I hadn't been diving since August of 2004. That trip went well, the diving and the time spent on the Aqua Cat durig the three trips from 2002 - 2004 were quite enjoyable, but the physical drain on my system was cumulative and significant. Although entry to the water and exits were accomplished mechanicaly using a climbing harness and the davit, moving around the boat meant walking while hanging on to a railing or wall. The flight of stairs between each deck was exhausting.
On the Davit... and In the Main Salon
I made two of the four daily dives and napped in the afternoon. Despite all the help offered by crew and fellow passengers, it was obvious by the end of the week a live-aboard dive trip was dangerously taxing and I was looking at the end of my diving career. The risk of my own personal injury and the increased risk to the people around me had become too significant to ignore. Heidi made it clear that was our last trip.
So five years later, with my condition much worse, the call of the deep once again siezes us. It seems Heidi doesn't like working without a real vacation year after year. She said she'd go diving with me if I wanted to arrange everything. Yeah, right... like I'd say no?
Much as we love the convenience and ease of a live-aboard, we knew that was beyond my strength and endurance. I started looking for land based diving opportunities, first asking our friends at Blackbeard's for suggestions. When nothing suitable came from that I sent inquiries to various places in the Bahamas, Virgin islands and Grand Cayman.
A couple replies were amusing in a sorry sort of way. A Bahama based operation that claims to accommodate handicapped divers initially responded favorably and then subsequently indicated they actually weren't able to handle a significantly mobility impaired diver. A place in the U.S. Virgin Islands also responded with encouragement and suggested a couple places to stay - one of which I found to have three flights of stairs to the entrance. Needless to say, I was wary of trusting either operation with my health and well being.
I had a few operations that replied favorably and on follow-up as we shared more detailed information I decided to go with Mark Sahagian of Absolute Divers in Grand Cayman. His questions concerning my condition and limitations indicated he understood and was knowledgeable enough to help make things work safely. He didn't just assume he could handle things, or assume he couldn't. We discussed the issues my condition present and decided it could be worked out.
John and Joy - La Mesa
Grand Cayman does not purport to be handicapped accessible. Indeed, on a lot of the material I found on the web they explicitly say the island has not been made accessible for the handicapped. So I needed to make plans accordingly. Mark suggested the Sunshine Suites off Seven Mile Beach for accomodations.
When I contacted them, Nadia Hardie told me they had rooms accessible for mobility impaired guests, but there were some concerns. She wasn't sure if the hand rails had been replaced in the shower after repairs following hurricane Ivan devestated the island; she said they would be sure to have that done before my arrival. And the Sunshine Grill has a four inch step at the entrance. I indicated we could manage that.
The airlines... and I'm traveling with a 250 pound powered wheelchair, respiratory assist equipment for sleeping, a three foot folding aluminum ramp, dive gear including a SeaDoo underwater scooter, a laptop computer, and our clothing and personal items. American Airlines said I would be welcome - they would be happy to accommodate my needs.
My son, John, and his lady, Joy, agreed to accompany us. We had checked and John was able to pull me out of the swimming pool by the shoulder straps of my Petzl climbing harness quite easily. That was the last barrier to my going. I secured tickets for the four of us, at a reasonable fare after again confirmed that they could indeed accommodate all the extra baggage and the big, heavy wheelchair.
Subsequently, on my third check to confirm the airlines could manage the special neesds I got a call from a rep who specializes in accessibility for American Airlines who has actually traveled with a sister in a wheelchair. We talked about details of the weight and size of the added baggage and the capacities of the specific aircraft we would be using. I was finally confident everybody was on the same page and we could really make this work.
There is a limosine service on the island with a handicapped accessible van, but that seemed like an expensive and inconvenient solution for our needs. I contacted Andy's Rentals and we arranged for them to remove the rear seat from an eight passenger Astro van to accommodate the power chair. The plan was to lift the chair into the van; not ideal, but it seemed like it would work.
