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
