Traveling Home (Something like Gilligan's three-hour tour...)

Sunday evening we packed up our things and checked in for our flights back to Washington Reagan National Airport.  After a short night of sleep we loaded our things onto Rod's Astro van and headed to the airport.  Since Rod's license plate ends with a specific number it is not allowed to be on the road certain days of the month, and Monday after 5AM was one of those days.  We were dropped off and said our goodbyes and the van headed back so it could be left at Rod's home until the next day.

When we checked in to drop off our checked baggage we found out that our flight to Newark, NJ was unable to fly due to mechanical issues.  So the agent began looking for other options.  One option was that eight seats could be booked into Harrisburg International.  She booked Matt and Missy on that flight but when she went to book the rest of us the seats had already been snagged by other ticket agents. The Airline had automatically rebooked each of us back to Reagan via different flights, so we determined that the best option was to take the rebooked flights.  So some of the team flew direct to Newark, and the rest of us went to Houston.  There were four different flights to Houston that we were booked on, so Denny arrived at Reagan in the afternoon; Ken and Diane flew from Houston to Newark and then back to Reagan; Kathy and I flew from Houston directly to Reagan.  The layover in the Houston Airport was about 4-5 hours, so I was able to complete my Global Entry renewal when I arrived in Houston.  I had been provisionally  approved for it several weeks earlier, but because my membership had expired the day after my birthday, the airline would not recognize it, and I had to go through normal Security including half-undressing...  Jackie was last to leave Mexico City and she arrived late in Houston.  We texted back and forth nd I had spoken to our gate agent to see if there were any seats available on our flight to Reagan, so that she could get there one hour earlier than her rebooked flight would have gotten her there.   As it turned out Kathy and I were seated on the plane and Jackie walked in as the last person getting n the plane, so she got to the gate just in time.  So the three of us were the last to arrive at Reagan.  Ken and Diane had arrived there somewhat earlier, but Diane's checked luggage was on a different flight and she had to wait for it.  So they were waiting at Baggage Claim when we got there.  We gathered two of our three checked bags but did not find the final one.  One of the agents suggested looking at the Lost Baggage office of the airline.  Sure enough our third suitcase was there.  Apparently it had gone on an earlier flight and was already there when we arrived.  Once all of us got our luggage we went outside to wait for the shuttle to take us back to where the van was parked for the week.  We had attempted to get someone to shuttle us to the airport and then to return and pick us up a week later.  But with all the activities going on within our church, we decided to park the van at one of the offsite parking spots recommended by the Airport.  This was the Embassy Suites Hotel about 1.7 miles from the airport.  There was also no space in the Long-Term lot at Reagan, so we felt that the cost of renting a parking space at the hotel for the week was about as economical as a second round-trip run from Pennsylvania.  This  proved to be almost exactly true as the gas used to do the one round-trip to and from Reagan ended up almost exactly the same as the week-long rental.  The hotel we used was one that had no restrictions on vehicle height, which made the choice automatic for me.  Every other site had a 6'8" maximum height for vehicles and our church van is higher than 6'8".  The Embassy Suites Hotel also had some outdoor lot spaces, which were unavailable at other sites.  All in all it was a very good option and we pulled into the parking lot last Tuesday and unloaded our luggage and parked in the outside lot.  The shuttle van was already there so we were on our way to the airport in 10 minutes from the time we arrived.  When we came back yesterday we only had to wait about 5 minutes outside until the shuttle arrived and transported us back to the hotel where Denny was already waiting for us.  I had looked at reviews for doing this kind of airport parking and most of them were very good for this hotel.  I would recommend it to anyone needing to use Ronald Reagan National.

So, in all of that, with 8 of us going five different itineraries to gt back to either Pennsylvania or Reagan National, we all arrived at our homes about 4-5 hours later than our original expected arrival time.  Pretty amazing, isn't it?  Of course, Kathy and I had bought a brand new suitcase for this trip, and it had my tools in it.  Guess which suitcase got ransacked going through security inspection.  That's right, the new one.  Most suitcases have expansion zippers to expand the volume of them to accommodate more stuff.  TSA inspectors have broken all of these expansion zipper pulls on my old suitcase and they tried opening this one using the expansion zipper pull.  They did get it open but when it arrived at Reagan the entire bottom of the suitcase had not been zipped shut.  Fortunately they always slam them onto the conveyors face down, so the bottom being open was no problem and nothing seemed to be lost.  I had my tools in a zippered bag inside it and this was opened and it appeared they made absolutely no effort to close it.  Also I had a TSA approved padlock on the suitcase which was on the  correct zipper pull to open it (hint hint).  The padlock is nowhere to be found.  What is the point of locking a suitcase if it is going to receive this kind of treatment?  I once got asked by an agent why I did not have locks on my suitcases and I told him "your inspectors are going to either open the suitcase properly or they are going to break the zipper pulls to tear the locks off anyway."  I asked him what was the point   and he somewhat agreed.  So next time I am not locking again, because the last suitcase as I said had all of the zipper pulls completely broken or missing because they cannot figure out how to open them without damaging them.  Sorry for venting on this, but I have had to file several lost or damaged luggage claims in the past and, fortunately, the only thing I can figure is lost this time is my TSA lock.  I showed many friends over the years the video about a guy whose guitar was destroyed by luggage handlers.  Always got a kick out of that one.  

So, we all made it home safely after a great week of working together in Mexico.  We certainly had enough work to do to make a second week of it, but it wasn't meant to be this time.  Another trip, to clean up that list and do whatever is added, is a very good possibility.  I appreciated working with these men and women.  We all worked hard and it was very rewarding to have the lights all working on Sunday for church services.  I don't remember if I mentioned it before, but all of the women who came to the cooking and baking classes were NOT part of the Jesus Maria Church congregation, but were all of the surrounding community.  That ceremony on Saturday was amazing to see these people there who do not regularly attend this church or possibly any other.  And to understand that a number of them  accepted Christ as their Savior, made it ever more rewarding. Whether we were conducting the cooking and baking classes or working on the electrical infrastructure of the church building so that people can meet together to worship our God, it is all necessary.  And we all were glad to be a part of that.

God bless you for following along.  How about considering coming along with us on a future project?  You will be blessed immensely for it.  If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact us at I-TEC.  Visit our website and fill out a Volunteer Form.  There is no obligation, but when there is an opportunity to come alongside us on a project, we will notify you about it an if you are interested and available at that time you can join us to "Power Missions Worldwide".