John and Jim Carney on Tarpon Alley
The four of us settled in to wait the slow, but oh so fast, approach of our adventure. In May Heidi's mother, Ruth, decided she couldn't let us go without her. She has made so many dive trips, both with us and on her own, that the temptation was just too much to resist. Besides, 82 isn't too old to be scuba diving, is it? Tickets were purchased and accommodations arranged.
Then in June John Carney said he would be joining the group along with his wife, Sue, and his youngest son, Jim. More airline tickets and accommodations were arranged along with another rental car. This was a good thing. John had joined Heidi, Ruth and I on a number of trips to the Florida Keys back in the early 80's as well as our first Blackbeard's trip. John and Sue made a number of Blackbeard's trips with us and one of the Aqua Cat trips. We had a good group.
Joy and Jim were not certified divers. Arrangements were made for their training late in June followed by open water check-out dives at a local quarry in mid-July. We started getting dive gear serviced and ready, purchased a few odds and ends, and then started packing. Heidi worked the night before we flew out, getting home at about 1:00 a.m.
Saturday morning, August 1st at 5:00 a.m.; it's just too early to be up and moving. Got cleaned up and woke Heidi and Heather, our chauffeur to the airport. I was just a bit too slow and we were running about 30 minutes later than I planned to pick up Ruth. She was sitting in her front yard with her luggage waiting for all that time. Arrived at the airport about 6:30, shortly after John and Joy. John helped with the luggage and we queued up.
The Carney's arrived shortly thereafter and we worked through the line and checked in, then headed off to breakfast at Max and Erma's. Carney picked up the check and the waitress called him 'Big Daddy'. The TSA guys did a thorough, 10 minute search of me and the chair putting us tight on time. I needed that extra 30 minutes, but we got it done.
It took more effort than I expected to get the chair prepped for the flight, but we did get that done, too. We took the pneumatic seat cushion and the headrest onto the aircraft as carry-on. We removed the right arm rest with the joystick controller and Glad Wrapped it to the seat back to protect it. That is the most vulnerable item on the chair in this kind of transport.
We had to debark down a stair to a waiting bus in Miami; they didn't pull up to a jetway with the 44 passenger commuter jet. I managed without an aisle chair, but just. I figured a 757 to the Caymans would be a jetway debarkation. Turns out there are no jetways in Georgetown, just a much longer stair... I am going to need the aisle chair on the way back (up).
Heidi, Ruth and John at Eagle Ray Pass
Andy's Rental is right across from the terminal. John P. and I went over with Carney and Sue. We got the van and they got a Carolla. John ran to get Heidi so she'd have a driver's license, too. And they're both gonna be driving on the left side of the road.
We got checked in at Sunshine Suites after a few wrong turns - I was navigating. Had a really good lunch at Sunshine Grill. Great burgers, but the tacos (fish or chicken) and my Thai chicken wrap were just as wonderful. Fries come with battered mushrooms, chili peppers and onions mixed in - wonderful. Sue, Heidi and I went to 6:00 Mass at St. Ignatius in Georgetown while Carney, John, Jim and Joy went shopping. Cold cuts, snacks and a stop at the liqour store (Big Daddy's! Carney, you sly dog.). We all gathered in John and Joy and Fireball's room and drank beer or Pina Colodas or Cuervo or water and had snacks. Carney helped me kill the pain of travel by hammering down a few hefty shots of Cuervo with me.
Carney called Absolute Divers and got the meeting arrangements for the morning. After sufficient fluid replenishment John was planning on a trip to the swimming pool. Joy wanted the beach so I suggested she and Sue go. Ended up that everybody but me went to watch the sunset and play in the water at the beach across the road. They had a very enjoyable evening and an awesome sunset.
On Sunday we met for breakfast at the Sunshine Grill - free continental breakfast with the room and it makes a quite respectable start to the day at 8:00 a.m.. Juices, good coffee, yogurt, fruits, cereal, muffins, bagels and such were offered along with omelets available for $4.95, cooked to order on the spot.
