Leaving America? Maybe

     We woke up at 3am. There was a 2.5 hour drive ahead of us, and we wanted ample time to have breakfast, go through security, and relax at the airport bar (at Doug's request).

     Everything went smoothly. We were only 5 minutes late leaving the house. We didn't hit traffic and 3 of us caught a little nap in the car. Poor Mal had to survive on coffee. 

     We get to the airport and we should have foreseen the upcoming issues. One, we were flying in the worst airport I have ever been to. Flying in from Newark on Saturday was my first Fort Lauderdale experience. I was in and out quickly, so I did not have time to take it all in. When we returned this morning, I wanted so desperately to be in any other airport than the one we were currently waiting in. The people, the attitudes, the crowds, and the chaos. Woof. And two, we were flying on Spirit. The cheapest, most frustrating budget airline available. They charge for everything, including checking in at the counter- that's $10. What we didn't foresee were the complications with flying into Costa Rica and flying out of Panama. We needed to prove that we were getting to the latter on some form of transport that was suitable for the Costa Rican government. 

     Mal and jimmy had no problem. They breezed right through with very little questions... Doug and I, however, needed to prove that we were taking a shuttle from CR to Panama. Of course, our paperwork wasn't good enough, and the manager was called over. I was beginning to get mad. Because I had a flash of what the next few days were to be if I was not allowed on this flight. We would be stuck in Florida because of this massive blizzard in the north, and I would be out $415 for the flights.

We persevered and explained everything to the agents and their supervisor, and were eventually able to secure a boarding pass and head through security. 

     I don't mean to bore anyone with that story. I just want everyone to know what I didn't know. I was unaware that I would need to prove anything to the airline agents because I had a return flight booked. Yes, it was a from a different city, but I was returning to America in 10 days. So moral of the story... Make sure you have all plans figured out before leaving. And have all of those plans printed out. And on top of that, have emails ready to show on your phone. It was scary because we weren't sure if we'd get on. But Doug was calm and had his papers printed and luckily I printed mine last night. Preparedness is key. 

     Now we hover over some Caribbean islands on our way to blue skies, crystal waters, smiling sloths, and coconut drinks. 

     I got secretly and surprisingly upgraded to the first row of the plane. So I had plenty of room to stretch. It was great. My cousins were jealous. Seat 1A all the way.