Saturday, December 28, 2013

Christmas in Cozumel 2013 Part I

When I made the “30 Before 30” list, I said that I wanted to plan a trip all on my own. Well, this summer I did exactly that. I worked this summer at “Summer School” which was nothing like summer school, it was an absolute blast. Plus, one of my BFFs worked with me, so it was simply FUN work that added some extra cash to our bank account. Since Coach works half a day 4 days a week all summer with football, plus he would work most evenings with baseball, me being gone from 8-3 was not that big of a deal. We had weekends, and still had the afternoons together. So, at the end of the summer, I was ready for us to book a trip somewhere warm for Christmas break. With us coaching 5 sports ( yeah, you read that right) I knew that come December, we would both need a break and a chance to slow down. Our school also gets out of school an entire week earlier than the rest of our family, so we really just thought it would work out perfectly to take a trip the week before Christmas.

I called a travel agency. I did some research, and doing everything myself just made me nervous. Now that I know that EVERYONE books their own trips, and we talked to some other people, I will just start booking on my own. However, for my first experience with booking an out of the country trip, I am happy I had some guidance aka…. She did everything for us. I called her, told her the days we wanted to go, and about how much we wanted to spend. She sent me several different locations and resorts to check out. Cozumel won. Our resort was called Secrets. It was absolutely amazing.

So, I booked the trip July 3rd, and did nothing but work hard and count down the days until December 15th. She sent our airline information, as well as everything we needed to check in at our resort. She even booked someone to pick us up from the airport once we arrived. So, everything was taken care of for us. Did this keep me from worrying? Absolutely not. I could somewhat tell that since Coach did NOTHING to plan this trip that he had some doubt. He was a little concerned that I may have made a mistake somewhere along the way. However, he never let me know. (That helped.)

We finished up school on December 13th. I started getting really excited because it was just starting to get cold here, and I was really ready for some sand and sun. The 14th Coach had a wrestling tournament all day. I spent the day packing, and cleaning. This was the best idea! I bleached everything, washed all the sheets and laundry, as well as mopped and cleaned the baseboards. When we came home after our trip everything was clean… ahhhh. That was pretty amazing! That afternoon, when Coach FINALLY got home we packed the car and drove to Atlanta. Coach’s aunt lives about 30 minutes from the airport, and with our flight being early Sunday morning, it just made sense to spend the night with her. Plus, I was able to see her crazy-amazing-beautifully decorated house for Christmas. It was a win-win. I did NOT sleep a single BIT Saturday night. I was just ready to check-in at Secrets in Cozumel, Mexico.


We got up at 6am, got dressed, and set out for the new International airport in Atlanta. We walked right in, checked in, received our boarding passes WITH SEAT ASSIGNMENTS, and checked our luggage. We went right through security, and arrived at our gate about 2 hours early. We loaded up on some $4 Naked Juice for breakfast (seriously, airport food is $$$) and then sat and waited for them to let us load the plane.
Could Coach seriously look any more like a coach? He even had a GA Football coach’s bag that he used as his carry-on. He was reading a coaching book, and may or may not have been caught hi-lighting a few quotes he liked. You just gotta love him!!

I let time pass by downloading about 5 books on my Nook, and worried. I was seriously ready for everything to go smoothly, and us be in Mexico. About an hour before our flight was due to board, I went to the restroom. When I got back and sat down Coach told me that they made an announcement that our flight was over booked, and they were looking for volunteers with flexible travel plans to change flights. He said, “I figured we didn't have flexible plans. So I didn't go up there.” Ahhhhhhhhh. Here comes the reasons for my worry.

I went to the gate desk and asked if there was anything else I needed. The sweet lady checked my boarding pass, and reassured me that we were already assigned our seats and were ready to go. I sat back down, and picked up my book.

Five minutes before our flight was going to board, they called Mr. and Mrs. Cain to the desk. They told us that they over sold the flight, and needed us to be rerouted. AHHHHHHHHH……. So, I started crying. Why? Who knows. Maybe no sleep. Maybe the fact that I had worried about this trip for about 5 months??
The airline lady took us to the counter and explained to us, and 6 others, that they were extremely sorry, this happens form time to time, they always over sell some flights, and that they would be compensating us for our troubles. Ummmmm… what?! Yeah, Delta made it up to us, took GREAT care of us, and instead of sending us to Cozumel by 2pm, they sent us to Dallas ANNNDDDD then to Cozumel. I always wanted to see Texas.

Looking back, Coach and I just laugh. I mean, seriously, could this have happened to anyone BUT us?? (Well, it happened to 6 others. Who we quickly became friends with and spent the rest of our day with.) I sent a text to my friend, and she couldn't believe it either. She really couldn't believe the $$$ that they gave us for their mistake. It was kinda silly that I cried. I just don’t travel enough to be ok with things working out differently than what I plan. I was trying to explain to Coach why I was so worried. I told him that when we go to away UGA games, he knows EXACTLY what to do. We can easily go with the flow because we know EXACTLY what to expect. This was NOTHING like that. (Is it bad that the only thing I have to talk about when traveling is traveling to football games?!? Yes, it is HORRIBLE Mr. CAIN!)

So, $35 on airport food later ($30 of that on ONE meal) and about 5 hours later than expected, we made it to Cozumel. When we pulled up to the resort, some other passengers said, “Oh this is SUPER NICE! I’m jealous!” It was VERY VERY nice. I’m ready to be back….

The next post will be about the trip and what all we DIDN’T do while on our dream vacation.

Love love,

C^2 

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