Decided to take the portable chair to the first dive as we didn't know what we were getting into. Met Mark and his father, Matt, at about 9:00 at the lobster Pot Dive Shop Dock and after loading up on 'New Toy' we headed out for our first dive. Turned out to be Peter's Reef off Seven Mile Beach just about where the hotel is located.
I decided as we made our way to the dive site that walking across the deck, even with the guys holding the harness on either side for support and to catch me if my knees buckled, was to be avoided. I slid up onto the side of the boat above where I sat on the bench, put on my fins and rolled off and into the water. Then I swam back to the dive platform, backed up to it and John snatched me up into a sitting position on the platform.
They brought my weight belt and with a little help supporting the back and John in the water to buckle it we got that on. Then I slipped into the bouyancy compensator jacket and tank, donned my mask and rolled face first into the water. John brought me the scooter and I was ready to go after I tightened the weight belt under water.
It was a pleasant dive, a relatively shallow (50') reef with moderate visability. I wasn't settled in to my gear or a diving mindset, so it wasn't terribly smooth, but had fun and started getting it together. I dove with Heidi and Ruth for 47 minutes; I used the scooter and found it got me around quite well.
Our second dive was at La Mesa - 'the table' - a reef with a flat top and undercut on one side making it look a bit like a table. I'm still awkward in my gear; the B-C is just too small, but things are going better. Heidi and I spent about 45 minutes in the water with Ruth and her camera.
Yep, Like that...
La Mesa on Sunday
After the dive John jumps in and takes the scooter from me. I then help him remove my weight belt at the ladder and hand it up to the crew. The weight belt is the trickiest part of the process - I don't have the sensation or hand strength to grip it. The B-C and tank come off next and are handed up. John gets out, I back up to the dive platform and he grabs the shoulder straps and hauls me up to sit on the platform. Mask and fins come off and the dive is done.
Then John and Carney get on either side of me, grab the shoulder harness and leg straps and heave me upright so I can sit on the transom. I pivot my legs into the boat and they support me on either side and walk me back to my seat. That is the hardest and riskiest part of moving on the boat.
We returned to the dock and offloaded our gear. We arranged to meet Mark an hour earlier the following morning as he has an afternoon charter. We busted a wheel on uneven ground on the manual wheelchair so it's the monster power chair tomorrow.
Lifting the chair into/out of the van was quite an effort. The guys tried pushing/pulling it up the three foot ramp and it was much easier. That's the plan for the rest of the week. We're already seriously speculating about next year at this point and we'll bring the five foot ramp if that happens.
We headed back to the Sunshine Suites to clean up and then went to Fidel Murphy's for lunch. Sea food was pretty good, but the Irish stew was bland. Guinnes was very nice. The pub grub, especially onion rings, was excellent. We stopped on the way back to the hotel and John and Joy got cigars hand rolled by an old Cuban fella who cautioned them repeatedly to light the cedar stick with the match and then light the cigars from the stick so they wouldn't get sulfur from the match in the cigar.
Some of us opted to rest, others joined John P. Jimmy and Joy on the beach to dig in the sand and play. They buried John P. and left him as food for the crabs. The cigars were enjoyed, more or less, as the sun dropped into the gulf to the west. Joy said she always wanteds to do that, but once was enough. Back at the hotel we enjoyed cold cut sandwiches and margaritas for dinner when everybody got back. It was quite a party.
Jim and Sue at the Oro Verde
Monday at 7:00 a.m. we gathered for breakfast at the Sunshine Grill, then loaded up and headed out to meet Mark. We decided yesterday I should keep my harness on to unload from the boat so the guys can lift me if needed, or easily support me and keep me steady.
I sit on a seat along the inside of the boat on the trip to the dive site. I didn't get the harness on before we started, so I waited until we got to the dive site; ended up with it inside out, but it still works. At John's suggestion we added the tether I made for the scooter to free my hands when I needed them. And I found out the weight belt had been loaded one side too heavy, accounting for some of the trim issues I had yesterday. We got that straightened out.
