Saturday (Back to Reality)

Everything was well-choreographed Saturday morning. We all woke up, had a quick breakfast, finished packing our clothes, took the trash out, and had everything ready to go right as the two taxis arrived to take us away from paradise. We loaded everything into the cars and bid a fond farewell to the Casa de los Ninos. We drove off on our last tour of Isla Mujeres and arrived at the ferry terminal with plenty of time to make the next sailing. As we loaded the boat, you could tell that it was a mass-exodus of tourists heading back to their real lives. Kristen and I say up on the outside roof deck to get one last view of the Isla as we headed back to the mainland.

Once at the ferry terminal in Puerto Jarez, we met up with our shuttle drive and were whisked away to the airport. As we passed all the Cancun mega-resorts, we were so thankful that we had spent the week out on Isla Mujeres rather on the mainland.

The airport was a complete zoo when we arrived. Brian and Kristen headed to the American check-in and the rest of us went to Continental. We got our boarding passes, but the scene was too chaotic to even ask for exit rows or aisle seats. We were just glad to have a ticket! After the Christmas Day bombing attempt, we were expecting very stringent security. The line was long, but it moved fairly quickly and we were surprised that we didn't even need to take off our shoes for the scanner. That says something about how we have gotten used to the stringent security when we are asked NOT to take off our shoes. The security agent mentioned that this was the 2nd busiest day at the airport (the busiest was tomorrow). Once through security and a maze of duty-free shops, we found out our flight was delayed about 30 minutes. We did some last-minute shopping, grabbed some lunch, and were ready to board. This was where the extra security occurred. As we boarded the 737-800, every passenger had their carry-ons checked (every pocked of every bag) in addition to a full-body pat-down. Since they only had two screeners, the boarding process for the 173 of us took almost an hour. By the time we took off, we were about an hour late. Luckily, we had a scheduled 3-hour layover in Houston so we weren't concerned. When we left, Brian and Kristen's flight was supposed to be an hour late. As we flew out, we got some great view of Isla Mujeres and had our last chance to say goodbye.

Landing in Houston, we followed the maze of hallways and corridors to the US Customs area. The line was deceptively long because it involved so many switch-backs, but it kept moving at a pretty good pace. We had to declare that we were carrying food with us (mostly Christina's food that we had brought from the US). The agent asked why we would bring food on vacation and Christina explained her food allergies. To that, the agent responded "That's a good reason, welcome home." After customs, we picked up our bags and dropped them off at the re-check spot. Thinking we were through the gauntlet, I wasn't concerned about my half-full water bottle. Unfortunately, as we went back upstairs to the main terminal, we discovered there was another security checkpoint to endure and I had to give up my water bottle (which cost about $6 in the rip-off Cancun airport). All told, it took us about 45 minutes from the time we got off the plane to the time we were in the main terminal. Several people on the flight from Cancun were faced with 30-minute layovers, which I'm sure they didn't make. We found our gate to Portland, grabbed some dinner, and settled in for the last leg of our journey.

The 757-200 was the oldest plane of our trip, manufactured in approximately 1995. The flight was smooth but long, but we played card games and watched the movie to pass the time. We were greeted in Portland by 40-degree temperatures but luckily no rain. There was a bit of panic when the car keys could not be located, but they were eventually found and we boarded the shuttle back to the car. We found the car, packed up our baggage, and made it back to Evelyn's around 10:00 (Midnight in Cancun).

As I look back at the trip, I can certainly say that I had a great time. Isla Mujeres was a wonderful place and we had a great time spending the week with everyone else. Would I go back? My answer is Yes, but there are many other places I'd like to go first. Christina and I are planning to finally see some of Europe with a trip to Italy in the fall. Then we'll have to start thinking about our next family vacation. Costa Rica? Hawaii? Only time will tell...