Return to USA

Wednesday, 11 Jan 2012 –This is our “going back to the U.S.” day.  About 12:15 AM we took our luggage to the hotel lobby in Santiago, Chile and arrived at the Santiago, Chile airport by taxi about 1:15 AM.  We stood in line for what seemed like forever to check in with Copa Airlines, along with other travelers who all seemed to be Spanish-speaking (we didn’t hear any English) and going to other South or Central American destinations.  “Copa” is affiliated with Continental Airlines and based out of Panama.  There was a service available at the airport for wrapping your entire suitcase in lime-colored plastic (like Saran Wrap) for 7,000 pesos (about $14), called security wrap.  (Imagine what American airport security would do to a suitcase with that!)   Since Copa allows 2 suitcases per person, there were big stacks of those plastic-wrapped suitcases, like giant leftover sausages, being loaded onto the conveyor belt.

On the first leg of our travel (from Santiago to Panama City, Panama), we managed to be assigned an aisle and middle seat.  However, a young man was supposed to have the window seat beside us, and his wife and baby were across the aisle one row forward.  We let him have the aisle seat, which turned out to be a good decision for us, since he needed to help his wife and hold the baby about half of the time. If we hadn’t traded, we might have been passing the baby back and forth between them for the entire flight!  They were going to Nicaragua for their baby’s baptism; some of their family was even coming there from Miami for the celebration.  That plane took off about 5:10 AM.  Drinks were served very soon, including free alcoholic ones (which seemed strange for that time of day), but we had orange juice and a little later, a small breakfast.  (We had enough alcohol in Santiago to last us for a few days!)

The plane landed 6 hours and 40 minutes later in Panama City about 9:45 AM.  Before landing, the Panama Canal was said to be visible from the left side of the plane, but we were on the wrong side to see it. 

While we were sitting at the gate in Panama City waiting for our American Airlines flight to Miami, tables were set up beside the gate.  Our luggage was inspected before boarding, though they didn’t have an X-ray machine.  En route to Miami, only drinks were served – no snacks. 

At the Miami airport, we had to go through passport checks, customs, and reloading of luggage.  Luckily, we didn’t have to go too far to the assigned gate, so that we had time to buy some food before leaving for Detroit at about 7:45 PM.  That last leg of our journey was mostly in the dark; we even had an empty seat beside us.  Jesse (with earphones in his ears) snoozed the entire way, through the tremendous amount of turbulence, the captain’s announcements to use seat belts, and a baby’s crying up near the front of the plane.  (We were in the third row from the back.)

By the time we reached our motel near the Detroit airport, we were almost sleepwalking, but felt lucky to function at all – a not very glorious end to a wonderful trip halfway around the world and back!

JESSE AND SALLY – SIGNING OUT FROM OUR MARVELOUS, RELAXING, AND ROMANTIC 30-DAY TRANSATLANTIC CRUISE, AND LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING EVERYONE IN 2012!