I then don gear and roll into the water. John clips the scooter to the tether and I wait for Heidi and Ruth, trying to keep the now precariously loose weight belt from sliding down my legs and plummeting to the bottom. Once we leave the surface I lay out horizontal to take the load on my back and then tighten the weight belt and we head for the bottom.
We made two nice dives, the first at Mermaid Wall right in the harbor. We maxed out at 70' with a total dive time of twenty minutes. We never made it to the mermaid statue, but Ruth got pictures of a turtle as I herded it back to her and Heidi. The scooter is very nice.
The second dive was on the wreck of the Oro Verde - Green Gold. It is located just of Peter's Reef where we dove Sunday. The boat was a freighter used to haul bananas to the U.S. They'd leave Honduras green and turn yellow - gold - by the time they made port for offloading.
Seems it was being used to haul a different, more combustible type of green gold to the U.S. The kind that can get the crew thrown in jail. When the crew decided they should share in the profits if they shared in the higher risk, the captain disagreed and was put over the side. Unfortunately, he was the only one aboard able to navigate the reefs. The boat was run aground and the ship and cargo siezed by the Cayman authorities.
Ruth at Eagle Ray Pass
The load of 'grass' was burnt, upwind of parts of the island it seems, with predictable results. The boat was held for a year and a day, then auctioned off. Bob Soto purchased it for a dollar and sank it as an artificial reef and dive site. Hurricane Ivan broke it up and rolled it on the bottom adjacent to Peter's Reef where it now lies.
We dove 50' for just under an hour. When we surfaced at the mooring the New Toy wasn't there. Mark had moved to pick up Matt on Peter's Reef where he'd gone to pick up some gear he'd dropped the day earlier. He tied off on the next mooring about 100' away, an easy swim on the surface especially with the scooter.
We boarded and returned to the dock. After we unloaded we arranged to meet Mark at the yacht club in the morning and then headed back to the hotel to clean up before lunch. Instead of going out for lunch we decided to grab a light lunch at the Sunshine Grill so we could head to the Reef Grill and the webcam for drinks and dinner. The food at the Sunshine Grill here in the hotel is just great.
That evening we went to the Reef Grill and were seated on the first floor deck right in view of the webcam. I'd sent out e-mails to some friends and family to let them know we'd be there if they wanted to look. Shortly after we were served drinks we drank a toast to old friends gone, especially Mike Meuther and Brian Lucas.
The hostess came by and told us our friend, Bill (Miller) called to say he was watching us. We drank a toast to him and waved as the sun was setting out over the western Gulf of Mexico. Bill actually managed to save some screen shots from the webcam and sent a few back. It was really a high point of the evening hearing from him. He is largely responsible for most of us being there in one way or another.
Tuesday morning and a 7:00 a.m. meeting for breakfast again, then headed north to meet Mark at the yacht club. Pulled the van right up alongside the boat at the seawall and I moved a few steps right to the boat with support from the guys. This would be our last day with Mark. He was headed for Paris and then Greece for vacation Wednesday. We would be diving with Neptune's Divers Wednesday and Thursday
We took a little longer trip out to Eagle Ray Pass, a nice reef cut through with sand channels leading down to the wall. Grand Cayman is actually the top of an underwater mountain; the deeps around it extend up tp 25,000'. Every dive eventually leads to a wall. John and Joy joined Heidi and Ruth with me on this one. We spent about 36 minutes at or above 76'. The visibility has been moderate so far, 40' sometimes up to 60'.
Heidi smiling on Eagle Ray Pass
We needed an extended surface interval today to safely out gas, so Mark surprised us by pulling up to Stingray City. Everybody else had wanted to make a trip there, although I wasn't that excited about it. And based on the way the week was going I was concerned that the time and energy of making a special trip out wasn't in the cards for me.
This was an unexpected and very welcome bonus for the day. While everybody else went off looking at a few rays and taking pictures I just laid in the water near the boat relaxing. A few rays even came by to see if I had food and then lazed off in the gentle surge. It is hard to adequately describe the comfort I find in the gentle rocking embrace of that warm water with the bright sun toasting my back. Ahhhhhh!!!!!!
