Delayed

After a great start to the day (we went to the flea market and I ate the three best tacos of my life), we went to the Puerto Vallarta airport at about 3 o'clock to head home. Upon arrival, we checked our luggage and made our way to the terminal. We were told that our flight was delayed due to bad weather in Houston. So we waited, and about an our later were told that our flight had been cancelled. We were told that it was due to mechanical problems, but I'm quite certain that it was really because there were only 40 passengers booked for our flight into Houston - not nearly enough for Continental Airlines to justify all that money for fuel. Anyway, there were no flights going out of Puerto Vallarta the rest of the evening with any seats available, so we were stuck.

To make matters worse, once we heard the announcement that our flight had been cancelled, Vanessa and I were one of the first passengers at the desk to book a flight for Friday. We were told we would be put on an American Airlines flight at 9am. Then after 45 minutes of waiting (at the front of the line) and being told that we could leave at 9am tomorrow, we were told that we would have to go back downstairs to collect our luggage and book our flights there.

Here comes the good part. Since we were the first in line upstairs that meant we were one of the last in line downstairs. When we finally approached the ticket counter we were told that we could fly out of Puerto Vallarta on Friday at 4:54pm and arrive in OKC after midnight. Needless to say, I was furious...I told the lady that she was crazy, seeing as how she was the one upstairs who told us (before everyone else) that we could have a 9am flight. After insisting that there was no other alternative, she came back and said, "Well, I checked again and now it seems we can get you out at 1:45pm Friday." Again, I told her she was crazy since that wouldn't put us in OKC until at least 10 o'clock Friday night. After much arguing and complaining (I had to switch my bracelet at least a dozen times - but I didn't care), she told us we could fly to Guatalajara (a city of 7 million people - still in Mexico) tonight and fly out at 6:20am Friday morning, putting us in OKC around noon. Given the circumstances, I was quite satisfied and proud of myself for defying the lying Continental employees who had earlier stated that there were no other alternatives.

After getting this all sorted out, we still had several hours of waiting to do. My mood was lightened drastically when I made a new friend - Sam Adams. No, seriously...his real name is SAMUEL ADAMS! We made fun out of the situation as you can see in the picture below. It gave us a good laugh - Vanessa didn't even get on to us when we decided to play around in the wheelchairs.

Me & my "beer" buddy...

Anyway, it's now it's after midnight (Friday morning) and we're in a hotel in Guatalajara (a very nice one I might add - free to us), 12 hours after arriving at the airport and 3 hours past the time we were supposed to be back in OKC. We have to wake up in about 3 1/2 hours and I can't sleep. It could be worse, though...we could still be in Puerto Vallarta.

Since we've had an extended day, I thought I'd give you a treat. A bonus "Random Mexican of the Day." This one's good...

RMOTD (bonus)

Hopefully, the next time you read a blog post from me it will be written from my couch or my office, speaking of how pleasantly event free our Friday trip home was - we'll see.

ctb