layover. We were about 45 minutes late getting into Mexico City, and I had no idea how we were going to make our next flight. As we were walking into customs, David suggested we skip the bathroom break and go through while there was no line. I looked up and customs was pretty much empty, Praise God! We were able to walk right up and get through with no problems (always a praise in a foreign country). We had one more security check before getting to our gate.
I am so grateful for David Keiper and his knowledge of Spanish. He helped us navigate the way through and up to security. The Mexican security guards were super nice and helpful. They gathered our group up, waiting until all of us were together, and guided us through security. David identified our gate, and we walked over with 25 minutes to spare! Praise the Lord! Most were able to go grab some food and/or water bottles (you cannot drink the tap water here). That’s when we saw the gate was “closed”! Now we were concerned that our flight was canceled. David found out that they were waiting for the flight attendants. This delayed our boarding time by about 15 minutes. Once they arrived and we boarded the plane, the pilot notified us that another plane broke down behind our plane and had to wait to get towed so we could depart, he said, probably 5-10 minutes. An hour later, they began taxing our plane toward the runway. However, it was another 30 minutes before taking off. We sat on the plane for 1.5 hours for a 1.5-hour flight. Thankfully, I was able to inform Jocsan that we were going to be late.
We arrived at Huatulco airport safely. It was so good to see Jocsan and his father, Gabby, again! After loading up, we had an hour drive to the Airbnb house we were staying at. Kayla and baby Zeke greeted us with tacos and pizza! It was a long and hectic day, but our team did great! Everybody kept good attitudes, and we were all so thankful to be here safe and together with our Mexican family!
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