Our next dive was a reef and wall called Tarpon Alley. It was my 300th logged dive. We spent 28 minutes down, reaching a maximum depth of 70'. We saw a small turtle, a black tip shark and a bunch of pretty little fishes. I missed the mooring line on return to the boat, got carried by a mild current along the wall and ended up with a long swim back on the surface. Really appreciated the SeaDoo scooter on that one.
We thanked Mark and his dad, Matt, before heading back to the room for clean-up. Hoping to find some good jerk chicken we looked for Seymour's Chicken, a koisk in a shopping center parking lot, but failed to find it, so we went to Cassanova's by the Sea for Italian. Fine service and very good food - and very serious desserts. Looks like we will go back for dinner and sunset on the harbor side deck before we leave.
I've been resting a lot in the afternoon. Everybody else goes to the beach or the Carney's go driving around the island sightseeing. I stay at the room and take it easy when we don't stop somewhere on the way home for shopping or groceries; even then I stay in the van.
Dinner was cold cuts and drinks. again. Everybody gathering in John, Joy and Ruth's room - party central. Carney called Neptune's Divers and got directions to meet them at the yacht club opposite the sea wall at 8:30 a.m. The dinner was a fine gathering of good friends good fun and food; I suspect we enjoying that more than going out. It gets late early! And morning comes very early with a 6:00 wake up and meet at the boat after breakfast.
Yes, at 6:00 a.m. Wednesday we rose to meet for our 7:00 a.m. breakfast, and then loaded out and drove off to the yacht club to meet Keith, Captain and owner of Neptune's Divers, and Marcos, the first-uh mate-uh! A killer Italian accent and a really nice guy. We encountered a melange of nationalities on the island. British, South African, British Virgin Islanders, Cuban, Jamaican, Marcos' Italian, Canadians, native Caymanians... and a lot of folks from the U.S.A.
There were serious access impediments for me boarding. The approach was constructed to keep people from blocking the ramp down to the docks and it also made wheelchair access - even with the short ramp - impossible. We ended up parking right where they wanted no one to park and then I walked with assistance right to the ramp and then down to the dock. Keith moved the Posiedon to the first slip and I climbed onto the dive platform and went over the transom and down on a bench.
While they were getting me out of the van and down the ramp, it seems Ruth decided to follow the two divers joining us from Philly onto the boat. Unfortunately, as she stepped across the gap between the dock and the boat, the gap widened and she couldn't clear it. She went swimming at the dock with her clothes on. When Keith came to move the boat she was still down there waiting for someone to fish her out. I really think she was tired of waiting and looking for an excuse to go swimming.
Slight changes in the on-board procedures were also dictated by the boat. Sue was struggling with motion sickness so they got her in the water as quickly as possible. I sat in the starboard side rear just ahead of the transom. I put on my fins, sat up on the transom and rotated my legs back on to the dive platform and John and Carney lowered me to a sitting position on the platform. Then went to weight belt with John in the water to buckle it and Keith supporting it in the back. I put on my mask, my B-C and rolled face forward into the water.
Arch on Queen's Throne
On our first dive Heidi slipped on the dive platform just above the boarding ladder approaching her entry. Her leg went down through the ladder and got banged and lacerated pretty good. Keith asked her twice if she was okay as she lay face up with her leg bent and sliding out of the ladder. He captured her fin as she pulled her regulator out and said, "Ow!" John dove over her and helped her get straightened out, turned around and sitting on the ladder. Looked like she may have broken the leg at first, but as things settled out she decided to continue with the dive rather than climb back aboard the boat. Up until that decision there were a few pretty tense minutes.
We found Joy's knife below the ladder and picked it up, She dropped it when she entered the water. I left Heidi with John and Joy and took off to keep an eye on Ruth since she went off following Keith. Despite all that Princess Penny's Pinnacle was a very enjoyable dive.
