Travel, for hubby and I, has been mainly for business. Yet, as our businesses have change, we have traveled more for pleasure. Little did we know that traveling from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, into Houston and on to Belize would be a test of patience and endurance.
As is the norm for hubby and me, we squabbled a bit over the correct weight of a letter to be mailed back to the US from Belize; the way to pack the carry-ons and the timing of checking in at the airport. It’s a pattern we created early in our relationship and have simply failed to change.
(Side note: Thanksgiving day, we flew across country to Atlanta, GA to be with hubby’s family for his Mom’s memorial service. As you might know, these types of events are stressful and emotional. We had 22 hours to be ready for our flight to Belize after returning from the service and time with family and friends.)
We found TSA to be less frustrating due to being randomly selected as TSA PreCheck. This allowed us to keep our shoes, jewelry and belts in place, and to move through the line without a lot of falderal. Little did we know that we had to walk from the International terminal to the Domestic terminal to board our flight. The 1.5 hour we thought we had to relax had already passed us by. Once on the plane, hubby fell to sleep immediately! Not me! I am always excited to be traveling. And the Las Vegas lights were simply amazing.
LAX (Los Angeles) turned out to include a long hike between gates too. We walked and walked and walked. Hubby settled me in a seat and took off on an exploration. He came back with a huge grin and said, ”coffee anyone?” We pushed and nudged our bags behind the back table at The Coffee Bean. A caffe latte soothed the rough edges from days of packing and travel. We enjoyed our quiet corner, that is until 6 Police officers arrived. Once we found out that they were just on coffee break, we settled back down to wait for our flight to Houston.
The flight to Houston was uneventful, so much so that we both napped the entire way. Gotta love flights of this nature!
Hubby was especially helpful in transporting our carry-on bags. My back had seen many hours of riding in the car and flying. The pain had been constant with little rest in between. He always takes such good care of me, and this time his concern was even more evident.
Upon arrival in Houston, hubby requested a cart to transport us between gates and to the American club. If you’ve ever had a long layover, you know that the air line clubs are simply the best way to pass the time. I enjoyed sipping orange spice tea while hubby checked his emails. After a bite to eat, we dozed off for another much needed nap.
The flight from Houston to Belize City was uneventful. Upon arrival, we were lined up for what seemed to be a very long time to go through customs. Being the south, hubby and I are said, by some folks, to be too friendly! Needless to say, we were not bored by the wait. However, it was difficult when there were no customs agents with friendly faces or smiles.
Once we finally made it to baggage claim, finding our bags was easy! Loaded them on a cart and off to find our limo! That was the laugh of our day. The limo we ordered turned out to be a Jeep Liberty with a 21 year old driver. Two hours and 20 minutes on what seemed to be back roads, and we finally arrived at Corozal!
Our hostess met us at the Copa Banana (home away from home) gate with our keys and instructions. This is truly going to be an adventure. A good nights’ sleep will put this long trip behind us and open our minds to what greets us in the near future.