We arrived at the airport early on this Saturday morning around 3:45AM for a 6:15AM flight. But after one late arrival in 2022, I hope I never have to go through that again. This year we had 4 checked bags, as our group from the church only numbered 13, so we had more material for the schools and church we had to help pack. And apparently the 2022 event was an anomaly, as we have never had any issues since that time getting bags checked and through TSA. Interesting that on this first morning, as we were checking in, I hear "Does anyone speak any Spanish?" While the level of spanish has not improved much, the confidence has a little, which helps in situations like these. I was able to help the man realize that they did not take gift cards and that he needed a credit card to pay for his bag. The lady behind the counter then helped by saying if he had cash, he could pay me and I could pay for his bag, so that is the arrangement we worked out.
Inside TSA, we were the very first gate, so there we found the Rawls, the Baileys, and the Hamiltons. All we were missing were the Angells. Then I received a text that they were stuck in a bad accident on I65 coming from Huntsville. They were originally set to arrive at the airport at 3:15AM, but just after the dodge city exit, traffic was at a stand still. Then they moved all southbound traffic and diverted them back northbound (It must have been bad). So our flight was delayed until 6:30AM, but they did not arrive to the airport until 5:45AM. Our group waited and hoped for them to come through, but then when bags could not be checked, they sent their girls Kylen and Rinoa through TSA to us. Sonja later told me that only after they were inside TSA did they realize that the girls had no clothes, no money, nothing. So Sonja and Patrick then had to scramble to find another plane, and found one that arrived in San Pedro Sula (long way from Campamento) about 1 hour before we would arrive.
Our layover was in Dallas, so the boys were excited to get to visit another airport. Davis immediately lead the group up to the Skylink, where we road their train completely around the entire airport. But with a 4 hour layover, we had plenty of time to waste. It was in Dallas that we found out that the Angells flight had been delayed, and they would probably miss their connection in Houston. So at that point, we did not know what would happen, but we jumped on our flight to Honduras.
In Palmerola Airport in Honduras, there was not much issues. It is much nicer here than Tegucigalpa or San Pedro Sula. I did have one of my bags that was selected to be searched, and probably a bad sign when I had no idea what was in this bag. I could not really explain what all I had in the bag, then after opening it, and seeing just a bunch of shirts, they let me go. Haha...They actually said "Welcome to Honduras", but I have both bad hearing, and am expecting to hear Spanish, so I hear "What Town in Honduras". Only as I was walking away did I realize why my response of "Campamento" was so funny. Jonathan Bailey also got stopped, but he had a load of medicine we brought down, and was questioned alot because we did not know we needed a donation letter with medicine. Anyway, after they threw away some stuff that had expired, they let him through as well.
On the other side of immigration, we met 6 CRF interns that all came to pick us up, which was nice, but the bus was very packed for our 3.5 hour ride into Campamento. It was there that we found out that the Angells had made the flight in Houston, and that Bobby Moore had drove the 5 hours to San Pedro Sula to pick them up. We made it to the daycare. I was to sleep bunked under Sam, Davis right beside us. I am sure some cards started being played, and I am positive that the Angells arrived that night because Patrick was in my room in the morning, but as for anything else that happened, I was out. These Travel Days are very long, and just feel like one long half asleep day. Waking up at 2AM does not seem to put me into a good pattern. But our group of 13 were all here. I was facilitating this trip, and step 1 was done. Now for the rest of the week...
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