Saturday, Flying Day

The big day finally came, and Saturday morning, October 26, Sherrie and I got up about 3:45 AM so we could leave for the airport at 5:00. Who would have thought anyone could fill that many suitcases? We each had two large, heavy (49.9 pounds, roughly) bags, plus a carry-on and a personal item. There was no way all that was going to fit into one car, so Greg drove his little truck with me and all our luggage and DeeDee drove Sherrie in the other car. It was a bit of a challenge, but we managed to get all our stuff to the airport, into the terminal and checked all the way to Santo Domingo. 

Interestingly, we were both invited to go through the pre-checked security line. That meant we didn't have to wait in a long line and we didn't have to undress. Unfortunately, I had chosen this day to wear suspenders. Apparently they don't know how to deal with suspenders. So, I had to go back out and remove my shoes and my suspenders and try to keep my pants up while posing for the detecting machines. Sherrie was spared those indignities. Perhaps this was a little gift from the missionary travel people.

Our first flight took us to Los Angeles. You might wonder why we would go all the way to Los Angeles first when we were actually supposed to be heading East. You might guess that someone doesn't know their geography very well. You are entitled to your guess.

The next flight was a bit longer and went from LA to Miami. It was not so bad. It was my first time on a 777. I'm not sure why they parade the lowly coach travelers through the first class section, but I suspect it is just to rub it in. While I'm sure they were luxurious, the first class seats reminded me too much of office cubicles to be appealing. Sour grapes? Maybe.

We finally left Spanish Florida, AKA Miami, and flew to Santo Domingo, arriving after dark, around 9 PM, so we couldn't see the ocean, but it was still pretty exciting to see the city lights as we came in. Getting off the plane we felt the lovely warm tropical air. We skipped the tourist tax line because we have visas. Finding our suitcases was easier than I feared, they all just appeared fairly quickly on the luggage belt. Somehow we gathered everything together and managed to haul all that stuff through immigrations and customs without attracting any undue attention. On arrival at the terminal we met Sister Button whom we had been expecting to see, who then brought us along to where her husband was waiting with the van.

About an hour later we pulled up in front of our apartment building, right across the street from the temple, and we unloaded everything into the living room, unpacked a few things and, being rather tired, went to bed. It was a long day.