The phone rings at 5 AM. I look at the clock and notice that the time has changed even though Brian said he couldn't figure it out the night before. We find out later that the clocks automatically change.......kind of creepy especially since the clock didn't look very high-tech. The shuttle to the airport leaves every 30 minutes and we have decided to catch the 6:30 AM shuttle. Continental breakfast starts at 7 AM, we have decided to skip it. We have been told to check-in at least 2 hours in advance, our flight leaves at 10:15 AM. Daphne and Nathan are going to be there at 7 AM. I am still very anxious about leaving. I am more nervous about Brady's passport. It took a bit of work to get Brady a passport and I am still nervous that he will not be allowed on the plane. A little bit of advice. Anyone with split families who are looking at taking children out of the country, start planning in advance, years if you can. The amount of sleep lost over getting Brady's passport could of been avoided had I started planning much earlier. I started the process in July, we received his passport in the middle of October and that included going to a passport office in Vancouver. Also, don't look up travelling with children with one parent in the few days before scheduled to leave. There are lots of horrible stories, some which I feared would happen to us. Obviously our travels have a happy beginning and ending or else I wouldn't be writing this blog. We get to the airport and take the escalator upstairs to international departures. It seems like we are really early (we are) so I decide to get myself some coffee. After some waiting around we realize that the counters are open and we make our way down to the WestJet line. Daphne and Nathan have already checked-in. They forgot to set their clocks back so they were there super early. So we enter the line up. My heart is beating a little bit faster than normal. Brian goes first, then Jorja. Brady is up next. No questions, that was easy. Now I am getting excited knowing that my whole family is checked-in. Our luggage also makes weight which was another minor concern of mine. We see my parents and wait for them to check-in. My dad tells us that the Continental Breakfast was great.....I am starving at this point. I am eager to see if my mother's suitcase makes weight. It easily does. There are two other wedding parties checking in. One wedding party is off to Cancun and one off to the Mayan Riviera I think. One girl is very concerned about transporting her wedding dress. Daphne proceeds to tell her about her wedding dress disaster, yikes! We also learn at this time that one of Daphne's friends who is also doing her hair is not expected to make it as her passport expired without her realizing it. If you've seen our pictures on Facebook then you will have realized that she did make it.......a little bit late but miraculously she was able to get a passport and on a plane within 15 minutes! I'm convinced it was her good looks and charm that helped her. With our family all checked in we proceed through security and walk through the duty-free. Wow! Everything is so cheap! We now have only 2 hours until boarding the plane. Brian gets us some muffins (we thought that there would be a meal served on the plane) and something to drink. Brady and my dad wonder off to Subway to have something to eat. One by one everyone starts to show up. The waiting area at the gates are really great! Jorja had a great time playing and it made time go by so much faster. They announce that families with children and pets are to board first. Pets?!? Yes there were two small mini-pinschers on the plane and later we would learn 3 large dogs down below. We find our seats which are thankfully seated together and get settled in, Brady is one row behind us and on the other side. I am happy that he has a window seat. Nathan's brother somehow arranged through a friend who works for WestJet to group our seats together, nice. I pop some gravel and sit back. Everyone has boarded the plane and we are off! We soon discover that there is no longer any free meals on the flight, only bits n' bites and something to drink. My stomach feels like it is going to eat itself so Brian buys us some popcorn snacks. The plane ride is pretty enjoyable and I sit and try to sleep the whole time. We land in Los Cabos and proceed through customs and then to gather our luggage. The luggage conveyor is not working and it takes about 30 minutes for all of us to get our luggage. We finally get our luggage which is easily identified by the green polka dotted ribbons I tied to them. We proceed through security and through the crowd of people offering rides. Daphne and Nathan have graciously arranged transportation for all of us on a bus! I can feel the heat already and all I want is to get on that air-conditioned bus. The average temperature was around 30° C while we were in Cabo but with the humidity it felt closer to 35°C. There is a bar outside the airport and people are lined up getting drinks! I am just eager to get to our hotel and unpack and relax! We leave the airport and enter a very poor looking neighborhood. There is graffiti everywhere and I'm pretty sure I saw a hooker......I sure hope it gets nicer as we get closer to the resort. We ask to put some music on and it was like they knew I would be on this bus. 80's tunes and I am in heaven. We arrive at the
Melia Cabo Real Resort. Daphne's friends who arrived from Calgary are already there to greet everyone. We check in and proceed to our room....on the 5th floor! The walk from the lobby isn't too bad but from outside there are 60 stairs! By the last day my thighs were really sore! Our room is nice and pretty basic. Two beds, tiled floors, a fridge stocked with pop and water, and a nice balconey overlooking gardens. Unfortunately the view from our room is of the hotel next door. Oh well, I don't plan on spending too much time in my room anyways. We quickly unpack a few things and set off to look around the resort. It is getting late in the afternoon and Jorja is a little bit disappointed that she can't go swimming until tomorrow. We meet up with some of Daphne's friends by the pool. One of them comments that she thought she saw a man that looked exactly like my dad. It's my uncle! He and my aunt arrived 1 day earlier. We proceed to look for them around the resort, Brian has made his way to the bar at this point. All you can drink? This could get ugly. Hopefully Longshanks has stayed back in Canada. We meet up with my parents and my aunt and uncle and make our way to the buffet. It is Oriental night and we immediately start filling up our plates. Brady is loving this all you can eat buffet. I think he went back for thirds! After dinner Brian and I try out a few different drinks. Daphne's friends are trying to pass off their gross cocktails......no thank-you! I am having troubles trying to think of what I would like. There are no menus and for some reason I can't think of a single drink combination I would like. I decide on a mai tai. Pretty tasty. We meet up with Daphne and her friends at this beautiful fire pit which we all nicknamed "Gordon Road Pit". It seemed fitting, fire and good friends. Jorja is tired so we head up to our room to sleep. We have decided that Jorja and I will share a bed and lucky for Brian he gets his own bed.
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