After sleeping off yesterday’s frustration on an airport couch next to the loudest snorer this side of the Mississippi, I scuffled over to the bag claim area to grab my bag to recheck it. Being 4AM and having approximately 2.5 hours of sleep, my movements likely resembled a drunkards steps. I checked my bag and then proceeded through security (apparently the few of us who stayed at the airport had left the gate area sometime before we got to the couch area the night before…). I bought a large bag of fruit snacks to help sugar jump my day and sat at Gate 6 and waited… and waited, and waited, and waited and eventually 9AM came around and boarding was completed successfully!
But wait! We were told after being seated on the plane that the other flights that regularly leave at that time would need to go first and our flight would have to be cleared with the air traffic controller. After everything, had they not done that yet? At 10:30AM, we hit the skies and then… the turbulence. Lots of turbulence. An announcement came on pretty early, its going to be a bumpy ride they said. Like the last day hadn’t been bumpy enough…
The flight landed in MIA just after noon. A wash of relief came over me upon entering the Miami airport, albeit a day late. I proceeded to contemplate what to do about my Covid test which was past the 72hr window for acceptance on an international outgoing flight. After much pondering, I made the executive decision (that only I could make) to leave the airport in search of the nearby Covid test site. It seems luck was on my side as the building was not more than 100 paces from the airport doors. After paying an exorbitant amount of money (175 smackaroos) to get a 30min rapid response PCR test, I sat in anticipation for the email to inform if I would be stranded alone in a Miami hotel for my vacation.
Lady Luck struck again (though less to do with luck, and more about good social distancing and sanitization practices), the test came back negative! Out of the sweltering heat and back into the airport, it was back through security yet again. And holy mother of whatever security gods are out there, but I got through security in less than 5min. That doesn’t seem humanly possible, but it happened. Once back in the airport, I grabbed a personal sheet pizza from a concession stand and went back for an extra slice!
Around 3PM at this point, I decided to call American Airlines again to request if I could swap to the 5:56PM departure to UIO in place of my 8:50PM flight and they came through! Luck was in the air today! Where was this when I needed it yesterday…! I meandered over to my gate an hour before boarding and they provided me with a seat number 17F, an emergency exit seat. Immense leg room with a small chance of responsibility. I’ll take it! Soon enough, the planed boarded… and there we sat. The luck had run out… An hour and a half passed while the ground crew loaded all of the bags into the underbelly of the plane. Why they hadn’t done that earlier is anyone’s guess. Wheels up and in the air a bit later than expected, but still earlier than the other flight which wouldn’t be boarding for at least another hour.
Before the day is through, it should be noted that the real hero of this endeavor over the past 2 days was none other than Charles Garbo, who through more than a handful of phone calls and no small amount of extra support and reassurance, helped me get through this overwhelmingly stressful situation. Thanks for everything, dad!!! I owe you an extra large hug next time I come to visit you!
While I may have missed the first day of my trip to Ecuador and getting to know the members of the tour group, I had no doubt things would be alright once I met up with everyone. I had such an epic time on my last Contiki tour that I knew it would all be worth it once I joined up with more soon to be travel friends!
No Regrets: The Only Way To Live 