2005 Dominican Republic Trip: Sunday, August 21

Out of bed early enough to be at the airport by 7 a.m. Fortunately, the hotel wasn’t far! It took a while to check all of us in, but we had plenty of time. While we were waiting to board, several of us were able to get something for breakfast from a nearby shop. I had a cheese omelet, which I ate on the plane. After eating, I dosed off and on until we landed in Miami.

We passed through the immigration point without incident – there are separate lanes for US citizens and for visitors from other countries. Then we went on to claim our luggage to take it through customs. When the luggage carrier stopped moving, we were still missing 10 suitcases. I had my duffel with my dirty laundry – but not the suitcase with the souvenirs. We asked, and someone finally found our luggage. Seems the person driving the truck reached the end of her shift before delivering the luggage to the terminal, and couldn’t find anyone else to take over. So, our luggage had been sitting on the truck between the tarmac and the terminal. The airlines found someone to take over, and our luggage was delivered. Since we had to wait so long, Customs just waved us through without checking the bags.

We had time to get something for lunch. While we were waiting to board, Noranne called her sister in Tennessee, and found out that Stoughton, WI had been hit by a tornado while we were gone, and the damage had been so extensive that it made the national news.

Then, the airline announced that flights from Chicago were delayed, so our plane was delayed. Rick called Casey to let her know, and I asked him to ask Casey to call Fred for me. Rick asked me for Vicki’s phone number, because Casey told him that Fred was with a team Vicki had organized to help clean up from the Stoughton tornado. I didn’t have Vicki’s cell phone number, but I had Fred’s cell phone number, and Casey called him to let him know of the delayed flight.

We boarded about 30-45 minutes after the originally scheduled time, and I dosed off before the plane started taxiing to the runway. I woke when the person next to me flagged the stewardess, but fell asleep again shortly after that. I dosed off and on from Miami to Chicago.

Our flight from Chicago to Madison had also been delayed, so we were able to make our flight there, as well. We arrived in Madison only about 30 minutes late, when we expected to be an hour late. Tom and Kristie K, and Wayne met us there, and Carol M. brought homemade trail mix. She said she had planned to bring chocolate chip cookies, but thought we might need the protein more. Casey was there a few minutes later, and let me use her phone to call Fred and let him know we were there.

It was a great trip – but it sure is good to be back home!