Thursday, May 07, 2015

A Hop, Skip and Jump

Flying from Leon, Guanajuato, to Houston was a two hour flight. Truly a hop, skip and jump in comparison to my usual fourteen hour drive - nine hours to the border and an overnight stay and then five hours into Houston. Woo hoo. Of course the whole trip isn't two hours. The shuttle picked me up at 5:30AM, then waiting at the airport (thank heavens for a kindle) and then the flight, US Customs and then a shuttle to the final destination. About nine hours total. An odd experience happened at the Houston airport. I had asked for a wheelchair since it is a LONG LONG walk from getting off the plane through Customs to the shuttle. It's a darn big airport. I did that once before when I flew up for the gallbladder surgery. A piece of cake, to put it mildly. Not this time. No wheelchair waiting for me, but, finally they came, they took me around the corner into a hallway and sat me there with 22 other women from Latin America who needed assistance to go through Customs etc. Only two attendents to help 23 of us did not add up to me. I sat there for a while pondering the situation. Hmmm. None of the women spoke English, so I went up to the person in charge and said that with the current ratio it seemed to me like it would be several hours before the 23 women, myself included, would be helped. Her response, "They can wait!" I waved goodbye, said "Adios" and off I went slowly but surely working my way through the airport to the shuttle service. I was so irritated by the response as it related to the women, but, had no idea what I could do to help. I mentioned it to a Customs guy but he didn't seem to care either....... The rest of the journey was upbeat by the time I got in the shuttle with a man from Monroe, La. who was talking about going home to spend Mother's Day with his Mom and couldn't wait for the homecooking she would shower upon him. Okra, yellow squash, butter beans, purple hull peas and cornbread. By the time I got out of the shuttle from laughing and talking with him, I wanted Southern home cooked food so so bad. Settling for seafood was NOT settling. My friends Sue and Vandy picked me up on Clear Lake and we made a beeline for a great restaurant on the Seabrook Channel. We could eat, drink and watch the sailboats going out into Galveston Bay and coming back in. Brought back many years of memories. Seafood had been the goal. Seeing the water has been another. Spending time with friends and family has been the crown jewel. I'm writing this as I sit looking out at the canals in Omega Bay. The tide is going out and will be coming in later today. Weather has been amazingly perfect. Low humidity, cool temps, sometimes overcast but always, amazing sunsets. What's not to love? I was so shocked at the coolness of the weather that I think that was all I could comment about for about four hours. What a pleasant surprise. I've been whittling the "Houston list" down little by little. Yesterday I found an almost brand new Samsonite suitcase at Goodwill for $5USD to take all these purchases back to San Miguel! Such a deal. I've seen a Mafioso's home, laughed til my sides hurt, hugged my grandson Christopher and I'm ready to see what surprises the rest of the trip will bring. Stay tuned.

9 comments:

Babs said...

The blog was written with several paragraphs, somehow, it is now one big paragraph. Oh well..........the joys of the electronic world.

vandy said...

Babs tried to use my computer here in Galveston. I don't think it was up to her "high" standards. Of course when she was finished with it, it was f****d up. She had to un-f***k it before she turned it back over to me. Babs, I now have completely disassembled, cleaned, and re- assembled the keyboard...and it seems to work better. We'll see. Bring it on.

Babs said...

Thank you Vandy for sharing that story! I'll be back before you know it to continue my session on your computer.......ha.

Barbara Lane said...

The very same thing happened to me in Houston when I flew in from Queretaro! Though I had a flight to catch on to Seattle and knew I'd miss it if I waited for the attendants to deal with all the people in and needing wheelchairs. Like you, I just took off walking. So frustrating and their attitude so rude, but as you said no one seems to care. The company that provides wheelchair service has nothing to do with the airlines or anything else at the airport that I've found.

I've always flown from Houston to Queretaro and had Bajio Go Shuttle meet my flight to take me on into San Miguel. I'd be interested to know why you like flying into/out of Leon better. I'd appreciate knowing the difference. I've not experienced customs in Mexico City nor Leon, and find it all so easy in Queretaro.

Have a wonderful time with friends and family. THIS is what it's all about. And have a lovely Mother's Day!

Retired Teacher said...

Glad you're having a great time, and happy Mother's Day.
Gee, not too long ago I wrote about how much quicker customs in Houston seemed to be... guess that's not necessarily so.

Babs said...

Barbara, I've always flown in and out of Leon. It's so easy and usually less expensive then Q-town. I guess its just habit.

Q-town and Leon are equal distance to San Miguel.....

Babs said...

Bill and Barbara, going through customs now with the kiosks is a breeze. I don't think it even took 10 minutes. It was the snafu with the wheelchairs that caused the delay. Once I slogged my way to Customs, I was half way through the airport.

Thanks to both of you for the Mother's Day greetings........

Peter Kouwenhoven said...

It's nice to see you're getting set up for a wonderful mother's day. Bless you Babs! You're a gem!

vandy said...

Thanks Peter, very kind of you to say......