The second dive, Queen's Throne, Ruth went with Marcos and Heidi and I followed along to see the sights. It was a really nice dive, 37 minutes maxing out at 59'. A reef above a wall with channels leading down to the depths. Saw a nurse shark, an eel and a scorpion fish. At the end I didn't have John or Carney there, and I thought someone was jerking on my weight belt after I released the buckle, so I released it. Fortunately no one got hit in the head as it plummeted to the bottom. Sue tried to retrieve it, Carney did pick it up and made it almost to the surface where John went down and gave him a hand hauling it up to the ladder.
Despite all the shenannagins Keith said we were welcome to return the following day, so we headed back to the rooms to clean up for lunch. It was Wednesday and that means Mexican, so we headed to Senor Frog's in Georgetown... supposedly a very popular local Mexican restuarant. After fighting through cruise ship traffic and finding a place to unload the wheelchair - no mean feat - Carney and John went off to find parking places. The rest of us headed for Senor Frog's... to find that it was on a second floor, up three half flights of stairs. It took Carney and Sue about twenty minutes to find a parking place and join us. We went to Al La Kebab's, where we had unloaded the chair and John had parked. It was a nice lunch.
We stopped at a few shops on the way back to Sunshine Suites, as well as at the market to pick up some more fixin's for an en suite dinner party. Margaritas with Dos Equis and Carona made the bulk of the liquid refreshment that evening, with a little rum punch and what not. Roast beef, ham, and turkey sandwiches, and Carney's home made salsa with chips rounded out an evening of fun memories of the day and times past. I'm still managing to get to bed and sleep before 11:00 p.m.
Thursday morning we gather again bright and early, 7:00 a.m., for breakfast at the Sunshine Grill before our last day of diving this trip. We headed for the yacht club to join the crew of the Posiedon, Keith and Jack, today. They already had the boat in the first slip, so we loaded up and prepared to go, Keith being careful to lend Ruth a steadying hand. The two guys from Philly were scheduled to go out on the other boat, but had left their gear on our boat overnight, so Keith asked if we minded if they join us. No problem at all.
We took a long trip north to reach an area on the wall that should have better visability . Entries and exits went off well after Keith asked if we might have a spare float tube for Heidi's shins. We had been using half a float tube slit down it's length and slid on the edge of the dive platform to cushion my back as I was hauled aboard. He thought we should zip tie a couple to her shins for protection. Sue was feeling much better, but still went in the water quickly just to be safe.
The first dive went well, if somewhat deeper and longer than is my habit. Glorious swim throughs along the wall with sand cuts above. We moved back to Eagle Ray Pass for the second dive with good visibility and plenty to enjoy. We met Casey, Keith's better half, at the dock and paid the bill before heading back to the rooms.
Lunch at the Sunshine Grill and an afternoon of loafing was topped off with John and Jimmy playing frisbee at the beach again. Turns out they couldn't find a real frisbee so they had purchased a dog toy as a substitute. I guess that explains the barking.
Frisbee or Dog Toy?
Carney and Sue spent the afternoon and early evening roaming around the north west end of the island, checking out the highway to hell, and returned with dinners of fried and curried chicken we all shared. Added in some of the beef and ham, and then John and Jimmy went out and got Pizza Hut pizza as a follow-up. We planned on sleeping in on Friday morning.
Friday at 8:00 a.m. the phone woke us up. Casey was calling to say the American Express card didn't work. I guess we put enough on it to help pay for flights next year! I gave her our Visa card number. John knocked on the door wanting to go to breakfast as we finished that up. Diving is a hungry business, for sure.
After cleaning up, we all headed north to Hell, a small village on the north west end of the island. There are a few shops, a post office and some homes. We did the sightseeing and touristy stuff checking out the exposed rock formations; sharp, black and forbidding. We mailed out post cards and bought a few souvenirs. Then we drove around the north western shore where damage from hurricane Ivan was still quite evident. There we visited the turtle farm but didn't pay to go in; we saw the turtles when we were diving.
