Day 1,715 - Adventures in Ecuador: Day Diez

3/30/24

So, here I am, somewhere in the air between Panama and Miami, waiting patiently for this flight to end. If I’m being honest, I’m ready to be home. It’s late or very early depending upon how you want to look at it and I’m coming to grips with an inconvenient reality of being on a plane: there’s just no good way to sleep.

Well, actually there is if you’re somewhat shorter than I am. As I look around at my fellow team members from my aisle seat, I notice that I’m definitely in the minority. Richard is comfortably reclined, snoozing away. Mason is resting his head on his tray table, using his hoodie for a pillow. Jordan is cozy and curled up, using Leslie’s lap as a bed. Both Kaylynn and Sharon are using their window seats as a comfy surface to nap on. Unfortunately for me, none of those positions are even remotely comfortable. I could lean my seat back but that’s the last thing I want to do to Andy who is sitting behind me, deep in a marathon of HGTV remodeling shows.

With no other alternative, I just pop my earbuds in and start the movie, ‘42’, in hopes that I’ll eventually doze off. Soon enough though, that’s no longer a concern as our plane finally touches down in Miami. With close to four hours to get through customs and to our next gate, rushing is no longer a concern. With Dan’s advice, we all actually preregistered with customs from the plane meaning that our wait time dropped to around 2 minutes. Seriously, check out Mobile Passport Control on your next international flight; it’ll definitely save you some time.

At customs, I was welcomed back to the United States by possibly the least enthusiastic customs agent of all time and headed to the bag carousel to await my luggage’s arrival with the rest of our team. Oddly enough, this is where we would spend the majority of our time in Miami as the carousel seemingly broke down, not once, not twice, but three times. I was able to spend the time sending a few Marco Polo videos to both Bethany and some friends, knowing that they wouldn’t see them until the morning.

Finally, our bags arrived and it was time to head to the American terminal to check-in for our flights. Now, if you’ve never been to Miami, here’s the part where I inform that there is no handy, dandy way to get around the airport. What it does have though is lots and lots of walking. Our best guess is that we covered at least a mile trying to reach the American desks which isn’t that bad if you’re not dragging a heavy suitcase with broken wheels (in my instance) behind you.

Once we reached the check-in desk, it was more than a little stress-inducing to discover that it was not yet open for the morning. All we could do was wait. Once it finally opened though, we were treated to more personality from some of the grumpiest airline employees ever. They even forced a member of our team to check a bag that she had successfully carried onto every flight of our trip. It was hard to be too unhappy though as we were getting ever closer to home.

After checking our bags and proceeded through TSA one final time, it was time for our team to officially break-up. Five of us, including me, would be flying home via Dallas while the rest would be traveling through Charlotte. Once I reached our gate, I started checking out my surroundings and realized there was a vacated gate right across from mine. With that, I abandoned the rest of my group and found a empty spot to lay down on the floor and take what may have been the most glorious 40-minute nap of all time.

Alas, my alarms (yes, two) went off long before I wanted them to but it was time to board my flight to Dallas. Rejoining my group, we boarded in our seats and took off for our next-to-last flight. While I kind of wanted to sleep more, I realized that it was probably a futile gesture. Instead, I perused the list of on-flight movies and decided that it was time for me to finally watch one of the most hyped movies of last summer, ‘Barbie’. Even though I felt some apprehension about doing so, I went for it. For the record, I don’t know if it was exhaustion or boredom, but I can confirm that it was not my cup of tea.

We finally reached our last stop in Dallas and as we disembarked the plane, I was a little stressed to discover that we had about 25 minutes to make it across two terminals. While Dallas does have a tram running continuously, I will say that it was a stressful journey. In fact, I reached our gate a few minutes before the rest of our team and checked in with three minutes to go before they were going to close the gate. The rest of our team made it as well and we were heading home to KC.

On our last flight, I found myself getting continuously more excited to get home while also trying in vain to get a little sleep. Somewhat unfortunately for me, it wasn’t happening. Therefore, I settled for spending time with Michael Scott and the rest of ‘The Office’.

Finally, our plane touched down in Kansas City and I absolutely could not wait to get off the plane. That feeling was probably amplified by the fact that Bethany and the kids had sent me a text that they were waiting for me at baggage claim. Eventually, I navigated off the plane and began to make my way to baggage claim. I descended down an escalator and through a set of security doors, turning left to head to carousel 3. A few steps later, Ellie and Ethan spotted me and took off for me as fast as they could. I knelt down on the floor and wrapped them both up in a giant hug as soon as they reached me.

While I wish there was a photo of that moment, I also acknowledge that sometimes it’s just as special to have something that lives in our memories. And with that, my ten days in Ecuador was over. I was back home with my family, and I had honestly never felt so missed and appreciated by my kids. That being said, I had absolutely no regrets over how I had spent my last ten days. Definitely worth the trip.

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