HELLO, MEXICO!!!

The previous trips I have made to Mexico or anywhere in the Caribbean have always been during January or February so going in May/June was going to be a new experience. The plan was for Kimmi, Lola and I to have a 'girls week out' and it was going to be extra fun since Kimmi had never before traveled outside the USA. Our flight was scheduled to leave on May 27 at 8:45am so I got Lola out of bed at 4am, we drove to get Kimmi at 4:45 and hopped on the airport-bound Marta train at 5:15. We were flying Continental (part of a package)to Houston, then changing planes to continue on to Cancun. All was fine - - we got boarding passes and made our way over to the departure gate. I did get a tube of toothpaste confiscated by the airport security people because they told me it was considered liquid...HUH? I guess I need to read those rules a bit more thoroughly. Then an announcement was made that volunteers were needed to give up their seats on the plane to take a later flight due to overbooking. We decided we were not going to volunteer, but a few minutes later they called our names and offered us a direct flight to Cancun on Delta, which would put us in Mexico at an earlier time than our original flight. We decided that was a good deal, and the attendant for Continental radioed the baggage handlers on the plane while we were standing there and asked them to pull our luggage and transfer it to the Delta flight, assuring us all the while that our luggage would be on the Delta flight with us. In addition to getting us to Cancun faster, they gave us each travel vouchers for a future flight on Continental worth up to $300.00. Wirh vouchers and new tickets in hand, we made our way to the Internationsl Terminal for the Delta flight.

The flight - - all ok and rather fun at the end because the plane made a maneuver much like the roller coaster at Six Flags. Both Lola and I thought it was hilarious (since we were laughing so much I didn't think to look over at Kim to see if her reaction was fun or fear) and we wanted to tell the pilot we enjoyed our flight on 'Six Flags Airlines'.

We hopped off the plane and the first breath of air in Mexico was AMAZING!!! I remember the scent of the air like that when I lived in Florida - - it's a green, earthy, humid scent that immediately conjures up mental images of the jungle and rain forests. I so loved that smell when I used to travel out of Florida and then return back to the Tampa airport. Kimmi feels the same way since she was born in Florida and lived there for a number of years before moving on to various other parts of the United States. Lola's reaction - "YUCK, Mom! It stinks here!" I told her to always remember that smell - -that's the beauty of God's earth in the tropics...

The plan was to find our stuff in baggage claim, hop the shuttle bus and go to the resort to SWIM!!! However, the angel of lost luggage was with us all that day (funny, that sort of thing hasn't happened since December 2007 on our way home from Russia!) and after hanging out at the airport for two hours checking three incoming Delta flights from Atlanta and the Continental flight from Houston (just in case), we were forced to admit our luggage had been sent out on a whirlwind tour to places other than Mexico. We filed a lost luggage claim for each bag, then hopped the shuttle to our resort, the Sunset Princess in Playa del Carmen. We got checked in, found our room and decided to explore the property since the swimsuits were taking a world tour somewhere...

When we went back to the main lobby area to check out the shops and grab a bite to eat at the Grill, Lola asked if we could go up to the lobby to see if our luggage was there. We did, and it had just arrived by van from the airport (on what flight from where is still a mystery), so after much excited hopping around from Lola we decided to take a swim. Yes, I was excitedly hopping around too and couldn't wait to get in the pool!!