A lovely morning for a plane ride.

I had told myself to wake at 6am in order to accomplish all I needed prior to our departure. I was up at 6:20am - close enough. It was sunny and nice judging by my first glimpse outdoors. I felt good. I started coffee then did a round of exercises. I left with Ykraps for our morning walk near 6:40am. I was back enjoying coffee by 6:50am. I took Mindy coffee just before 7am. She expressed excitement over our trip. While Mindy tinkered, I readied and left for my run. I ran just three miles wanting to hurry back to get started on packing my last minute stuff like my toiletries and carry-on. I took care of my carry-on stuff pretty quickly. Mindy still hadn’t showered and offered that I go ahead first. I took her up on that offer. After all, I could get tons done while she showered later. My dad was expected around 9am. After my shower I reviewed my pack list and did the usual walkabout the house/yard taking care of any last minute details. By 8:25am I was set. I decided to log onto Apple Vacations website to review our itinerary even though I had printed it out some 30 days prior. This was my first experience getting all of travel docs via email. Apple typically sends all sorts of documents through the mail for international travel. This time I had only a 4 page document with very brief instructions about airport transportation to and from the hotel, the hotel itself, and the airline reservations. To access our itinerary, I needed my email address and password. Simple enough, right? Wrong. No matter what password I tried, it said it was wrong. Now I only use two or three in various combinations, but no matter what I tried, no joy. I finally conceded and hit the ‘forgot password’ link. That prompted me for my email address and promised to email my password. The only catch being that it also wanted me to provide my secret question and answer. No matter which question I selected and answered, it said no joy. I was perplexed and pissed. Good thing I didn’t absolutely need access. I had to give up and walk away. Good grief. Now, tell me, if I couldn’t remember my password, what are the odds that I would remember my secret question? Dad showed up early, 8:50am, just as I was shutting down my PC. We chatted briefly then carried out all the luggage that was ready. We were still waiting on Mindy’s, however. We were taking only one suitcase each, although both of us had a carry-on as well. While awaiting Mindy, I jockeyed both SUVs into the driveway. Mindy brought down her big purple beast last. After lifting it over the baby gate I worried that it might be too heavy. I asked if she considered packing another bag. Nope. OK. We locked the house and left for port Columbus at 9:15am. It’s always exciting to pull away for a trip. We arrived at the airport without any complications, but none were expected. It was approximately 9:40am. We said our goodbyes and headed inside to the US Airways counter. Knowing the drill well, I swiped my debit card through the auto check-in machine. Trouble! It returned our itinerary but said I was responsible for a $300 change fee. Oh no, not me! An attentive clerk observed and offered assistance. She asked our name and began stroking away at a keyboard. She uttered few words - none of them good, or positive, or affirming. Instead, she shook her head as if in disbelief. She finally said something like, this flight does not exist. You were supposed to depart at 9:25am. Really? I wasn’t happy. I had paperwork that said otherwise. She asked for it. I quickly produced it. At the same time she passively blamed our travel company, Apple. While she fiddled with our reservation, I searched for the Apple phone number, which I couldn’t readily produce. However, I did have the number of the travel agency that provided our electronic documents. Through it all, Mindy offered that it would be OK. I wasn’t so sure, and was growing angrier by the second. The US Airways agent wasn’t rude by any measure, but at the same time, I wasn’t getting the sense that she could fix the dilemma and get us to Mexico as scheduled. She involved others. Finally, I got a hold of my travel agent, who assured me that they’d get it sorted out. After holding for several minutes she confirmed that the latest info they received from US Airways was what I had in hand. Unfortunately, she said, the airline didn’t notify them if the flight changed or was canceled. She reiterated that in such cases, it’s the airlines problem to fix. That made sense but I reminded her that I bought my package through Apple, not US Airways. US Airways, Peg, said she thought she found us a flight on Delta - last two seats through Atlanta arriving in Mexico at 7:20pm instead of 3:20pm. But given the potential peril of the situation, that sounded good. I made sure to let both the US Airways agent and the travel agent discuss the matter on my cell phone. Peg assured the travel agency that we would get to Mexico. The only trouble was that the new flight wouldn’t leave CMH until 2:50pm and it was only 10am. Plus, she said we had to check-in with Delta to make it official. I wasn’t ready to relax just yet. We walked to the other end of the ticketing gates to Delta where there was essentially no line. We were helped right away. They confirmed our flight to Atlanta and our connection to Cancun. There was just one small hitch - separate seat assignments. However, the Delta agent said we could most likely change our seat assignments at the gate later. We checked our bags with TSA and then walked towards the security screening area. In line, we realized that we would be there for almost five hours waiting. Not wanting to wait there that long we phoned dad, who answered quickly. He was at the river watching boaters put-in. After hearing our dilemma, he happily agreed to retrieve us. We agreed to meet outside baggage claim in roughly 20 minutes. Out there quickly, we met an older couple from upstate NY who was in town to attend a memorial service for an old friend. They were interesting. Dad arrived when he said he would. We joked about it being a short trip. We shared the entire story as we drove off still not sure of our immediate plan. I suggested lunch and fun downtown, but none of us could think of a venue given that it was now just 10:40am. Dad asked if we wanted to go home. No. I didn’t feel like returning and then going through the lock down process once more in a couple hours. We finally agreed on lunch at Salvi’s Bistro in Hilliard. We arrived at 11:05am still not sure if they were open. Just a couple cars out back. None out front. A girl that