Our Travels

We’ll we made it! We hit some bumps along the way, but I guess none of that really matters now because we are here and it’s absolutely beautiful.

After breakfast this morning we said goodbye to Libby’s family and made it to our gate just as they were starting to board. The flight from Columbus to Charlotte was short and uneventful, just the way we like it!

We had a little bit of a layover in Charlotte so we stopped by some shops and got a bite to eat. We realized that we had left the memory card for our small camera at home (meaning I(jenn) specifically asked Mike if he brought the card to which he replied yes) and thought we would pick up a new one at the airport. What we didn’t realize is exactly how much they jack up the prices at the airport. We knew it would be more, but I guess not how much more! A memory card that would normally cost less than $20 was being sold for $70! Ridiculous!!!! Especially when you consider that we got our camera for about that same price! I guess we’ll just have to use Mike’s larger camera!

After looking for memory cards we stopped at Chili’s and had some appetizers and a couple of beers. John gets airsick so he has to wear a Dramamine patch and you’re not allowed to drink. Libby was our DW (designated walker). Mike and I on the other hand let the Corona flow like water It was finally starting to feel like our vacation had begun!

Our flight from Charlotte to Cancun was delayed almost 30 minutes because a family didn’t have the proper identification needed to travel abroad. I’m sure most of you have heard about all of the problems that they are having getting passports issued in a timely fashion. Just a couple weeks ago they changed the policy so that now all you have to show is proof that you have applied for a passport. Sounds great, right?!?! Well apparently they also require that you show your birth certificate. Again, that seems like a simple request. Well, when you apply for your passport you have to give them you birth certificate!!! So this poor family had all of the paperwork stating that they had applied for a passport, but no birth certificates. They were unable to board and all of their luggage had to be removed. Once this was taken care of we were off!!! The plane was pretty big. We were actually happy that we weren’t able to upgrade. Besides a little extra legroom (and the free drinks) there wasn’t that much difference between first and coach. We had a couple of drinks during our flight. It was our first time ever drinking while flying and I must say that it does make it a lot better! We also watched LOST on our iPod…so the flight went by quickly!

In under 2 hours we will be in the air on our way to Mexico! I (Mike) got a nice restful nights sleep…despite some noisy inconsiderate person packing loudly:)

We got to the airport at around 8am. We got all of our luggage checked with relatively few problems, except that they have our names Michaelmr Cole and Jennifermrs Cole. Hopefully this won’t be a problem when going through security.

We decided that 8am was too early to drink….at least today. Starting tomorrow it will be just fine though!

Since we had some time to kill we’ve decided to have a sit down breakfast at Max and Erma’s. We met up with John, Libby, the kids and Libby’s mom, sister, and new nephew Avery. It was nice to be able to sit and relax before catching our flight!

If everything goes as planned, we will be on a plane in less than 12 hours!

I think we’ve finally got everything packed and ready to go! I (Jenn) think that I’ve pretty much packed up the whole house. I always intend to pack light, but then I keep adding more and more stuff and before I know it I have 3 huge bags that weigh 50 pounds each! Oh well – it’s not like we were intending to rough it on this trip!

I called US Airways today to see how much it would be to upgrade to first class. I had read on their website that you can upgrade to first class for as little as $50. Sounded like a good deal considering drinks are $5 a piece! Well needless to say the fee was more than $50, so it looks like we’ll be slumming it in coach class 😉

Well I still have some last minute stuff to do and I have to be up in 7 hours so I should probably stop writing.
Mike has been asleep for over an hour now. Must be nice 😀

It’s Wednesday June 13th. 60 hours away from our first trip to Mexico..and any real ‘ancient’ ruins. We are sooo excited. We’ve already began the routine of pepto just in case….We’ve already heard horror stories about travelers diarrhea!

So far we’ve received our Hepatitis A and Tetnus shots. I (Mike) already received my hepatitis B shots anticipating a lot of native action 🙂 For the record I did up my life insurance.

We will be staying at the beautiful Dreams Tulum all-inclusive resort. I know…really roughing it. Here’s a pic:

Like we said…really roughing it. Our trip was planned to celebrate Libby Hawk’s graduation from nursing school! Congrats to Libby!