On May 26th, the 4 of us left our house at 3:30 am and arrived at the airport at approximately 4:15 am for our 7:00 am flight. No traffic that early in the morning made for a quick trip!
We parked in economy parking and waited for the tram to take us to O’Hare airport. While we waited,the baby dropped her pacifier. viagra with prescription I was able to put our (portable pacifier sterilizer) to use right away.
The tram arrived and we sleepily, but excitedly boarded and zoomed off to the international terminal. The only travelers in the international terminal this early in the morning seemed to be the ones that were getting on the same flight as us, to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. We were Apple Vacationers.
After checking 3 pieces of luggage weighing almost 30 pounds each, we were off to security. It was a smooth transition through security, again, not many travelers. I’ve already forgotten if we did anything related to traveling abroad at this point except for presenting our (yes, even the baby has one). We call Teagan’s Passport the “Gerber Baby of Passports”. She’ll be 4 years old and still have a baby head on her Passport.
The international terminal is small compared to the rest of the airport. Not much by way of getting a coffee and breakfast there, which kind of bummed me out. The others in our group finally arrived and we anxiously awaited the boarding of our flight to paradise.
Hailey and were amused by the airplanes coming and going outside of our terminal window. She settled on the terminal floor and colored for a bit. Teagan was happy to crawl around and munch on any little snacks that we would provide. In my head, I was nervously going over everything that we had packed and wondered if we had forgotten anything. I was trying to get things organized (snacks, activities, toys, etc.) readily available for the 4 plus hour flight.
It was finally time to board…families with small children first. viagra with prescription I’m a big fan of the boarding first thing and getting situated so as to not have to bump into anyone trying to get past you. We stowed our 3 carry-on bags and 1 diaper bag and got comfortable in our row; Hailey next to the window, of course.
Everyone else started boarding the plane and with sleepy eyes, Teagan watched them pass by. It was like she was counting sheep leaping over a fence, as she was out like a light in a matter of minutes after getting settled.
With everyone aboard and ready to depart, our flight ended up being delayed almost an hour. viagra with prescription We sat on the plane for that amount of time. Something about the passenger head count wasn’t matching the records causing the delay. Luckily, Teagan remained asleep for most of the hour but Hailey was getting pretty anxious to get this plane into the sky.
When we finally did get off the ground, Hailey’s eyes were glued to the airplane window. This was the first flight for both girls. It was equally as exciting for us to see their reactions. Hailey cheered on our plane, naming it “Fly-ee”. She has a very creative imagination. The flight was uneventful and the girls did good. They slept about 1 – 1-1/2 hours each. It wasn’t the most comfortable 4 plus hours but we knew where we were headed and that made it all ok.
Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, I changed the baby’s diaper in the airplane’s bathroom. It viagra with prescription possible, people. Actually, a confined space isn’t so bad to change a baby who wants to crawl all over the place when there’s enough room available. She stayed put on the conveniently-sized changing table that hung over the toilet. I used our , which made it quite simple to get the job done quickly and efficiently. After changing her and making it back to our seat, I realized it wasn’t our baby that smelled. It was a baby in the row across from us. Oh well. I conquered diaper changing from 30,000 plus feet in the air. viagra with prescription
Four hours and thirty-five minutes later, we landed at . We exited the plane and walked out into the warm, pouring-down rain. We walked down the stairs and across the landing strip to this “hut” of an airport. It was such a pretty airport and more unique than any I have ever been in. You could instantly tell we were on a tropical island. It was warm and muggy and we were being guided from every which way to get into “line”. I wasn’t sure yet what this line was for and once off of the airplane, I had walked pretty quickly through the rain, so the girls and I were a bit ahead of everyone else.
We inched our way along in this “line”, while in the distance, we could hear the beats from a live Dominican band. It was as if they were signaling that the party was only just beginning. As we neared the front of the line, there were several Dominican women stopping travelers to pose for pictures. “Holas” were thrown around and photos were snapped. This was the photograph line! The girls and I posed for a quick picture, even though I wasn’t sure if I would ever see the picture that was taken, and we were quickly whisked away toward the line for customs. Another line. At least I knew what this one was for.
Once through customs, we had to purchase our “tourist” card, only to immediately have to pass it on to someone in a uniform. It was all a bit loud (because of the band) and disorienting. Then, our group finally convened and we made our way to the baggage claim.
Now, I had been told that there are people (airport staff) milling about, ready to help you with your luggage. It’s no O’Hare airport. It’s about 200 feet to get from the baggage carousel to the vacation tour reps who tell you where to find your resort transportation. These guys would literally grab your bags and put them on their carts before you had a chance to say a thing. The airport staff are looking for cash tips for their willingness to assist. I heard one older woman asking personnel for directions to the tour reps (who were right around the corner) and before he pointed in the direction of the tour reps, he first asked her for “one peso”.
Needless to say, we took care of our own luggage. Not that we couldn’t have used their help, but there were enough of us in the group that we had it covered. We walked out into the parking lot and found our bus and just like that, we were on our way to Punta Cana’s Iberostar Bavaro resort.
It was about a 40 minute ride from the airport to the resort. Our Apple Vacations Dominican tour guide on the bus was cheery and funny. He gave us a brief run-down of what to expect upon arrival at the resort. There was Caribbean music playing on the radio. Hailey sat by her Uncle Tim and kept busy playing her Nintendo DS and Teagan was being entertained by her loving aunties before falling fast asleep in her Auntie Em’s arms.
I stared out the window and caught a glimpse of life in the Dominican Republic. It seemed poor, run-down, beat up. It made me thank my lucky stars that things for me are as good as they are.
(…to be continued)