looked to be an employee was leaving outback. We asked if they were open. She said at 11am. It was just after. Good! We were the only patrons. I haven’t eaten at Salvi’s for years. Ironically, the last time was with dad after he picked me up at the airport from one of my many solo trips before Mindy. I was eager to have some pasta Salvi. And after our travel ordeal, I wanted a beer, too. Lucky me! They had Columbus Pale Ale on tap. Mindy ordered water, dad tea. For lunch, I had pasta Salvi with Bolognese sauce and a salad. Dad ordered just a salad. Mindy ordered pasta of some sort. We had a nice lunch and joked around about a hundred different things. It was 12:20pm as we chatted outside dad’s ride. We agreed that it was OK to head back to the airport. It admittedly seemed like we wasted dad’s gas running us all over town: out east, back out east to refetch us, back west, then back east. Oh dear! We arrived at the airport around 1:00pm. We said our goodbye’s one more time. And for probably the first time ever, there was no line whatsoever at the security check point. We passed right through - no troubles. Now, all we had to do was sit at our gate and wait. It was just after 1pm. Our flight wasn’t set to depart until 2:51pm. No one was at the gate either. We waited and read. Finally, around 1:40pm or so, an employee kindly got our seating situation squared away - 10A & 10B. We boarded and left for Atlanta on time. The flight to Atlanta was quick, just one hour. Atlanta is a huge airport, and a Delta hub. We deplaned on concourse B and needed to get to concourse E. We road the underground shuttle over. Concourse E is mostly international flights. Very interesting mix of folks. There was a London bound flight about to depart, and also one for Barcelona, Spain. I people watched and listened to conversations while we patiently waited our departure for Mexico. Our flight wasn’t slated to leave until 5:50pm. We still needed seat assignments, but like before, the employees said we’d have to wait until they started that process. I waited as asked but didn’t want to chance more complications. As soon as it looked like official business was taking place at our gate I reproached the stand seeking help. A somewhat testy woman wanted to shew me away once more, but her comrade agreed to take care of it. Finally, we had seat assignments - 31D & E. We boarded about ten minutes late, but the pilot told us we’d most likely still be on time if not early into Cancun. It was a quick flight into Cancun, just two hours, and under mostly clear skies. As the pilot promised, we arrived into Cancun 15 minutes earlier than scheduled. Unlike most other times into Cancun, there were no other flights competing with us through customs/security. It was a snap. They have improved the airport immensely, too. Very nice. First time here some 11 years ago, the airport would’ve been best described as third world-like. Today it’s a modern Caribbean air hub. We waited only briefly for our luggage. I was a tad concerned that it might not make it given the snarl at port CMH. Anyone who’s walked out of Cancun’s airport knows that official looking folks approach you trying to get you to book transportation with them. As we exited the airport to the common area for transportation we had our body temperature scanned/taken by Mexican health officials looking for Swine Flu cases. We were good. Immediately after, an official looking fellow tried to swindle us into giving him our transportation voucher. He had Mindy’s ear. I implored that she follow me and walk way from his fast talking scheme. I knew all too well that Apple representatives should be waiting for us right outside in a floral print shirt. We still had to maneuver ourselves though a maze of taxi drivers and schemers alike to find him. The process can best be described as chaotic. Finally, at the very end of the transportation area stood our Apple rep. I knew we were in good hands when he greeted me by name. It was just Mindy & I along with a newlywed couple in a passenger van headed for the heart of the hotel zone. The other couple was from Ireland on the third of three honeymoon trips. We laughed about it. As it turned out, they were staying in the resort right next to ours - Dreams on Punta Cancun. The drive to the hotel zone is fast - 20 minutes tops. We were at our hotel, Fiesta Americana Grand Coral Beach by 8:30pm. This is a beautiful hotel. Like the airport, it seemed kind of empty. There was no one else in the lobby but us. Good! The concierge and hotel attendant was most helpful. As expected, he upgraded our room from a semi-ocean view jr suite to a full ocean view jr suite on the eight floor - perfecto! I felt really good about that. Mindy & I were beat. I’d been up since 6 something and we’d been traveling all day. Our room was everything we hoped. Top notch, lovely, and best of all, it sported an incredible view of the Caribbean Sea. We didn’t hang out too long before we headed off on foot to find dinner. We purposefully opted for a non-all-inclusive hotel since we were staying in the hotel zone, which is noted for its dining and entertainment choices. We ventured the time square-like area in the heart of the hotel entertainment zone. We quickly opted for dinner at Carlos & Charlie’s. It was noisy semi-outdoors. There was music blaring from all angles, bars, and venues. There were dancers, street performers, and tourists galore No sign of a recession looming here. I wasn’t in the best of moods after our long day, and by the sound of it, neither was Mindy. We kept mostly to ourselves as we took in the hyper celebration. We each ordered a medium margarita. Imagine our surprise when they arrived and were about 18 inches tall! I ordered wings. Mindy ordered some pork thing. We also had them make us some fresh guacamole right at our table. That was fun and good. But honestly, Bob Imber’s is way better. This stuff had next to no taste. There was lots of in-house entertainment going on, but I just wasn’t in the mood. It wasn’t long before one of the waiters snatched up Mindy for some dancing. I continued people watching. We had our picture taken wearing sombreros and they later presented it to us on a small bottle of tequila for $15. No thanks! I mean, come on, where would we keep it? Our bill was presented in USD. However, after giving them my card, they returned with it in pesos. I asked for it to be converted to USD. The waiter then canceled the entire bill and redid it. Oh boy! How would that unfold, I wondered. We walked back to our room eager for some sleep. Our bed was so comfy! Welcome to Mexico!!!!