We hired a van to take us to Newark and left less than an hour late on Tuesday morning leaving our mini-van with yet a new problem in the SUNY parking lot (yes, we have permission) and the Mustang convertible in Grandma's garage. My husband has his work cut out for him when he gets back. The van was the best idea we had had! The traffic was awful, but the driver knew his job well - and much to our surprise, even to the point of driving up on the grassy strip to pass a long line of cars stuck just before our exit at Newark. We all got a few minutes rest before negotiating our way onto our flight with 18 pieces of luggage (6 more than our allotment) - wish I had take a picture of the whole pile! As if that wasn't enough, Sterling's suitcase popped open as the baggage handler tossed it onto the conveyor belt, much to Sterling's consternation as you can imagine. Thankfully, we have traveled enough to know to have our roll of duct tape at the ready.... so within a minute or two, the suitcase was ready to travel. The airlines tagged several bags as HEAVY, but treated us well as we paid a modicum of excess baggage charges. WHEW!
We negotiated the security check with only mild angst on the part of some of our children..."throw out the food bag" ("doesn't matter that the web site said you could travel with one - the security guy says you can't")...off with the shoes, out with the computers, oops...forgot one, "what is this?" (holding up a plastic bag)...oops again....forgot the baggie of fluids and gels, back on again with the shoes, and my goodness, how did this all go back together again? Hey, Sterling, ....come back and get your bag, ....but we made it and in time despite the heavy traffic and a later than anticipated start.
Our flight to Miami was uneventful and we had recovered enough to handle the longest airport walk I have ever had between gates.... seemed like a full mile! We grabbed a quick dinner, made our last phone calls, and ordered some thank-you gifts for our dearest friends who kept us sane with brawn and brains through our departure. Our flight to Santiago left the gate uneventfully, only to return to the gate a minute or two later when they discovered that none of the toilets on the plane were working. Thankfully, they fixed the problem in less than an hour and we were off!
We arrived about an hour late after our 8 hour flight and then spent nearly 1.5 hours buying visas and going through immigration for us and customs for our baggage. We had to answer a few questions about the contents - a small printing press for artwork, a computer printer, some vitamins, the kid's speakers, and my dissertation papers, but they seemed content to know that we were just an odd lot and gave us no further hassle. We were greeted by three of our closest friends with two cars and a trailer. We headed for an apart-hotel in a nice section of the city with wonderful views of the newly snow-covered Andes mountains and a long-awaited hot shower!