We headed to Chicken!Chicken! for lunch. As John was backing into a parking spot so they could unload the chair, the guy parked beside us came up. He said we had bumped him and scratched his bumper. I never felt a thing and it appeared to me the 'scratch' was not at a height our bumper could have made. Carney looked and said it was possible. Maybe, maybe not. John gave him the necessary information. Naturally, the guy at the counter in the restuarant was unpleasant. The food wasn't bad, though. Wood roasted, jerk chicken.
When we returned to Sunshine Suites, Heidi and I joined Fireball in the pool for a about 2 1/2 hours and then came back to the room to shower and dress. Fireball stayed in the pool. Carney, John and Jimmy went to the beach with Joy and walked about a mile south to rent a sailboat for an hour. Spent about 45 minutes sailing and then about 45 minutes trying to get back to the rental place. Finally the guy came out and offered to tow them back with a jet-ski. Only charged them for the hour and they had a great time. Joy said the ride was like a continuous bidet ride; John said it was like a 90 minute water spanking.
Everybody got cleaned and dressed to go back to Casanova's for a final dinner when they realized they couldn't find Fireball... Jimmy found her in the pool - she'd been there over 5 hours and didn't realize it was time for dinner. Isn't that just the way? She got herself together in good time.
Dinner was a return to fine Italian cuisine right on the harbor. It was hot, so we ate inside, but still had a view of the sunset - well, at least some of us did. It was pretty. The food was excellent. The final check was quite a bit less than I expected.
On our return to the hotel, Carney got to the office before Heidi and finished up the room charges and checked us out for the morning. That would have been a great way to tie the ribbons on the trip, and indeed, that was my plan. Back to the room to finish packing and early to bed. Everybody else wanted to party and I told them to go ahead.
It turned out I couldn't resist stopping by party central to confirm plans for the morning. And that bottle of Cuervo was just shouting at us for some attention. I had to help Carney and John; just had to. Anything else just wouldn't be polite. They killed the rest of the bottle of tequila, a bottle of rum and the pina colada mix with a little help from Ruth, Sue, Heidi and Joy. Jimmy lent a hand as well. They started on the beer about the time I left and finished all that off.
We didn't have to get up to go to the airport until 5:00 a.m., so they decided to go clubbing! Ruth stayed in the room, and Sue went to pack. Carney, Jimmy, John and Joy went to the Sunshine Grill and found it was closed, so they went up to the main road and found a club. They had beer and listened to loud, pounding music. When they returned to the rooms they found their keys didn't work, so they had to wake Ruth to get in at 11:30! Needless to say they were more than fatigued in the morning...
Cut through No name Wall
Rising on Saturday at 5:00 a.m. my thought was, "Oh, why did I choose such an early flight?" No breakfast today. Got to the airport at about 6:10 and started through check-in while Carney, John and Heidi took the cars back. Security went okay. Heidi bought a bottle of rum at the duty free shop. Ruth finally got her t-shirts. Then we got called for a 'random' security inspection of the luggage with the v-pap and battery charger in it.
They used an aisle chair to get me into the airplane. Swaying back and forth up the stairs was a trip in itself. Got it done. The plane was packed, but it was a pleasant enough flight into Miami. We rolled through customs and immigration, re-checked our bags for the trip to Columbus and wandered around the airport looking for a place to eat. Finally checked in for our next flight and ate near our departure gate - mostly Cuban sandwiches.
After breakfast/lunch we discovered our flight would depart from a ground level gate - another set of stairs to deal with. Our layover was hours, so we sat in the terminal waiting, reading, napping. Everybody was too tired to take a cab to South Beach as had been planned. I worried about boarding the aircraft and loading the chair.
The American Airlines folks didn't tell us they had a lift to get me aboard, and were quietly cryptic when I warned them four big guys struggled to get me up the steps in Georgetown. As we rode out to the aircraft in the bus the lady smiled and told me the guy with us was going to get me up to the door. The lift was a blessing; I wish they had one in Georgetown.
The flight into Columbus was uneventful. We gathered our baggage at the terminal and said our farewells to our traveling companions, sorry to see the adventure come to and end and happy to be home and looking forward to a bit of rest.
So, how about doing it again next year???
