On the Friday of our departure, I drove to Valerie's, parked my car, and then we drove together to DC. We found a cheap place to park near the airport, and arrived right as the shuttle to the airport was departing. Not good. We could see it driving away, despite the fact that the driver knew we needed it! When he came back, he insisted in his strong West African accent that the shuttle had to leave right on time. Valerie teased me about my increasing anxiety as each minute passed. Half an hour later, we hopped into the shuttle, dropped my bag off at the baggage drop, and headed through security. A few funny conversations later, we were at our gate! We have some interesting memories from the same terminal from our last trip together (to Arizona), and we were in high spirits by the time we reached our gate.
Despite the full waiting area, I wanted to get a picture of me in my happy place...passport in hand, and an airplane waiting to be boarded. I intended for it to be a somewhat discrete snapping of the cell phone camera, but that was not to be. Valerie and I were both cracking up with laughter, and the end result was that we had the attention of the entire lounge, most of whom probably assumed that I excited because I was getting on an airplane for the very first time. Oh, how little do they know...
Before too much longer, we were able to board our first flight, which would take us to Houston. We continued to bring smiles (and occasional smirks) to the people around us, particularly the fellow in front of us, who at one point discretely paused his music on his phone but left his earbuds in his ears so he could eavesdrop shamelessly on our banter.
Houston airport closes overnight, and our flight was one of the last ones to arrive. We could stay in the airport, and I had very excitedly told Valerie that I had two passes to the United Club. Valerie, utilizing her super-sleuthing skills, found out soon after we booked our tickets that the United Club was not open overnight but opened at 5 a.m. We arrived in Houston at about 12:30 a.m., and quickly located a fairly empty gate with access to a wall outlet for the all important charging of electronic devices. The next four hours are a blur of nodding off in the most uncomfortable positions as I tried to wrap myself around the metal arms of the seat, waking because of obnoxious country music trumpeting through the loudspeakers at 2 a.m., wrapping my scarf around me to try to find an extra degree of warmth, and then finally, joyfully, realizing it was 4:45 a.m. We gathered our belongings and went to the United Club. After submitting our passes, it was like the world instantly brightened! We took the escalator up to the second floor and saw a delightful buffet with warm oatmeal, plenty of hot beverages, and soft chairs.
Warm and happy, we enjoyed our breakfast before boarding Plane #2, which took us to Belize City. Upon disembarking, we both sighed in relief at the sticky wave of heat that greeted us. We walked into the airport, and proceeded to shuffle through the queue for immigration. Then, it was a quick stop at baggage claim before walking to customs, and then following the signs to our next domestic flight to Dangriga.
We found our tiny little airline and dutifully handed over our printed confirmation of tickets (again, Valerie's good planning, not mine!) and our passports, and in turn received handwritten tickets. After a short wait in a somewhat chaotic lounge, where we could purchase plantain chips, Cheetos, and water, we were escorted onto the tarmac to board our tiny little plane to Dangriga. I love tiny little planes. The pilot helped us settle in and then said, "We just have to make a quick stop at the other Belize City airport to pick up another passenger if that's alright?" I wasn't sure if he actually needed permission, but I smiled and said that was fine! A quick hop and a jump, and we were at the next airport. Then, up and away we went and Valerie and I forgot to speak as we just looked out at the amazing blue beneath us.
I could look at this water for days and not tire of the view.
Entirely too soon, we were flying over a little bit of land and then we arrived at Dangriga.
We disembarked and Valerie and I both paused at the tiny little metal cart, where our suitcases and one other passenger's suitcases were being unloaded from the plane. Unsure if we were to simply collect our bags there, we started to ask the man, who looked a little offended and told us, "No! You get your bags from baggage claim!" The pilot rushed over to us, clarifying, "This is Dangriga! Are you getting off at Dangriga?" After assuring him that yes, we were where we were supposed to be, he walked us over to "Baggage Claim"....which was a metal sign a total of about 25 feet from the plane. There we could collect our bags from the little metal cart. And then our pilot waved a tall, slender man over and said, "Stephen, these are your guests for Beaches and Dreams!"
Stephen gave us a wide grin, shook our hands, and then collected our bags from us to put in the vehicle. He warned us that we would have jungle air conditioning...windows down! And so began our vacation, as we drove over a slightly bumpy paved road and headed a little further south to Hopkins, Belize.
