March 8, 2008.
The traveling process left a lot to be desired.
Friday, a blizzard started in Louisville. Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem, and would in fact be borderline preferable. Snow is fun. Snow delays work. But today, snow would get in the way of the trip.
By Saturday morning, we had a good 8 inches of snow on the ground. We left home around 8:00 AM, and while the drive to the airport is usually about 20 minutes, it took well over an hour. I don’t think we broke 35 mph the whole time. I didn’t see a square inch of actual asphalt peeking through the thick snow on the interstates.
Still, we made it. The check-in process was confounded by having a non-ticket-holding infant with us, but we eventually made it past ticketing, past security (NO LIQUIDS…unless you have a baby, in which case it’s ok. Terrorists don’t have children, right?), and to the gate.
Flights all around us were being cancelled. We sat next to a lady whose 6:50 AM flight toward Cancun (through Chicago) had been cancelled, and watched with pity as her “new” 10:30 flight was cancelled as well. In fact, we were the only flight in our group of four gates to actually fly out over the three hours we waited.
Next, we waited for an hour on the plane, as the only working deicing truck took care of more important planes. Aiden got a bit cranky sitting in this aluminium deathtrap.
Finally, we took off. Aiden did pretty well, considering it was his first flight. He ate some cookies, read some books, played with some toys, and even watched a cartoon on the laptop. On the descent, however, he got pretty cranky. His ears were probably popping, and he wouldn’t drink anything to help them.
We arrived in Dallas/Fort Worth with 50 minutes until our next flight. We hurried over to the next departing gate, hoping to find some lunch. We went too far, and had to backtrack, eating up some of our layover time. We ended up grabbing a bite at McD’s and cramming it in as the flight was boarding.
Spring break must be in session, as the vast majority of the passengers were very obviously on a mission to party. In fact, several of them had already begun the partying process, as was evident by the smell of alcohol and flagrant disregard for whatever the flight attendant was asking them to do.
Aiden was an angel on this flight. He was asleep before we took off, and only woke up on the descent. A few cookies, some water, and playing peek-a-boo with the people behind us helped keep him occupied until we landed.
Immigration and customs was just about as fun as it sounds. It took about 45 minutes in line for immigrations, and another 25 for customs…not that we have an option.
Playa del Carmen is surprisingly far away from Cancun. We opted for the 45-minute cab ride instead of the 2-hour shuttle, even at extra cost. It was already past sunset, and the “sunny, tropical paradise” we know and love was more of a “dark, hot, muggy place that still isn’t the hotel”.
Aiden slept the whole cab ride. We checked into the resort, opting to forego the description of the hotel amenities just to get to the room. I ran out to fetch some dinner while Tanya fed Aiden some Gerber’s and formula. We made it to sleep around 10:00 PM (Eastern Standard…DST started in four more hours.)